Democrats who won key Senate races have a straightforward message for their party. “Either we get a better economic message or we keep losing.”
Soon-to-be senators, from Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin to Arizona’s Ruben Gallego to California’s Adam Schiff, appeared on Sunday TV shows to do what other Democrats couldn’t: I answered them about the right thing to do. It all happened last Sunday, a week after many other Democrats went into hiding from the network in the aftermath of their election loss.
“Every political party, and the only one I can represent is the Democratic Party, has to focus on the things that keep people up at night. It’s their pocketbooks, it’s their children,” Slotkin said. he said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.” “There are a lot of issues out there. But we have to start with what’s keeping people awake, and that’s food issues and economic issues.”
Like Slotkin, Gallego is a congressman who won promotion to the Senate on Election Day even though Trump had Arizona at the top of his list. He agreed that Democrats generally do not connect with the American people on issues that are important to them, especially the economy.
“You can get all the charts you want,” Gallego said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “If you open your checking account and find that your income has decreased and the money coming in is not enough, GDP growth doesn’t matter.”
Gallego also noted that there are more registered Republicans than Democrats in Arizona, and he knows voters of both parties are struggling economically, and as someone who grew up poor, he He said he could relate.
“People were hurting. When I say people were hurting, I mean people were actually feeling the economic pain,” Gallego said. “We explained to people that what’s happening right now is bad. By the way, it’s not your fault. But we’re going to work to fix it. And that’s why I I think what we’ve been working on for 23 months has made the biggest difference.”
Another current House colleague, Mr. Schiff, R-Calif., recognized a similar messaging problem among Democrats.
“Frankly, I think one of the reasons I was successful in California was that I was talking about the economy in California,” Schiff said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We need to make a case across rural America that we understand what people are going through, that we respect them and that we are going to make things happen for them. I think so.”
Pennsylvania was one of the battleground states where Republicans increased their vote share, flipping the Senate and gaining two seats in the House. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who flipped a Republican-held Senate seat in 2022, also cited the “unique” factors of this term that made Trump “the strongest of three terms,” such as Butler, Pennsylvania. He pointed out the assassination attempt. and Elon Musk’s growing presence in the state.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York also acknowledged that Democrats’ losses in the working class are “a very important part of our analysis” as the party moves forward. He reiterated that Democrats must “prioritize working families over connected families.”
“Poorly negotiated trade deals, the outsourcing of America’s high-wage jobs, the decline of labor unions, and, of course, the rise of automation, are all impacting people in America’s heartland, the Great Lakes states, and working families across the country. It’s clogged,”’ Jeffries said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And it’s up to Democrats, Republicans and independents to do something decisively about this. For me, that’s the lesson from the recent elections.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who is currently serving a three-year term and has been named as a candidate for future national office, has pointed out that the incoming Trump administration’s Cabinet reshuffles will pave the way for Democrats to make their case. .
“I don’t want to criticize in any way, because the vice president had 107 days and she did everything she could. And I proudly walked around the country supporting her,” Beshear said. said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But what I do know is that over the next few years, we have an opportunity to show the American people that we are focused on jobs, health care, infrastructure and society every day, every moment.” The only thing I worry about every day is my children’s education. ”
He added: “And in this administration, at least for now, we’ve chosen some very extreme appointees, and this is our chance to make real change and show the people that we’re meeting their basic needs. It’s an opportunity,” he added.
Beshear also pointed out that this doesn’t mean Democrats should abandon their beliefs, saying they vetoed anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by Republicans in the state Legislature, but the next day they debated employment issues. He pointed out that he had returned to
“If we’re talking about this issue today, we’re talking about what Donald Trump said last night,” Beshear said. “And we’re talking about work. We only spend a third of our time talking about what people are worried about and what impacts their lives the most. No.”
