Across American states once considered moderate ground, a new generation of progressive Democrats is winning primary races by rejecting corporate money and establishment politics — a shift that reflects genuine voter frustration but raises enduring questions about whether movements born in ideological clarity can endure the broader, messier terrain of a general election. The tension is as old as democratic politics itself: the energy that ignites a base is not always the same energy that builds a majority. What is unfolding in Michigan, Wisconsin, and beyond is less a story about individual ca