By: Ben Kamisar
Rep. Ben Ray Luján’s (D-N.M.) path to a Democratic House majority starts with making voters see that they can trust the Democratic Party again.
Democrats gained just six House seats in the 2016 elections, when almost everything went wrong for the party.
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This week bore the first major fruits of the party’s effort with its “A Better Deal” plan, a platform meant to refocus the party around economic issues and a message to voters that goes beyond attacks on Trump.
The plan, unveiled in vulnerable Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock’s northern Virginia district, focuses on policies such as raising wages, fighting job losses from outsourcing and “unfair” trade deals, protecting entitlements, lowering prescription drug costs, targeting monopolies and promoting long-term economic growth.
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The DCCC has pulled in a variety of perspectives to help shape the message and the strategy. The group has conducted focus groups with voters in Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The party has also held high-level meetings with representatives of diverse Democratic interests, including EMILY’s List, End Citizens United, Vote Vets and former staffers from Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign.