WASHINGTON — Liberals happily proclaimed the Democrats’s new economic message as a “slap at Blue Dogs” in the party.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, hailed the “economic populist” agenda for the Democratic Party as “admirable and strong” in a Monday statement. Green said that Democratic voters in 2018 will be searching for congressional leaders and candidates extolling this type of message on the campaign trail.
“As Democratic leaders call for unity around bold economic populist ideas, it’s a well-earned slap at Blue Dogs who preach a cautious, milquetoast, Republican-lite brand that offers voters no core values for what it means to be a Democrat. A bold, economic populist message is how Democrats can inspire voters in red, purple, and blue districts,” Green said.
“In her convention speech, Hillary Clinton called for ‘a country where the economy works for everyone, not just those at the top.’ Announcing her campaign, she promised to make our ‘economy work for every American,’” Green said, noting that Clinton erred in this economic framing because it failed to recognize that within “everyone” bad actors exist.
Green later added, “There are powerful interests attacking working class people. Promising to work for ‘everyone’ fails to answer the most fundamental question in politics: When there is a fight, whose side are you on?”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rolled out the Democrat economic agenda at a press conference from rural Virginia Monday after lamenting over the weekend that it was not enough for his party to only be against Trump. Democrats, apparently working off Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” in calling their plan a “Better Deal.”
“We’ve already proposed creating jobs with a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan; raising wages by lifting the minimum wage to $15; and lowering household costs by providing paid family leave and sick leave,” Schumer stated.
He went on to say, “Today, we announce three new policies to advance our goals. And in the coming weeks and months you’ll hear a lot more. Right now, there’s is nothing to stop vulture capitalists from egregiously raising the price of life saving drugs without any justification.”
The Democrats’ message, though, appeared to be lost in the day’s news cycle, as networks and major outlets kept their focus on President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White senior aide Jared Kushner, who gave behind closed door testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee related to the investigation on Russia’s influence in the 2016 election.
Meanwhile, Republicans poked fun at the Democrats’ full title of the economic plan, “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future,” and said it was ripped off from Papa John’s Pizza marketing campaign: “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza.” The Republican super PAC America Rising sent out pizza boxes taking further jabs at the name.