Democrats hit the anti-incumbency trap

Democrats are learning a hard lesson Republicans know all too well: The party out of power doesn't just ride the anti-incumbency wave — it can also get swept up in it.Why it matters: The populist energy surging through the left after President Trump's return to the White House is roiling Democratic primaries and fueling establishment fears about the party's general election chances.Just ask Senate Republicans how that went for them in 2010, 2012 and 2022."We saw it in Missouri, we saw it in Indiana more than a decade ago," said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition.GOP candidates who were "off-putting" and held "positions that don't reflect the majority of the state" helped Democrats win two seats "that I don't think we would have otherwise," he said.Driving the news: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) struck out for a third time this past week in its attempt to elevate a candidate in a Democratic House primary.Former state Rep. Amish Shah — whose grassroots, door-to-door campaigning tactics the DCCC does not believe are effective — prevailed over the party favorite, ex-TV journalist Marlene Galán-Woods.The DCCC ran a $500,000 joint ad buy with Galán-Woods and outside Democratic groups spent millions more to support her, but to no avail.Shah's win came after progressives Randy Villegas of California and Matt Dunlap of Maine defeated DCCC-backed rivals in primaries last month.All three seats are key battlegrounds in Democrats' fight to retake the House in November.While Villegas and Shah are running to flip GOP-held seats, Dunlap is simply trying to hold retiring Rep. Jared Golden's (D-Maine) district.The DCCC added Dunlap rival Joe Baldacci to its "Red to Blue" program but it has not yet extended the same courtesy to Dunlap, which some observers see as a sign of their uncertainty about his chances.Zoom in: Add that to Democrats' big mess in Maine, where populist left-wing darling Graham Platner dropped out earlier this month amid allegations of sexual assault, which he denied.Platner, a self-described oyster farmer, had won the Democratic nomination after muscling out Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the preferred choice of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).Instead state party activists have turned to Troy Jackson, a progressive logger and state Senate majority leader who is already facing scrutiny over alleged angry outbursts during his time in the legislature.What they're saying: "The reality is that socialism doesn't sell with most folks, and neither does their anti-American, anti-cop extremist rhetoric," Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told Axios."If we let socialists and their extremist message hijack the Democratic Party, then we risk losing the races we should win in November."Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): "Most Americans ... want to know their leaders are going to work together and keep them safe. They don't like extremism, whether it comes from the left or the right."Th