Woke baggage weighs down Democrats’ economic message

Some Democratic operatives are dubious, notably those intent on putting the party in a better position to win back the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House

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As Democrats attempt to unite around a new economic agenda for Republicans to eagerly belabor, their luck. Five months after President Donald Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris to win a White House encore, Democrats are still refusing to jettison the politically damaging progressive dogmas on cultural issues, blunting their advantage they stand to gain on the economy. That’s certainly what many Republicans believe. “Their populist economic message would probably be an effective one if it wasn’t for all this other baggage,” said veteran Republican strategist David Kochel, who is based in New Hampshire and counts among his clients Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

The working and middle-class voters Democrats need to improve their competitiveness in national elections aren’t going to listen to the party’s Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders. Support of big business runs deep in the US, especially among Republican voters loyal to President Donald Trump. And although billionaire technology mogul and White House advisor Elon Musk is something of a folk hero on the right, his favorable overall favorability is peppered with a lot of registered voters, including his in a recent vote at a Marc Maron poll from Harris and Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies. Just 39% viewed Musk positively.