As shell-shocked Democrats try to understand why working-class Americans – once the cornerstone of their political base – chose a billionaire over them, progressives argue the path forward is to champion “popular and populist” economic policies.
Democratic recriminations have intensified in the nearly seven days since their devastating electoral losses, which may yet deliver a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, after Donald Trump stormed to a second term while his party easily flipped the Senate and is on the verge of winning a majority in the House. Divisions have deepened, with progressives blaming the party’s embrace of corporate America and swing-state Democrats accusing the left of tarnishing its appeal with ex-urban and rural voters.
“Clearly not enough voters knew what Democrats were going to do to make their lives better, particularly poor and working-class Americans across this country,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday.
Jayapal rejected criticism that progressive policies cost the party votes. Instead she blamed party leaders for falling “hostage to big-money interests”. Voters who earn under $100,000 favored Republicans, as exit polls showed the economy driving Black, Latino and young voters away from the Democrats.
“We’ve got to pick some big fights where people can’t be in denial or question whether or not we are standing up for them or whether we’re standing up to the big corporate interests,” the Washington congresswoman said, adding: “It’s a difficult message to send when you’re trying to court money from that community.”
During the press conference, Jayapal introduced several new progressive members of the freshman class – among them the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress, Sarah McBride of Delaware, and a protege of Kamala Harris, Lateefah Simon of California. Their elections, the congresswoman said, were “evidence that progressive power, despite everything that we are dealing with, is still growing”.
Jayapal argued that Tuesday’s results were not a repudiation of progressive policies and dared Republicans to try to roll back popular elements of the president’s economic agenda as they have promised. Meanwhile, Jayapal noted, voters in red states such as Alaska and Missouri acted to raise the minimum wage and provide paid sick leave, two policies progressives have long championed.
But across the country, Americans sent mixed signals. In blue states such as California and swing states such as Arizona, voters approved conservative measures to strengthen law enforcement’s response to crime and unlawful immigration respectively.
With Trump pledging to carry out a mass deportation campaign as part of a sweeping rightwing agenda, Jayapal said progressives were again prepared to lead a “historic resistance” to his presidency. Texas representative Greg Casar, the progressive caucus whip, added that it was imperative Democrats stand “for everyday people, for working people and for civil rights”.
Many Democrats have blamed an emphasis on identity politics for creating the perception that the party is removed from the economic concerns of working-class voters. Trump spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-trans ads aimed at portraying Harris as an out-of-touch liberal elite. The ads mostly went unanswered.
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“Let’s be clear, the party that was focused on culture wars, the party that was focused on trans people, was the Republican party. It was Donald Trump,” said McBride, the congresswoman-elect from Delaware who centered her campaign on the economic pain voters in her state were feeling. “I didn’t run on my identity, but my identity was not a secret.”
McBride said the results called for “humility” and “soul-searching” across the party, but argued Democrats must serve as a “check” on a second Trump administration.
“Donald Trump was trying to divide and distract from the fact that he has absolutely no policy solutions for the issues that are actually keeping voters up at night, the issues that I was hearing about on the campaign trail,” she said.
“And I think we have to be crystal clear as we move forward, that we are going to call out the hypocrisy of Donald Trump, of disingenuously claiming that he is a fighter for working people when his agenda is pro-higher cost and pro-inflation. That’s what we will get with his agenda in this administration.”
