Promising “A Better Deal” for US workers, Democratic Party leaders rolled out a new agenda with a populist pitch on Monday aimed at winning back the working-class voters they lost to US President Donald Trump in November last year.
Democratic congressional leaders left the Beltway for small-town Berryville, Virginia, to stake a claim to competing in rural and Republican-leaning areas. Acknowledging they failed to offer a compelling economic message during last year’s election, Democrats unveiled proposals on jobs, prescription drug prices and more that they hope will resonate in next year’s midterm elections and beyond.
“Too many Americans don’t know what we stand for,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “Not after today.”
Photo: Reuters
Yet the challenges confronting the Democrats’ rebranding effort were immediately apparent.
As Schumer spoke alongside other House and Senate Democrats, TV news stations were instead showing Trump adviser Jared Kushner denying collusion with Russia, as Trump administration turmoil swamped the Democrats’ attempt to get their message out.
The Democrats’ new message was presented by some familiar old faces in Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose potency as a Republican foil has been on display in House special elections this year.
A small group of protesters hoisted pizza boxes with photographs of Pelosi and the words “Better skills, better jobs, better wages, still Pelosi.”
The phrase played off the full title of the Democratic platform — “A better deal: Better jobs, better wages, better future” — which some have mockingly compared to the Papa John’s pizza slogan: “Better ingredients, better pizza.”
Alluding to Schumer and Pelosi, one local Democrat in attendance, David Borger, said: “I have a lot of respect for both of them, but I’m not sure they are the leadership we need.”
“There might have to be new leadership,” added Borger, 62, a retired school science teacher, while acknowledging it was not clear who that might be.
Despite Democrats’ claims of unity, and a base energized against Trump, divisions aplenty remain in a party still nursing the wounds of defeat as some of the liberals who backed Senator Bernie Sanders still resent those who supported former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Nevertheless, as the sun beat down and bugs swarmed in a local park, Democratic leaders claimed a positive agenda to take them out of their minority status.
“People need to know not only what we’re fighting against, they need to know what we’re fighting for,” Senator Chris van Hollen said.
Attempting to showcase all wings of the party, moderate Senator Mark Warner spoke, as did liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren was mobbed afterward by supporters.
The event took place in the district of one of the Republican House members Democrats hope to defeat next year, Barbara Comstock.
The Democratic Party need to flip 24 Republican-held seats to regain the majority in the House.
Yet in the Senate, the party is mostly playing defense with 10 Democrats trying to retain seats in states won by Trump, including Republican strongholds such as West Virginia, Missouri and North Dakota.
Party strategists say that for most Senate candidates, a national party message has little value, and each candidate must fight on their own terms and issues.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese