The wing of Sanders of the terrified part moderate Dems. Here's how they plan to stop it.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – If Bernie Sanders leads a leftist political revolt, then a top of the Democrats could be the start of a counter-revolution.

While energy and momentum are with the progressives nowadays – the victory of rising star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, the buzz about democratic socialism and the spread of the "Ice Abolished!" movement are some recent examples – the moderates warn that their ignorance will lead the party to disaster in the mid-term elections and the presidential contest of 2020.

This concern has been largely maintained among moderates and major donors, with some of the major fundraisers urging activists on what can be done to stop Vermonter when he shows up again at the White House.

But the whole first convention "Opportunity 2020", organized here last week by Third Way, think tank, gave the members of the party of the middle of the road a safe space to meet and express their concerns.

"The only narrative that has been articulated in the Democratic Party over the last two years is the leftist one "The former Delaware governor, Jack Markell, told NBC News

" I think we need to 39, a debate within the party, "he added. "Frankly, it would have been better to start the conversation sooner."

Pragmatism may be harder to sell at the time of Donald Trump, but with the 2020 presidential race, moderate Democrats know that they are running out of

The Gathering here was just that – an effort to offer an attractive alternative to the populist Sanders-style left-wing rally in the upcoming presidential race. When progressives see a rare opportunity to capitalize on an energetic democratic base, moderates see a better chance of winning Republicans turned off by Trump.

The fact that a billionaire real estate developer, Winston Fisher co. The event coincided with the event and the participants pointed out twice that this group did not have a chance. was not interested in the class war that vilified the "millionaires and billionaires" found in the speech about the Sanders strain.

"You will not make me hate someone I am rich, I want to be rich! Representative Tim Ryan, a potential presidential candidate, said Friday that he was in danger of laughing.

The invitation-only gathering brought together about 250 Democratic initiates from key states. Third Way unveiled the results of focus groups and polls that show Americans are more receptive to an economic message based on "opportunity" rather than the left's message about inequality [19659004] "Once again, the time has come to" Finally, capitalism for a new era, "said Third Way President Jon Cowan.

For the left, Third Way represents the Wall Street wing of the party and all that is wrong with the wet-driven blanketism Thom Hartmann, a liberal radio host and friend of Sanders, has already qualified for it. Sanders' group warning of "probably the most stupid thing I've ever heard" before reviewing all investment bankers of the Third Way Council

. But some elected in relatively conservative areas say the progressives have no idea what their agenda would mean for Democrats outside major cities and coasts.

"We will be a permanent minority party in this country" Sen Jeff Danielson, a firefighter who represents an area that saw one of Barack Obama's biggest swings to Trump during the 2016 elections.

Government-run health services may be popular in New York, where Ocascio-Cortez, a Democratic Socialist, recently won a high-level primary, said Danielson, adding: "But that does not work in the rest of the world. America … and I'm tired of losing. "

The moderates said they have the impression of being drowned by louder voices on the left.

Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill. A member of the Democratic House leadership who represents a Trump District has invoked the "silent majority" of Richard Nixon.

"If you look in the center, there is a silent majority who just wants normalcy, he wants people to go to Washington to fight for them in a civil way and do something," she told reporters.

"There are many people who do not really like protests and do not like" They are worried that the angry left is costing the Democrats a rare chance to win this kind of thing. Voters, including Republicans who no longer want to be part of the Trump GOP "

" Republicans chose the far-right, which means that they have yielded a good deal of the middle of the road, "said the former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, who is considering a presidential race. "The Democrats, in my opinion, would make a serious mistake when they decided to hold a basic election and simply said," Our base is bigger than your base. "

Jacquelyn Martin / AP file

With much of the recent political innovation on the Democratic side the left, the "opportunity program" unveiled here is trying to equip the moderates with their own great ideas.

Some of the key initiatives are a massive program apprenticeship to train workers, a universal pension privatized by the employer that would supplement social security and a redesign of unemployment insurance to include vocational training. ions included a "small business rights statement" and the creation of a "BoomerCorps" – such as the AmericaCorps volunteer for seniors.

In the meantime, they say that the progressive agenda is out of date. They reject, for example, a federal job guarantee as a reshuffle of the New Deal.

"Our ideas must be bold, but they must also reflect the age we are in," said Cowan. "Great is not enough, he's bold and old – he's just old."

Matt Bennett, Third Way Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, acknowledges that Sanders "had a length in advance."

The biggest stars of the party – Sens. California's Kamala Harris, New York's Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey's Cory Booker – have already adhered to Sanders-supported policies like single payer healthcare. But Bennett said that he thinks they'll reconsider when they examine the details. "I think they were a bit hasty," he said.

Notably, the proposed moderate program does not challenge the broad consensus of the party in favor of abortion rights, LGBT equality, firearms control, citizenship for the sans -papers.

In a jiffy, the agenda is based largely on geography, rather than class or race, which are more popular on the left. Clinton was pilloried earlier this year to boast that she "has won seats that are upbeat, diverse, dynamic, going forward", but the democratic losses in the rest of the world are still in place. America have been politically disastrous for the party.

The difficulty will be to sell this approach in the Democratic presidential primary to a base that has seemed to go in the opposite direction. Jim Himes, D-Conn., Chairman of the NDP Coalition, said his camp is not "naturally a referee of emotion and anger."

"How to tell our story and put our policies in place," said Himes, a former Goldman Sachs banker who represents Fairfield, Connecticut.

He highlighted calls for "Abolir ICE," for example, that Emotionally characterized, understandable but politically illogical

"It hurts us in the areas where we have to win," warned Himes of "Abolir ICE" mid-way. "You have now made life more difficult for the 60 or 70 Democrats who are fighting in the districts where we have to win if we want to be in the majority. "

" We will understand it, however, "he added., looking at his printed tie of small blue waves. "We'll find out."