I think Dems need an argument about MAGA not just Trump.
Realize @TerryMcAuliffe shorthanded it in the closing days, but goal should be to show how MAGA has replaced conservatism in the GOP, and brand the entire party as unfit/extreme.
That we are still a month later debating, fighting, discussing is reckless and dangerous. The leader of the party needs to bring the party together. It is time.
So, a thread about digging out of our current hole and making the 2022 elections competitive again.
Our most important job now is to lead America through the end of COVID and into a sustained recovery. That is why Biden was elected, and it is work that is still not finished. 1/
COVID has an extraordinary trauma for everyone.
There may not be a singular event this disruptive to our basic lives again in many of our lifetimes.
Getting us through it, ending it, putting it behind us remains job #1 for Democrats. 2/
So, the new strategy memo I just published about how Biden can get his poll numbers back up and once again seize control of the national debate has gotten a bit of attention this week.
The read that it's OK to delay the promised infrastructure vote because ultimately moderates will get a smaller BBB bill is not exactly right.
Think what most 2022 candidates truly wanted was a consensual process, like the ARP, and to avoid looking like Dems have run left.
For those running in 2022, sustained factional infighting needed to be avoided at all costs, as did anything that could be used by GOP to be able to say "see we were right - the socialists are taking over."
These concerns are just as/more important as the size of the package.
Not sure how we ended up with a process different from what created the American Rescue Plan. But during this period from late June on when the party struggles broke out, Biden's numbers have dropped 13 points on @FiveThirtyEight.
Been amazing to watch the flood of polls hitting the center-left ecosystem this year.
What remains common, and arguably dangerous, is the failure of many to distinguish between what is popular and what is popular AND important, meaning that it could drive someone's vote. 1/x
Let's use latest @NavigatorSurvey data on what Dem voters want Biden/Congress to focus on:
COVID 75%
Jobs/Economy 51%
Climate/Weather 48%
Health Care 41%
Social Security/Medicare 28%
Afghanistan 25%
Natl Security 21%
What the clear dominance of COVID in the issue environment right now means that any poll testing Biden's agenda which does not test elements against COVID and the ARP-led recovery are painting a very incomplete picture, and may in fact be misleading. 3/x