In the days since Democrats were battered in elections across the country last week, criticism of the party’s policies and electoral strategies has rained down, alongside dire forecasts of its prospects in the 2022 midterms. The flagellation has come not just from gleeful Republicans, but from many in the Democratic ranks.Reasons put forward for the party’s losses included President Biden’s slipping approval in polls, impressions of a party that is incompetent at governing after months of infighting in Congress, rising inflation and crime in big cities, and tin-eared Democratic campaigns.One of the least envied jobs in politics at the moment belongs to Representative Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, who as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee must steer his caucus through the extremely choppy midterm waters. Mr. Biden’s approval numbers are lower than President Barack Obama’s were at the same point in his first term, ahead of the 2010 midterms when Democrats lost more than 60 House seats.In an interview with The New York Times on Monday, Mr. Maloney acknowledged the party’s challenges, but he rejected the idea that any major stocktaking was needed in terms of the Democratic agenda or the party’s focus on running against former President Donald J. Trump even without him on the ballot in 2022.Mr. Maloney maintained that the ground was already shifting in Democrats’ favor after the House’s Friday passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which is headed for the president’s desk.Mr. Maloney’s big takeaway from the electoral thumping was that Democrats need to do a better job getting the message out about their achievements — and that starts at the very top, with Mr. Biden. The interview has been lightly edited and condensed.There are about 50 Democratic-held House seats in congressional districts that President Biden won by less than he carried Virginia. Now that a Republican, Glenn Youngkin, has won the Virginia governor’s race, is it time for Democrats to make a radical readjustment to save themselves next year?The results in Virginia and elsewhere ought to be a wake-up call that we’re not getting the job done on messaging. It starts with the president.The No. 1 thing is to grow the economy and end the pandemic. But close behind that is telling people what you’ve done. I think it’s a fair criticism to say we haven’t done enough of that, and I think the White House needs to do more. I don’t think the president has been served well in this regard. It needs to happen right away.The president needs to get himself out there all around the country and do events in local media markets to punch through these key messages. I think the White House should do 25 presidential events in the next couple months just on infrastructure. And we should do 1,000 congressional events alongside those presidential events.My message is “free Joe Biden.” That campaign needs to start now before the next crisis takes over the news cycle.Since Terry McAuliffe’s loss in Virginia, Democratic strategists have said his efforts to tie Youngkin to Trump — virtually his No. 1 campaign issue — didn’t work. You’ve been advising House members in vulnerable seats to run against “Trump toxicity without Trump on the ballot.” Didn’t we just see why that won’t be a winning playbook for Democrats in the midterms?Let’s unpack that. Glenn Youngkin ran like a teenaged girl in a slasher movie away from Donald Trump. They’re making fun of him on “Saturday Night Live” for how much he tried to run away from Donald Trump.The competitive congressional districts are in largely suburban swing areas, and in those areas, Glenn Youngkin underperformed Mitt Romney. I think it’s more complicated than people are saying. Trump’s toxicity continues to be a tremendous liability with suburban swing voters.Democrats took the majority in the House in 2018 and the White House in 2020 because of suburban voters. But it would appear that after last week, when Republicans made inroads in suburbs in Virginia, New Jersey and on Long Island, N.Y., that you were only “renting” those voters.Youngkin did better in the suburbs than Trump did, that’s true. But Kevin McCarthy [the Republican House minority leader] is no Glenn Youngkin. He’s got 12 of his top recruits spreading the big lie about the election being stolen.I think what you’re seeing is that there’s real damage to the Republican brand in suburban areas and even Glenn Youngkin couldn’t overcome it. When he was able to add to his totals a strong turnout among the Trump base in rural counties, he was able to beat McAuliffe, but only by two percentage points.The Infrastructure Bill at a Glance
Card 1 of 5The bill receives final approval.The House passed a $1 trillion bill on Nov. 5 toBy: Trip Gabriel
Title: ‘Free Joe Biden’: Sean Maloney on How Democrats Can Get Back on Track
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/us/politics/sean-maloney-democrats.html
Published Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 10:00:22 +0000
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