Stephen L. Morgan of Bloomberg has advise for those seeking the Democratic presidential nomination:
Should the Democratic Party avoid nominating Cory Booker, Julian Castro or Kamala Harris, based on the argument that they cannot win back Obama-to-Trump voters because they are not white enough? Such arguments are wrongheaded. Voters whose support is determined strongly by racial attitudes chose their parties long ago. The voters who are up for grabs are those who do not vote based on racial matters, and that is why they backed Obama in 2012 before shifting to Trump in 2016.
The message for both parties is clearer than ever: It’s still the economy, but now it’s more than unemployment rates and economic growth. The country needs a new plan to distribute the wage benefits of economic growth more broadly. Trump has a plan: So far, he has managed to talk tough on immigration and start a trade war without destabilizing the economy. Democrats need to spend more energy on figuring out how to do better. Vacuous statements about new green jobs and the economy of the future were not persuasive in 2016, and they won’t be in 2020, either.
I have simpler advice. Take everything they’re doing to woo Democratic primary voters AKA the left flank of the party and do the opposite. Maximalist positions may make them heroes with Democratic primary voters but they will frighten centrists, moderates, and people who can be persuaded. Those positions include federally-funded abortion on demand, the “Green New Deal”, “Medicare For All” in the form taken by the bill introduced in the House or be Bernie Sanders in the Senate, and pledging to put Trump in jail if elected.
