Latest news with #moderate
New York Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
There Is Hope for Democrats. Look to Kansas.
David Leonhardt, an editorial director for Opinion, talks to the Opinion correspondent Michelle Cottle about her recent reporting trip to Kansas. Cottle argues that Democrats should look to moderate governors like Laura Kelly of Kansas for a playbook. Below is a transcript of an episode of 'The Opinions.' We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. David Leonhardt: Democrats are spending a lot of time these days agonizing about what the future of their party should look like. Today we're going to talk about one potential answer. The party's current crop of governors: politicians who have a proven ability to win elections, including some really tough elections, and to govern as well. My colleague Michelle Cottle recently traveled to Kansas to talk with one of the country's most impressive governors. Laura Kelly is a moderate Democrat in her second term. Kansas is so Republican that it hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1932. It's so Republican that there is a famous book, 'What's the Matter With Kansas?' lamenting the failure of Democrats there. Yet Governor Kelly is now in her second term. Michelle and I are going to talk about what lessons she offers for her party. Thanks for being here. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cuomo says he is ‘Democrat, running on an independent line' and Mamdani is ‘socialist on the Democratic line'
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he is a 'Democrat running on an independent line,' while his fellow New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who beat him for the Democratic nomination last month, is 'a socialist on the Democratic line.' 'In this primary election, it was six socialist candidates basically pooling their money, pooling their rank choice, against me because I'm a moderate, and against Eric [Adams] when he was in the race, until he dropped out, because he was a moderate,' Cuomo said on John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby's 'Cats & Cosby' radio show. 'So it — they are — it's a socialist on the Democratic line, and I'm the Democrat, running on an independent line,' he added. Mamdani, a previously little-known democratic socialist, shocked political observers by beating Cuomo a notable political heavyweight. Cuomo has formally announced he is running as an independent in November's general election for mayor. The former governor is now competing against Mamdani, Adams — a Democrat who is also running as an independent — and Republican Curtis Sliwa for New York City's top job. 'Only 13 percent of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it. My opponent, Mr. Mamdani, offers slick slogans, but no real solutions,' Cuomo said in a campaign video, which was posted Monday on the social platform X. 'We need a city with lower rent, safer streets, where buying your first home is once again possible, where child care won't bankrupt you. That's the New York City we know,' he added. The Hill has reached out to Mamdani's campaign for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
"I Feel Like I Was Catfished": Women Are Raising The Alarm On This 1 "Outrageous" Word Men Are Using On Dating Apps
Back in January, the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy think tank, released a survey that determined 52% of single heterosexual women are less likely to date a Donald Trump supporter — with only 36% of single heterosexual men saying voting for Trump would be a dealbreaker. And in the lead-up to Inauguration Day, Hily, a dating app with over 35 million worldwide users, released its own politics and dating study. After surveying 5,000 Gen Z and millennial Americans, Hily determined that 1 in 3 American women would decline a date over political differences. Similar to the AEI survey, Hily's study determined that only 1 in 10 American men would decline a date for the same reason. These results could very well explain the suspicious trend of heterosexual men misrepresenting their political leanings on dating apps: Specifically, they put 'moderate' on their profiles or act vague about their politics to increase their chances of matching with women who deliberately put 'no conservatives' in their own profiles. These so-called 'moderates' connect with liberal women, only for them to discover that their matches voted for Donald Trump in the last election (a dealbreaker for many). So why are people lying about their politics on dating apps in the first place? And how can daters spot the red flags behind these vague profiles before everyone's emotions take over? Here's what relationship experts have to say about this very 2025 dating problem. How 'Moderate' Became A Red Flag Ella,* a Los Angeles resident, said she's had nothing but frustration with 'moderates' on the apps. As she told HuffPost, Ella noticed that her 'large number of matches' with guys listed as 'moderate' on their Hinge dating profiles has grown significantly in recent months. But she now swipes left on all 'moderates': This is because more than once, after 'days and days of texting,' it turns out that these guys are 'really far-right, anti-feminist, etc,' she said. Ella's theory is that conservative men might need to lie about their political views – or else they won't get any dates in a liberal city like LA. Amanda*, creator of the 'Dating Is Dead' Instagram account, recently ended a two-year relationship with a man who also listed 'moderate' on his profile. 'I think that he was conservative more than moderate,' she said. 'I feel like I was catfished in that sense.' She said her now-ex-boyfriend began to show his true colors during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration: 'He was becoming more and more indoctrinated to the hard right.' Now, Amanda is questioning whether her ex's far-right attitude was there all along and she was 'just so blinded by love' — or if 'he was hiding who he was.' Since ending that relationship, Amanda said she is far more cautious around men who put 'moderate' in their dating profiles: 'I try and bring it up more gently than I did in the beginning,' she said, 'because there's a lot of dancing around who we voted for, so now I ask immediately.' This approach may result in some abbreviated dates, but it could also mean dodging a major bullet before you've even finished drinks: 'I actually went on a date the other night that lasted seven minutes,' Amanda said. Her date, after admitting that he voted for Donald Trump, brushed off her concerns about the president's second administration, claiming that 'nothing in America is really going to change,' which was all Amanda needed to know about this guy's values. Bolster Your Dating Boundaries From the chipping away of reproductive freedom to the U.S. government's pronatalist campaign, women's rights are under attack in 2025. So discovering that the 'moderate' guy you've matched with might actually be looking for a tradwife can be unsettling, to say the least. 'For a lot of women — especially women of color, queer women, women with trauma histories — conservative beliefs don't just feel like a difference of opinion,' said Cheryl Groskopf, an LA-based anxiety, trauma and attachment therapist. 'They feel like a threat. And if you've ever been dismissed, gaslit or harmed by someone who hides behind 'traditional values,' then this kind of dishonesty can feel like a violation (because it is).' 'It's also just draining to constantly have to explain yourself,' continued Groskopf. 'Think of the energy it takes to spend the first 30 minutes of a first date defending your humanity.' Amanda knows this sentiment well. She recounted how the seven-minute-date guy disregarded her concerns about women's bodily autonomy by pointing out that she lives in a blue state like New York. 'I was like, but it's not about me,' she said. 'It's about the girl in Mississippi or Texas who was, God forbid, sexually assaulted at 13 or who needs a D&C. [Men] have the same rights across all 50 states, and I don't. It is not really up for discussion. A gun has more rights than I do.' Bottom line? 'Women need these boundaries to protect their energy, their bodies and their sense of safety,' Groskopf said. 'They can absolutely name up-front what they need to feel safe.' Why Are Men Misrepresenting Themselves On The Apps? The numbers don't lie: If 52% of single women are less likely to date a Trump supporter, then it makes sense that some of those Trump supporters are attempting to game the system. 'It may be because they are trying to appeal to a broader range of women, and want to select answers that they perceive will get them past the initial screening,' observes Marisa T. Cohen, PhD, LMFT, a relationship expert with Hily. (Cohen also provided the data from Hily's pre-Inauguration Day survey.) 'They also may perceive that they are being inaccurately judged as a result of their political views, so they are trying to present themselves in a way that they think will allow them to match with more people,' she added. But these political mismatches sometimes occur simply because some people 'may judge their own views inaccurately,' Cohen said. 'They may think they are progressive compared to other people they are associated with, but don't necessarily hold progressive views.' Groskopf also points to a 'real-time cultural shift': Women are now asking questions like, 'Does this person feel emotionally safe to me?' Amanda echoes that, reiterating her need to know a man's political beliefs before getting involved. 'I would not feel safe in a room with a bunch of conservative men at this point,' she told HuffPost. While Groskopf doesn't believe all men are 'trying to maliciously deceive' their potential dates, she also observes that they're not all being honest and authentic, either. 'Many of them have just never had to think about how their political beliefs affect someone else's sense of emotional or physical safety,' Groskopf said. 'They weren't taught to connect their values to safety, or to see 'moderate' as vague instead of neutral. But what he's missing is that for a lot of women, that kind of vagueness is the red flag.' Trust Yourself — And Your Values If a person's political views are a dealbreaker for you, then it's imperative to tackle vague, 'moderate' profiles with a clear strategy: That starts with establishing your values, Cohen said. 'Additionally, going beyond surface-level questions to get to know a person and their worldview is important.' That being said, Cohen advises skepticism if a potential date 'consistently fails to expand on their own views.' For the sake of your emotional safety, Groskopf recommends asking simple questions like: 'What does 'moderate' mean to you?' 'How do your values show up in your day-to-day?' 'Where do you land on things that matter to me — like therapy, mental health, women's rights?' 'The way he responds will tell you a lot,' Groskopf said. 'Does he get curious? Defensive? Does he minimize your question? Does he give a clear answer or just talk in circles and try to sound chill? If he can't meet that moment with honesty, clarity, or even basic self-awareness — that is the red flag.' Groskopf also cautions against continued obscurity: 'If he says things like 'I'm pretty middle of the road' or 'I just don't like extremes' — but can't tell you what he does believe or values,' then that's a red flag too. Watch out for defensiveness or mockery as well: 'If he gets weird or low-key annoyed when you ask a totally normal question about values — or makes fun of people who care about things like social issues or emotional growth — that's your sign,' Groskopf said. 'A guy who's actually grounded doesn't get defensive over basic emotional curiosity.' Women deserve to know if someone they're dating voted against their interests from the get-go. If a guy you match with says 'moderate' on his profile, you are entitled to know his definition of the word before your emotions potentially take over. 'For you to tell me that you're a moderate, but it's OK to have unmarked police cars and people without badges sweeping people up in the streets? That's outrageous,' Amanda said of dubious 'moderate' men. 'Your non-negotiables are your non-negotiables,' Cohen said. 'If learning about a person's political leanings matters to you, ask!' *Names of those who shared their personal stories have been changed throughout this piece to preserve article originally appeared on HuffPost.
CBS News
22-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Sen. Lisa Murkowski on navigating Washington under Trump, her place in the GOP, and her new memoir
For Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, the last frontier, is her favorite frontier. The third generation Alaskan is as familiar in the halls of Congress as she is on an Alaska Airlines flight (where even the flight attendants call her "Lisa") as she flies home nearly every weekend to America's northernmost state. Each day is packed with constituent meetings. The state's senior senator says it's what keeps her connected to the needs of Alaskans, from the high cost of living and childcare, to the shortage of housing. She writes about being a moderate in a polarized Washington in her new memoir out this week: "Far from Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C." The book jacket shows Murkowski bundled in a parka (lined with wolverine, beaver and fox) on the steps of the Capitol building. "I had brought my parka back to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration, because we knew it was going to be cold – We're gonna take a picture in the snow, wearing the parka with the Capitol," she said. Forum Books After a career as a lawyer and state legislator, Murkowski came to Washington in 2002 when her father appointed her to fill his Senate seat after he was elected Alaska's governor. She faced charges of nepotism, which Murkowski calls "accurate." She was ultimately elected to a full-term. Each election has been a challenge, but none as difficult as in 2010, when she was primaried by the Tea Party … and lost. Then, she made the difficult decision: run a write-in campaign, with a challenging last name. "Nine letters," she said, "and it had to be spelt right. Because we weren't sure how the courts were going to interpret it, if it was 'Murkowsky' with a y at the end instead of an i, was that going to be sufficient to count?" She won, giving Murkowski what she calls "a new freedom." She said that winning independently of a party's backing reminded her of the idea that she had the support of her constituents to do what she thinks is morally right. "It absolutely reinforced that," Murkowski replied. "It's a daily reminder of how I was returned to the United States Senate. It was not through the help or the assistance of the Republican Party; it was through the hope and the assistance and the persistence of Alaskans all across the board." Asked about her allegiance to the Republican Party today, Murkowski said, "I still have the same Republican values that I have long held. But my allegiance is not to the Republican Party. It's not to a party. It is to the people who returned me. And those people were Republicans and Democrats and independents and nonpartisans. So, when people back here in Washington talk about 'I need to answer to the base,' my base is so beautiful and diverse and eclectic and genuine." Murkowski never voted for Donald Trump. In February, following a flurry of executive orders from the White House, Murkowski warned her Republican Senate colleagues that Congress must not cede its authority over controlling government spending to the president. "Just to put it into context and be fair, I don't think that we should cede – we, the Congressional branch – should cede ground to anybody, not to the courts, not to the executive," she said. "I think we have a role to do. We cannot, whether it is with tariffs, whether it's with spending, whether it's the role of advice-and-consent, we have a role that is prescribed Under Article I of the Constitution. We need to take that seriously. "And I fear that what we're seeing more and more is a Republican conference in both the House and the Senate that may agree with the goals of President Trump, and so, they're good with however we get there. But we need to ask ourselves: If this was President Biden or if this were to be a President Booker, how would we respond? Because I don't think we would just sit back and say, 'It's okay that you use that.'" CBS News' Norah O'Donnell with Sen. Lisa Murkowski. CBS News I asked, "You think there would be more oversight?" "I think there would," she replied. "If not oversight, at least feigned outrage. But we are basically saying, 'Whatever way you wanna get there is gonna be okay because we like the goal.'" "Is that a capitulation by the U.S. Congress?" "I think it's Congress not doing their job," Murkowski replied. Their job right now: Deciding whether or not to pass President Trump's so-called "big beautiful bill." With a lot of concern over hot-button issues like Medicaid, Senator Murkowski will likely be a deciding vote. Alaska relies more heavily on federal funding and programs than perhaps any other state in the country, so Murkowski knows the stakes for her constituents. "I realize that my job, number one, is to be effective for Alaska," she said. "I have to be aware that my effectiveness is going to be tied to relationships, right? And so, how I am able to develop relationships in an administration where it is no secret that I did not support the president, and it's also no secret that the president did not support me. He actively campaigned against me in the state. But, at the end of the day, he won, I won." READ AN EXCERPT: "Far From Home" by Lisa Murkowski For more info: Story produced by Julie Morse. Editor: Jason Schmidt.
