Progressive demands put new pressures on Democrats

[nitpicker]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/435023-progressive-demands-put-new-pressures-on-democrats

Progressive demands put new pressures on Democrats

By Max Greenwood and Mike Lillis - 03/21/19 06:00 AM EDT

Democratic presidential hopefuls, under fierce pressure from liberal activists and base voters, are racing to embrace a series of progressive policy proposals that are quickly emerging as litmus tests ahead of 2020.

At town halls and meet-and-greets in early-primary states, the Democrats are being pushed to stake out positions on “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal, the progressive plan to combat climate change and economic inequality.

Reparations for the descendants of slaves, the abolishment of the Electoral College and an expansion of the Supreme Court to counter President Trump’s nominees are additional issues that until recently would have been on the fringes of Democratic politics.

A number of liberals are cheering the discussion on.
(snip)

Some suggest a failure to back certain proposals could doom them in the primary.
(snip)

At the same time, these new litmus tests have prompted worries that candidates may be setting themselves up for trouble in the 2020 general election, which Trump is already casting as a referendum on socialism.
(snip)

While progressives warn that nominating an establishment-minded centrist candidate would give Trump a clear path to a second term in the White House, former Vice President Joe Biden — an undeclared moderate —leads virtually every early poll of the Democratic primary field.

Several liberal activists and strategists also are dismissive of the suggestion that Medicare for All or the Green New Deal have become litmus tests for Democrats, arguing that they did not expect candidates to unite behind a single piece of legislation or policy prescription.
(snip)

There’s little question that headwinds in the party are pushing things to the left, something likely to surface in races for the Senate, where a handful of centrist Democratic challengers will be working to distance themselves from the liberal priorities being debated on the presidential trail.
(snip)

[Sherman A1]

1. Good

I believe a shift to the left is long overdue. We have in my opinion moved to far to the right as a party and a nation.

[HopeAgain]

3. Absolutely

Not only where we belong, but the key to support of younger voters.

[betsuni]

6. Republicans have moved too far to the Right.

If most Americans agree with health care for all and green jobs, higher taxes on corporations and the rich, criminal justice reform, higher minimum wages and other Democratic policies, and more people voted for the Democratic nominee in the last election (which had the most progressive platform in its history), how has the party and the country moved to the Right?

[Cha]

8. Thank you!

[betsuni]

9. Just remembered I haven't checked on JPR for a while.

Think I'll visit Opposite World for some laffs.

[Cha]

11. Something remind you

of it?

[betsuni]

12. Yes.

[Cha]

13. ..

[Cha]

2. Just to be clear.. African Americans are

our Democratic Base.. especially Women.

This is just the latest report..

Voting Behavior and The Impact of The Black Vote in 2018 Mid-term Elections

snip//

The key takeaway of this poll is clear: mid-term 2018 wins across the country were dependent on voters of color, particularly Black voters.
•90% of Black voters supported Democratic House candidates, compared to just 53% of all voters; 45% of white voters; 73% of Latinos; and 72% of Asian voters

More..
https://advancementproject.org/news/new-polling-voting-behavior-and-the-impact-of-the-black-vote-in-2018-mid-term-elections/

[betsuni]

4. Pressure to repeat the slogans "Medicare for all" and "Green New Deal."

All Democrats want health care for all and care about climate change.

[Hortensis]

7. :) Yes, we ALL do. All our candidates making use of those slogans

know there was no workable plan behind either, BUT they're proposing versions they believe can and should be implemented.

[doompatrol39]

10. And those are clear cut slogans and starting points.

Part of our problem is that too often 1) we don't come up with simple, easy to remember catchphrases and slogans and 2) start from a point of realistic compromise and end up worse than we should because of it. Those 2 things solve both of those problems.

These 2 slogans are perfect starting points that people can remember. Yes, candidates should feel free to add specifics and nuances as they see fit. If that means that medicare for all means a solid medicare style public option (like most people wanted in the ACA) and not necessarily every person HAS to use medicare, then that is a valid point. If "Green New Deal" means just a general sweeping approach to how we deal with climate change and each candidate has their own specifics and approaches then what is the harm?

And if the worst that comes of it is that we start from a point of asking for everything and get some of what we want then what is the harm in that? People want someone who will tell them what we should aspire to, not list all the reasons we can't have nice things.

[Hortensis]

5. Ah, The Hill. That explains the "Dems in disarray" spin on the high-minded

vigorous debate over principles and policies, and great opportunities, that has vanished on the authoritarian right.

[RobertDevereaux]

14. Pressure on Democrats?

Rather, a welcome and much needed return to our Roosevelt roots, as in Eleanor and Franklin.

[Socal31]

15. We should treat the GND and Medicare as separate issues.

Labor Unions are traditional allies that I am not ready to risk.

[R B Garr]

16. Yes, who will be canceling all their health care contracts ?

Saying you are for labor and then reducing their benefits doesn’t match up.