Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's entrance into the presidential race is not only indicative of the growing fervor to take out Donald Trump next year.
It is indicative of how divided the Democratic party still is, even after it backed centrist Hillary Clinton over progressive Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016, resulting in the embarrassing defeat that catapulted into the White House the most unqualified individual ever to pursue it.
And if it makes the mistake nominating another corporate moderate again this time, we can say hello to whatever horrors are predicted with a second Trump term.
Unfortunately, it appears today as though that may happen.
Earlier this year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) instituted a new policy prohibiting more than 100 political firms from contracting or recommending to House of Representatives candidates consultants, vendors, polling firms, strategists, and operatives seeking to unseat incumbents.
It is no coincidence this came two months after progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley were sworn in on Capitol Hill after last year's "blue wave" that saw scores of progressives win state, local, and federal elections all over the country.
The Democratic establishment wants to make sure "far-left" candidates like them never have another chance to up-end the hegemony.
Rep. Pressley tweeted:
" If the DCCC enacts this policy to blacklist vendors who work with challengers, we risk undermining an entire universe of potential candidates and vendors - especially women and people of color - whose ideas, energy, and innovation need a place in our party."
Barack Obama warned Democrats not to engage in the circular firing squad, yet he privately told advisers in 2016 he would intervene if it appeared as though Bernie Sanders threatened to clinch the nomination away from Hillary Clinton.
Last week, he cautioned Democrats against moving "too far left," stating:
"Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality. The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it."
The circular firing squad has begun.
Fortunately, it might be backfiring.
As New York magazine reported:
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