TNR: Democrats Need to Pick a Big Fight Over Medicare

[highplainsdem]

https://newrepublic.com/article/138721/democrats-need-pick-big-fight-medicare

The political task for Democrats going into the next election is to create wedge issues to splinter this coalition. In the 2016 cycle, Trump was able to hold the coalition together by talking out of both sides of his mouth (often incoherently), so different factions thought he represented their interest. Going forward, there will be chances to play the different factions against each other.

There is no more promising division than that between Trump’s economic populism and the deep-seated free-market ideology of Ryan’s faction of the GOP. Trump and Hillary Clinton both campaigned on promises to preserve Medicare and Social Security. This was a key issue that Trump used to differentiate himself from other Republicans (including some who are now his key advisers). As Trump said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe: “Abolishing Medicare, I don’t think you’ll get away with that one. It’s actually a program that’s worked. It’s a program that some people love, actually.”

-snip-

Here’s what Democrats need to do immediately: organize an emergency committee to defend Medicare. This committee should be headed by the populist wing of the party: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Keith Ellison. Other members should include Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Kamala Harris.

The purpose of the committee should be to pick a fight with Trump and Ryan over this issue. The argument should be addressed to working-class Americans, but particularly the former Obama voters who went for Trump in the Rust Belt. The committee should mobilize all over America, with a subsidiary goal of rebuilding the Democratic Party as a force that can win in Congress. This means every state and district should have local committees that are tasked with organizing marches to protect Medicare and to phone local congresspeople (especially Republicans) to reject Ryan’s plan. The Democrats already in Congress should sign a pledge never to privatize Medicare.

-snip-

There’s an old saying from the Civil Rights Movement: “The people need victories.” Demoralized as they are, the Democrats need victories. The defense of Medicare can give them a fight they can win—one that can help revitalize the party.

[demgrrrll]

1. Josh Marshall at TPM is doing a yeomans job contacting or having his reporters contact congress

for their positions on Ryan's bill. Please try and give him some help if you can by joining Prime. He is getting everyone on record so we can see where we are in this fight. I don't know if it appropriate to ask for help but I think this is really important.