Often this gets confused in the reporting. Something like supporting a minimum wage increase isn't risky because people oppose it, it's because someone is going to run attack ads against you accusing you of being soft on illegal immigrant child rapists, or whatever.
When "popularism" bumps up against big donors, the popularists say go with the big donors. They get mad when you point this out.
In this special election primary, AIPAC ran ads against Tom Malinowski pointing out that he supported funding DHS. They did this because Malinowski was only 95% reliable instead of 100% reliable on Israel. It looks like the actual anti-Israel lefty - Analilia Mejia - might win. It will be either her or Malinowski, anyway.
The outcome in the special Democratic Party primary 11th Congressional District remained too close to call late Thursday, Feb. 5, but one clear, colossal and enormously expensive irony emerged.In its attempt to bludgeon frontrunner Tom Malinowski with $2 million in negative ads because he his support of Israel was deemed too soft, the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee may have helped elect its worst nightmare — a new member of the left-wing “squad” who has been critical of Israel.
The strategy failed, but that's the strategy.