Democratic party organizers and fundraisers met last week in Columbus, Ohio, to discuss how to counteract the quickly rising progressive movement as ignoring it could lead to disaster in the upcoming midterm elections and the 2020 presidential race, NBC News reports.
"The only narrative that has been articulated in the Democratic Party over the past two years is the one from the left," said former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell at the “Opportunity 2020” convention.
"I think we need a debate within the party," he added. "Frankly, it would have been better to start the conversation earlier."
The energy behind the progressive movement has been picking up steam, most recently with the victory of Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Hispanic female felled the 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in a stunning upset in New York on June 26, and her support has helped shove the “Abolish ICE” movement into the spotlight.
Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, recently made their progressive push in deep-red state Kansas, where they touted Medicare for all, a single-payer healthcare system and free college tuition.
"People, they believe that healthcare is a right," Sanders told CBS News on Sunday. "People believe we should raise the minimum wage to a living wage. People do not think, as Trump does, that we should give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top 1 percent, but in fact we have got to demand that the rich start paying their fair share of taxes. Whether you're in Kansas or the Bronx or in Vermont, we have common interests and common aspirations and we have got to fight for an America that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent."
About 250 Democratic insiders from key swing states attended the Opportunity 2020 event, which was hosted by moderate Democratic think tank Third Way.
The longtime Washington-based group, according to McClatchy DC, unveiled a report based on the findings of a year-long assessment launched after the election, and with it touted an alternative agenda that centers on "opportunity" and access rather than equality.
Democratic insiders there also advocated reaching out to so-called moderate Republicans who have broken with Trump, instead of focusing on inspiring non-voters and disgruntled Democrats.
"How we tell our story and put forward our polices in a way that makes people want to mount the barricades is one of the biggest challenges we have," said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn.
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