Third Way, Hassan Piker, and How Democrats Lose the 2026 Midterm Elections

The Hassan Piker litmus test being pushed by Third Way president Jonathan Cowan includes a letter sent directly to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, pressuring him to cut ties with Piker before planned college campus rallies. Hawk calls out this move as a political threat from an unelected think tank trying to dictate who Democratic candidates are allowed to campaign with.
The Bulwark columnist Lauren Egan and journalist Andrew Perez of Zeteo both weighed in on the controversy, as did Bulwark contributor Tim Miller, whose livestream defense of common sense over factional infighting drew backlash from AIPAC-aligned media. Hawk also draws direct parallels to the treatment of Zohran Mamdani after his New York City Democratic primary win, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's widely condemned response to it.

Third Way openly declared it will be the chief opponent of the left in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, targeting Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and abolishing ICE. Hawk argues that an organization spending tens of millions against its own party base, rather than against Republicans, reveals exactly who controls the Democratic Party and why so many progressive voters feel politically homeless.

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