It’s the economy, and so much more
Recently I criticized the Democratic Party for being performative and not being true allies of marginalized communities, while also ignoring the predominant concern of voters: the economy. I suggested that Democrats tried to win voters by trying to be all things to all people and not realizing that the clearest path to winning was to focus on the needs most Americans had in common.
I stand by this argument. But there’s another side to it. I also believe that the Democratic Party stands to lose even more if we abandon our progressive values and focus entirely on bread and butter issues.
Democrats are collectively concluding that the Party must swing back to the center. But a redirected focus on Americans’ economic needs cannot be at the cost of the progressive issues and policies we leaned into so much in 2024.
We must find a middle way forward where we tackle the problems that most Americans face, like high food and drug prices, unaffordable housing, and a broken healthcare system. But we also must continue protecting reproductive freedom and the rights of women and girls. We cannot abandon communities of color and the work we’re doing to improve health outcomes and protect and expand voter rights. We must continue to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, the incarcerated, and the poor.
Democrats must learn how to support everyone who is struggling while also lifting up those who are marginalized. This is at the core of what makes us Democrats, and we have an amazing track record of successful legislation and programs that accomplish that.
Free school lunch, expanding healthcare coverage, protecting LGBTQ+ rights—these are things Democrats believe in strongly because they extend equal opportunity to everyone. We cannot stop pushing for progressive change because Americans want to focus on their own economic circumstances. We have to do these things simultaneously.
What does that look like? To me it means ensuring that every program or piece of legislation Democrats come up with must demonstrate that it benefits the widest swath of people possible.
It means continuing to make sure as many stakeholders as possible are at the table, and then actively engaging them on the creation and implementation of programs and policies that will benefit them.
It means taking the time to consider the impact of a new program or policy not just on the community for which it’s intended, but on all communities.
It means more and better communication. Too often Democrats get caught off guard by opponents’ pithy characterizations of legislation as a “job killer” or “unaffordable” or “anti-family.” Those labels stick because Democrats don’t rely on simple messaging and instead frequently use complicated explanations to talk about our work. It’s ironic—Democrats try so hard to be the “party of the people,” but our very approach makes us come off as elitist.
We must communicate broadly and clearly. When we pass legislation that benefits low income families, let’s make sure that all low income families know they can benefit from it, from urban to rural, north to south, non-white to white, young to old. When we build a program to lift people out of hunger, let’s make sure rural voters in Maine know they can use it as well as urban voters in Phoenix. When we make changes in healthcare policy to improve women’s reproductive care, let’s make sure all women are aware of it and include the necessary metrics to prove the benefit.
And then let’s share it—a lot. Even if it seems obvious, Democrats must never stop showing how our work is benefitting Americans.
Even though a simple message is an effective message, I wouldn’t be a proper Democrat if I didn’t point out that it’s more complicated than that. It’s not just the economy. While the economy is the thing that most impacts everyone, it’s also being used to divert attention away from all the other issues that, along with the economy, make life difficult for a lot of people.
By reducing the key to winning elections to “it’s the economy,” many people, intentionally or not, are distracting us from continuing to work to improve the lives of marginalized communities. Distilling the most important issues down to just kitchen table economics doesn’t get you off the hook from working on all the other things.
Going forward, Democrats need to walk and chew gum at the same time. We must focus on the economy as the thing that’s most important to all Americans. We must strongly and consistently communicate about what we’re doing to support and improve the lives of all Americans and their families.
We must also continue the work we have always done to support the rights and needs of marginalized communities. We cannot turn our backs on our platform and our progressive values simply because we’ve identified one common problem to solve. The other problems aren’t going away, and Democrats cannot lose sight of them.