Feb 6, 2020 - Politics & Policy

A warning to Democrats on their 2020 message

Axios

Former Vice President Joe Biden shaking a supporter's hand — Joe Biden speaks to a supporter yesterday in Somersworth, N.H. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Guy Cecil — chairman of Priorities USA, one of the most powerful outside Democratic groups — is out with a post-impeachment memo, "Democrats Must Focus on Kitchen Table Issues," with advice for presidential candidates.

The big picture: Cecil argues if Democrats successfully pick apart President Trump's record on everyday concerns for Americans, like pre-existing conditions, drug prices and Social Security, they can win back the White House in 2020.

What they're saying:

[Trump] remains in a relatively strong position to be re-elected ... If Democrats want to win, we ... must increase our focus on the issues that affect voters’ lives on a daily basis. ...

President Trump’s State of the Union speech showed that he and his team are very aware of these vulnerabilities. During his speech, Trump spent significant amounts of time attempting to whitewash his record on these issues. ...

Our last battleground poll found that 53 percent of voters viewed health care as more of a reason to elect someone other than Trump while just 29 percent viewed it as a reason to re-elect him. ...

Trump knows these issues matter and is using the bully pulpit to hide the truth. If Democrats don’t do a better job of putting them front and center, we will lose a very winnable election to Donald Trump.

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A warning to Democrats on their 2020 message

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