{"id":2581691,"date":"2026-03-19T11:15:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-need-to-try-to-appear-moderate-to-win-primaries-joe-concha\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T11:16:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:16:53","slug":"democrats-need-to-try-to-appear-moderate-to-win-primaries-joe-concha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-need-to-try-to-appear-moderate-to-win-primaries-joe-concha\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats need to &#8216;try to appear moderate&#8217; to win primaries: Joe Concha"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-need-to-try-to-appear-moderate-to-win-primaries-joe-concha%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2581691&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Washington Examiner column argues that Democrats must appear moderate to win primary elections, using Illinois\u2019s 9th congressional District race as a key example. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss defeated progressive contender Kat Abughazaleh, who was backed by so\u2011called \u201cSquad\u201d members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, and who had ties to Media Matters and was recently indicted for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-and-jacob-frey-under-criminal-investigation-by-doj\/\" title=\"Tim Walz and Jacob Frey under criminal investigation by DOJ\">impeding federal law enforcement<\/a> while backing universal healthcare for undocumented migrants. The piece quotes Joe concha, who says Democrats should adopt a moderate pose-similar to Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in recent races-then shift left once in office. Concha contends that proposals like universal healthcare or free transportation are rejected when voters question how they will be paid for, noting a growing concern about feasibility and cost. The article places these primary results in a broader context, highlighting other Illinois outcomes and discussing tax-cut proposals from Sens. Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen as part of a strategy to appeal to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-has-worst-job-approval-of-any-modern-president-in-their-second-year\/\" title=\"Biden Has Worst Job Approval of Any Modern President in Their Second Year\">middle-class voters<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrats need to &lsquo;try to appear moderate&rsquo; to win primary elections: Joe Concha<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2535010\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner <\/em>columnist <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/joe-concha\/\">Joe Concha<\/a> said this week&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/primary-election-counting-process-in-texas-largest-county-a-disaster-says-lt-governor\/\" title=\"Primary Election Counting Process in Texas&#039; Largest County a &#039;Disaster,&#039; Says Lt. Governor\">primary election results<\/a> in Illinois show that &ldquo;so-called reasonable&rdquo; Democrats are defeating &ldquo;far-left&rdquo; candidates.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic primary election in Illinois&rsquo;s 9th Congressional District saw <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4495220\/daniel-biss-wins-illinois-democratic-primary-replace-schakowsky\/\">Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss prevail over <\/a>progressive candidate Kat Abughazaleh, despite the latter being backed by Reps. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rashida-tlaib\/\">Rashida Tlaib<\/a> (D-MI) and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ilhan-omar\/\">Ilhan Omar<\/a> (D-MN), commonly known as &ldquo;Squad&rdquo; members. Concha cited how Abughazaleh used to work for &ldquo;the far-left Media Matters&rdquo; and <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">was recently <\/span><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3868426\/house-candidate-kat-abughazaleh-indicted-illinois-ice-protest\/\">indicted on a charge of impeding federal law enforcement<\/a> while backing universal healthcare for all illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4496689\/aipac-and-crypto-money-falls-short-in-illinois-primary-races\/\">AIPAC and crypto money falls short in Illinois primary races<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4496683\/graham-platner-attack-ad-sexist-comments\/\">Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner responds to attack ad over past sexist comments<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4496444\/tim-scott-run-third-term-senate-2028\/\">Tim Scott to seek third term in Senate, abandoning term-limit commitment<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Look, if Democrats want to win, they have to at least try to appear moderate,&rdquo; Concha said Thursday on <em>Fox &amp; Friends First<\/em>. &ldquo;Call it the Abigail Spanberger-Mikie Sherrill approach that we saw in Virginia and New Jersey during the gubernatorial races last year: Run as a moderate, act like a Republican or at least somebody that&rsquo;s in the center, and then when you get into office, then go to the far left.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share?id=3435236&amp;userid=11311&amp;usertype=user&amp;loginid=9421&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=bb9ad8b184882dda789ebb2da629b90a\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Concha added that &ldquo;so-called reasonable&rdquo; Democrat candidates are winning in these primary elections, even in &ldquo;far-left districts.&rdquo; He also emphasized that some candidates&rsquo; proposed policies, such as universal healthcare or free buses, are being &ldquo;rejected&rdquo; because they are &ldquo;not ideas that live in reality.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;People are starting to get onto the fact that, &lsquo;How do you pay for that? Oh, I do,&rsquo; and I think that&rsquo;s starting to resonate,&rdquo; Concha said.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4496689\/aipac-and-crypto-money-falls-short-in-illinois-primary-races\/\"><strong>AIPAC AND CRYPTO MONEY FALLS SHORT IN ILLINOIS PRIMARY RACES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4495158\/juliana-stratton-wins-democratic-primary-illinois-senate\/\">Illinois Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton also won<\/a> her primary election for the Senate on Tuesday. She is expected to win the general election in November.<\/p>\n<p>Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have both <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4493494\/democratic-presidential-contenders-tax-cuts-woo-gop-voters\/\">released tax plans in recent weeks that amount to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >middle-class tax cuts<\/a><\/a> and are marketed as moving families off the tax rolls. Some consider these plans an attempt to win Republican voters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Concha: Dems should appear moderate to win primaries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2632,"featured_media":2581692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26076644125045_5f64bc-e1773923936427.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[3685,52093,61114,32171,9973],"class_list":["post-2581691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-democrats","tag-joe-concha","tag-moderation-2","tag-political-commentary","tag-primaries"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26076644125045_5f64bc-e1773923936427.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2581691"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2581695,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581691\/revisions\/2581695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2581692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2581691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2581691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2581691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}