Well, in case you don’t get up to watch the Sunday Morning Talk shows, the lackluster reception to the Democratic Party’s latest maneuver in messaging didn’t subside. Last month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled their “Better Deal” in Berryville, Virginia. It was a virtual carbon copy of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 platform.
On CNN’s State of the Union, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner ripped the slogan “Better Deal,” not knowing what they meant and noting that the policy action items left out people of color. She said the Democrats need to stop playing games and get to the heart of the matter, which is catering to issues that Turner and the rest of the progressive base care about. Moreover, they need to mobilize a grassroots effort to talk to the people in economic pain, which was partially why Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) enjoyed success in his primary challenge against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. On NBC’s Meet The Press, Andrea Mitchell described the “Better Deal,” as uninspiring.
Even Democrats have been mixed on the new agenda, namely do they even need one for 2018 since opposition to the ruling party is what’s considered in the minds of voters. Then again, there were complaints in 2014 that Democrats had no message to run on, which delivered the Senate to Republicans. Trump is a different president. If he’s able to rebound to the mid-40s in approval, which I think he can, then Democrats could be in for a very disappointing election night. They have no quality candidates who could mount a wave. Silently, they may seem like they’re heading in the right direction, picking a crop of white, moderate Democrats to lead them out of exile, but all of these men, Jason Kander, Jon Ossoff, and Tom Perriello, lost their respective elections in Missouri, Georgia, and Virginia. Nevertheless, if I were a Democrat, I would say trying to win back white working class voters is the way to go since the party is now bicoastal. It’s regional, and without rural gains—it risks being hemmed in by a geographic wall for the foreseeable future. There’s also a vocal progressive wing that says screw white voters and focuses on minority communities, who don’t turnout in elections, though are reliably Democratic voters. It’s a tug-of-war for sure, which could get ugly. Yet, for now, it seems the “Better Deal” is a bust.
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