The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.

Guess the name behind this quote: “Don’t underestimate the capacity of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

It was no less a Democrat than Barack Obama, warning his 2008 presidential campaign supporters it was still possible to “screw it up” before election day. The same admonition might just as easily apply to Democrats hoping to carry the day in this fall’s mid-term elections.

It’s not just the high-profile races for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, where the presidential “out party” historically picks up seats, but elections for state offices in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Those state races are a microcosm for an ideological split that have emerged in the Democratic Party at a time when President Trump’s weakness in the polls should unite them. 

The race for governor has boiled down to five major Democratic candidates who range from centrist to progressive to one or two “democratic socialists,” which is emblematic of the current national divide. 

As defined by the Democratic Socialists of America, democratic socialists believe “capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit…” They want to replace it with a system “where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.” 

While many Americans want respite from Trump’s bloviation and bad economic choices – from trade tariffs to manipulating the Federal Reserve Bank – they are unlikely to elect people who don’t believe in core American values such as free markets and the right to start, own and invest in businesses. 

On the Aug. 11 primary ballot (in alpha order) are Mandela Barnes, Joel Brennan, Francesca Hong, Sara Rodriguez and Kelda Roys. The winner will most likely face Republican Tom Tiffany, a first-term member of Congress who sides more with Trump than Trump himself. 

That election is Nov. 3, which gives the primary-winning Democrat less than three months to pull the band back together. It won’t be easy this year. 

Some of the same Democrats who have railed against the party’s geriatric leaders in Congress are now taking their cues from 88-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The party nearly settled on Graham Platner as Maine’s Senate candidate until he was brought down by personal issues. Those foibles may have been revealed earlier if there was a unified party apparatus in place to check him out. 

Then there’s New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a symbol for democratic socialists who believe free-market capitalism should be scrapped. He’s the charismatic force behind many left-wing Democratic primary victories in recent months. Like-minded Democrats see November as an opportunity to build on that momentum. 

What they overlook is that primary elections are far different than general elections, both in tenor and turnout.

Primary election turnout in both major parties is traditionally much lower and campaign debates are usually targeted to internal factions, not the vast political middle. General election voter turnout is higher and issue discussions largely move back to the center. 

That is why Democrats – renowned for cutting left when the playing field’s center is wide open – must avoid a fateful play. They will fall short of the November goal line if they confuse voter disgust over Trump’s actions with how most Americans feel about core issues. 

Here’s one example at the federal level: Polls say voters are distressed by an undeclared war so poorly planned that Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz was not foreseen. Those same voters understand Iran has been a global terrorism threat for nearly 50 years. Economic issues are much the same: Trump’s excesses are not reason enough to topple all of capitalism. 

Governing and policy issues in Wisconsin are different than those in Washington, D.C., but the race for governor will still hinge on Main Street issues. Economic growth will be one of them. 

Voters in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary should look beyond the ideological “Fad of the Month Club” to what wins in the general election. Of course, that might not happen. As the American humorist Will Rogers said many decades ago: “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”

Still is past president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is an adviser to Competitive Wisconsin Inc., a non-profit public policy group.