News headline in Ukrainian language:.

Moderate Democrats are on the move.

Democrats are exceeding expectations at the state level as centrist candidates have captured one seat and nearly succeeded in another in special elections in deeply red parts of Iowa. Rahm Emanuel, who once organized the Democratic Party's arrival in the House, is considering running for president in 2028. And influential Democrats like Gavin Newsom and Chuck Schumer are abandoning leftist positions - California's governor is against allowing transgender players in women's sports, and the Senate minority leader is shying away from progressive demands for a government shutdown.

“The continent definitely belongs to modern-day Democrats,” said the former centrist Senator Joe Manchin's public relations manager Jonathan Cott. “I think people have understood that in 2024 we lost for several reasons, but the scaling of negotiations with all liberal groups and fighting for every percentage of voters who cast their ballots was very foolish.”

New polls show that the Democratic Party is facing its worst image crisis in a long Time. NBC News polling indicated that more than half of independent voters have a negative view of the party, which helps explain why Democrats are reaching out to these voters.

Even their own polls show a shift to the center. According to the latest internal polling from the party in congressional battles, a significant number of voters - 69 percent - claim that Democrats are 'too focused on politically correct issues,' while 51 percent believe that the party is 'elitist,' according to a poll conducted by the Democratic group Navigator Research.

“This is a reaction to what happened after Trump’s victory in 2016 when the party radicalized significantly to the left, and the country did too, especially after the murder of George Floyd,” said Matt Bennett, vice president of the group 'Third Way.' This centrist organization has called for a ban on polling about far-left candidates, opposed the directive influence of leftist staff and groups that have excessive influence on policy and messaging and “acknowledged the failures of Democratic governance in major cities.”

The progressive and activist wing of the party is not standing still. Populist Bernie Sanders is drawing large crowds in the Midwest, liberal activists are organizing protests against massive budget cuts, and progressive politicians are warning of an internal challenge to Schumer.

However, centrists are making a quiet revolution. Far from Washington, state-level signs indicate that moderate Democrats are performing very well in districts that Trump won just a few months ago.

In the special elections for the Iowa State Council last week, the Democratic candidate, though he lost, outperformed Kamala Harris by 24 points. This result, achieved by Democrat Nanette Griffin, parallels the capturing of one of the Senate seats on the Iowa State Council and bolstering the majority of lawmakers in Virginia. And this supports centrists' arguments that Democrats can motivate voters during the Trump era with everyday concerns.

The election results in Iowa add to a series of Democratic successes in special elections of lawmakers this year, which the party cites as indicators of enthusiasm ahead of northern elections.

“What I see is a renewal among Democrats across the country,” said Senator Mike Zimmer, who in January received a Republican seat in the rural part of Eastern Iowa, where Trump won by a 21-point margin.

And it's not just in Iowa. Democrats are using job losses at the federal level as an issue in the upcoming special elections in Pennsylvania scheduled for late March, where they are placing economic messaging first.

In one Senate district where federal workers were sent on unpaid leave, “many people feel that this is not being done fairly. A lot of people also just think that this is extremely chaotic,” said East Petersburg, Pennsylvania Mayor James Malone, who hopes to capture a seat from Republicans.

Malone called Zimmer on the day of his victory to learn about his strategy and adopted a similar economic message in his own campaign.

“While chaos reigns in Washington, Democrats have significant and beneficial opportunities to counter MAGA policies through special elections to state legislatures,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Campaign Committee aimed at electing Democrats to state legislatures.

The political consequences for Schumer or Newsom are far from clear. And the results of several special elections do little to indicate a Democratic revival in Iowa. Democrats have previously performed quite well in that part of the state, where there is a dense working-class population. And Republicans maintain a firm grip on power in Iowa.

“These special elections may not always be a harbinger or canary in the coal mine that some want to see them as,” said Tyler Campbell, a Republican strategist.

However, Democrats are demonstrating their strength - confident that economic messaging and the Elon Musk approach to breaking with the government can lift the party nationwide.

“This is a factor of energy,” said Iowa State Representative JD Scholten. “Our side is very motivated because we are outraged by what is happening. We see this as a national trend - people are frustrated and disgusted by what they see in Washington, and they are trying to do something about it.”

In Washington, Schumer has moved left since he described himself as a “center moderate,” and criticism of him from the party has not been limited to progressives. But his voice last week was a rejection of the activist class's protest politics of the party.

“We must recognize that youth, the working class, and people of color - the base of the Democratic Party - are drifting away from the party,” said Stevie O'Hanlon, political director of the 'Dawn' movement.

“I think Chuck Schumer is part of this reason.”

But for some in the party, the left's challenge can be an end in itself. By pushing a leftward view on transgender rights, Newsom joined Emanuel in the move to the center, stating that he “...