Panel spans Washington, Midwest, and breaking news desks
The Guardian announced a live reader question-and-answer session scheduled for noon EDT on September 15 focused on Democratic Party unity ahead of the November midterm elections. The session will draw on reporting from a team the publication has deployed across Washington, the Midwest, and the West Coast.
The five-person panel assembled for the discussion spans several of The Guardian’s U.S. politics operations. Political breaking news correspondent Joseph Gedeon, Midwest political correspondent Rachel Leingang, and U.S. politics live blogger Shrai Popat will join Washington bureau chief David Smith and reporter Alice Speri for the noon conversation.
The Guardian positioned the timing in direct terms. “We’re less than two months from the midterm elections that could have an outsized impact on the future of the United States,” the announcement read.
The publication identified the tension between the party’s progressive and centrist flanks as one of the key questions for the panel. “One of the key questions is, with the Democrats poised to take the House and perhaps even the Senate, what the rise of the party’s progressive left means for the broader Democrat coalition,” the announcement stated. The publication asked how candidates such as Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed will “co-exist with the party’s more established centrists” and whether the “growing influence of democratic socialists” will “push the party in a new direction.”
El-Sayed was the only individual candidate named in the announcement. The Guardian did not specify his current race or office in the announcement text.
The publication described its reporting posture for the midterm cycle in general terms. “With the primaries wrapped, our reporting team is fanned out across the country to tell the stories behind the horse race, from Washington to the Midwest and along the West Coast,” the announcement read.
The session was positioned as a venue for readers to direct questions about Democratic candidates, key races, and “the different directions this year’s elections could take the party.” The Guardian invited readers to submit questions in advance and to participate when the session begins at noon EDT. The publication is hosting the Q&A through its community-page live coverage.