Pramila Jayapal and Eric Swalwell are both sponsors of Medicare For All and the Green New Deal. I bet voters all over the country would love to talk with them about those billsFormer Florida congressman Alan Grayson (D) was one of the people I consulted with when I was writing posts in the last few days about the GOP socialism malarkey and their campaign tactic of smearing the Democratic Party-- the McCarthyism Trump learned from his favorite lawyer, Roy Cohn-- with some kind of "new" red scare. "The remarkable thing is that anyone listens to it in the first place," Grayson told me. "We’re for universal healthcare, progressive taxation, free higher education and the right to choose, and against pollution and discrimination. They’re against 'socialism,' whatever that is."Voters may have an idea of what it is-- accurate or not-- but gushers of GOP money will make sure every voter in every swing state is bombarded with a Trumpified version of what it is. Voters are too smart for that? OK, some are... but those voters are already supporters of Bernie's or of Elizabeth Warren's. Alexi McCammond, a reporter for Axios, looked at focus group results from swing voters in Wisconsin. Short version: voters don't know anything about what you read here at DWT. Basically, the participants-- eight Barack Obama/Donald Trump voters and four Mitt Romney/Hillary Clinton voters-- in Appleton, Wisconsin had never even heard of Medicare-For-All or the Green New Deal-- never heard of either! As McCammond explained: "These are Democrats' biggest policy staples heading into the 2020 presidential election. They're talking about them all the time, and the ideas are even being weaponized by the right to label the entire Democratic Party as socialists. But none of that is breaking through in this key battleground state."
Not a single person had heard of-- or could explain-- the Green New Deal....Nine of the 12 people said they'd heard almost no news at all about "Medicare for all" in the past several months.Half of the participants had never even heard the phrase "Medicare for all" until they walked in the room that night in Appleton, Wisconsin... A majority of these swing voters have no idea which party is pushing the plan. Because of that, they don't view either the Green New Deal or "Medicare for all" favorably or unfavorably.They're also unfamiliar with most of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. In fact, these swing voters know Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez better than all of the 2020 Democrats except for Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders.The bottom line: Democrats might have an opportunity to capitalize on Trump fatigue in 2020 in this critical battleground state-- but they're a long way from winning over swing voters on the ideas that will define their campaigns.
The other day, a friend of mine was telling me he isn't feeling the Bern any longer. "All he says is the same stuff over and over," he complained. (He's leaning towards Kamala Harris.) Bernie is talking more about himself this cycle than he ever had before. Voters want that, want to know who they're going to consider voting for, what they have in common and if they can trust what the person is saying and advocating for. As far as talking about the same policies over and over and over. He can't do that enough. He can't stop. My friend is very smart and understands the Green New Deal and Medicare For All and supports both. Both he's far from typical of a Upper Midwest swing voter.There are 106 members who have signed on as co-sponsors to Pramila Jayapal's new and improved Medicare-For-All legislation. They should all be holding town halls to discuss the bill with their constituents, especially in districts where the balance of power rests with swing voters. Examples of districts that fit that description with co-sponsors of the bill: PA-08 (Matt Cartwright), OR-04 (Pete DeFazio), CA-10 (Josh Harder), CA-25 (Katie Hill), AZ-02 (Ann Kirkpatrick), CA-49 (Mike Levin), CA-45 (Katie Porter) and PA-07 (Susan Wild). It's hard work. But if they are serious about the legislation and want to see the bill pass the House-- which is far from guaranteed-- they need to help their own constituents understand why they support it, assuming they all actually do support it and aren't just signing on as a co-sponsor to shut left-wing activists up, right Ann?It's the same with the Green New Deal, AOC's resolution. Many independent voters don't know what it is-- if they've even heard of it. Trump has signaled clearly that the GOP has every intention in the world of demonizing its congressional supporters. Members in swing districts should be out talking with their constituents now not after GOP ads funded by the oil and gas industry start blanketing the airwaves. There are 90 co-sponsors and the ones in districts they need the most work are CA-49 (Mike Levin), FL-26 (Debbie Mucarsel-Powell), NY-18 (Sean Patrick Maloney), OR-04 (Pete DeFazio) and NY-03 (Tom Suozzi). What about the 85 co-sponsors? Maybe they should spread out. I'm sure candidates running in red districts would love to be events with them about the Green New Deal in their districts. Mike Siegel, a candidate running against Climate Change denier Michael McCaul, told me he would welcome Green New Deal supporters to his sprawling Texas district to explain the ramifications of the legislation to his voters, since the Green New Deal is one of Mike's top 4 platform planks. Eva Putzova (AZ-01), Audrey Denney (CA-01) and Kara Eastman (NE-02) would welcome the same kind of help in their districts. If we're serious about this stuff we've got to work to pass it, not just inside the marbled halls of Congress, but out on the hustings as well.
