Latest news with #SouthCarolinaDemocraticConvention
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - The Democrats' new campaign agenda: No more Mister Nice Guy
The long process of selecting the next Democratic presidential nominee is beginning, with potential candidates speaking already to gatherings of party faithful. 'We can — and we must — condemn Donald Trump's reckless actions,' Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) told about 800 people at the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner. The nation's only Black governor said Democrats must also advance their own agenda and be 'the party of action,' supporting policies that will quickly improve the lives of Americans. Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), last year's Democratic vice presidential nominee, told the South Carolina Democratic Convention that Democrats should 'be a little meaner' in standing up to what he called President Trump's bullying. He then flew across the country to speak to the California Democratic Convention and urged Democrats 'to find some goddamn guts to fight for working people,' because the party 'lost a big chunk of the working class' in last year's election. 'That last election was a primal scream on so many fronts,' he said. Neither Moore, Walz, nor any other Democrat has announced a 2028 presidential run so far, but Democrats have many excellent potential candidates. Former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) may seek the presidency a second time or run for governor of California in 2026. Other Democrats who may run for president include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and several others. Democrats are trying to figure out the winning recipe to cook up some wins following Republican victories last year. However, Republicans would like nothing better than to make former President Joe Biden's alleged mental decline in office — something Biden strongly denies — a major issue in their campaigns. I have known Biden for decades and believe he was an outstanding president. But debating his fitness for office is pointless. He will never run for office again. Democrats must look ahead, because voters will cast ballots for candidates they believe will give them a better future. Trump and congressional Republicans are doing an abysmal job governing. They embrace policies that threaten our liberties and the rule of law, give the richest Americans unjustified tax cuts and make massive cuts to vital government programs that benefit millions of people. They have eliminated hundreds of thousands of federal employees' jobs and support huge tariffs that raise consumer prices, reduce American exports and force U.S. businesses to lay off workers. Their legislation also harms our health and environment, weakens colleges and universities and ends diversity, equity and inclusion programs that open the door to the American Dream wider. They have worsened relations with other nations, endangered U.S. national security and seek to deport 1 million unauthorized immigrants, often without due process, and weaken freedom of the press and speech. Democrats should explain, in easily understandable language, how they would replace extremist Trump policies with better ones. For example, Democrats should point out that Trump and Republicans are prioritizing GOP tax cuts that would bring little or no benefit to most Americans. The Internal Revenue Service reports that in 2022 the 1 percent of taxpayers with the highest incomes paid about 40.4 percent of federal income taxes, while the top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The 50 percent of taxpayers with the lowest incomes paid only 3 percent of income taxes. This means that Trump's tax cuts would save the richest Americans millions of dollars every year, but would save most Americans little or nothing. And Democrats should accept the reality that in swing congressional districts and states, they need independent and sometimes a slice of moderate Republican votes to win elections. Embracing far-left progressive policies will help Republicans get elected. Rather than fighting over ideological purity, Democrats should focus on defeating Republicans. Democrats also need to reach out to low-turnout young voters and people of color with every method available. Personal contact is more effective than paid ads in reaching nonvoters. Beyond any speculation about 2028 and the presidential race, Democrats should first prioritize this year's statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia, and then the 2026 midterm elections for Congress, state legislatures and governorships. Nearly half the members of the House and Senate are former state legislators. Capturing at least one house of Congress would give Democrats the power to block some of Trump's legislative initiatives, call on administration officials to testify under oath and file lawsuits against illegal and unconstitutional actions by Trump. Democrats have an excellent chance of winning control of the House in 2026. Republicans now have a slim majority of 220 to 212. Three vacancies were created by the deaths of Democratic members, who are likely to be replaced by other Democrats in special elections. The president's party has lost House seats in 18 of the 20 midterm elections since the end of World War II. We don't know how popular Trump will be in 2026, but I'm betting his popularity falls as his policies hurt growing numbers of Americans, dragging down Republican candidates with him. A Gallup poll found that Trump had a public approval rating of 43 percent in May and a disapproval rating of 53 percent. The only post-World War II president with a lower approval rating in May after being elected was Trump himself, with an approval rating of 39 percent in May 2017. Democrats will have a harder time winning a Senate majority than taking control of the House, but good candidates attuned to their state's electorates can help to prove the political prognosticators wrong. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Thirty-five seats will be on the ballot in 2026, 23 of which are held by Republicans. Democrats had an awful 2024, marked by election defeats. America and the world are having an awful 2025 as a result of Trump's erratic, incompetent and dangerous leadership and Republicans' blind loyalty. Democrats are tired of looking back at what went wrong last year. We are rebuilding the party, holding town halls in Republican congressional districts where Republicans are too scared to do so and filing lawsuits challenging Trump's efforts to govern by executive order as if he were a king. A new era is beginning for Democrats. I look forward to better days ahead when my party starts winning elections against the radical Republicans who have abandoned Ronald Reagan's principled conservatism and embraced Trump and his MAGA movement's reckless extremism. Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of 'Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
The Democrats' new campaign agenda: No more Mister Nice Guy
The long process of selecting the next Democratic presidential nominee is beginning, with potential candidates speaking already to gatherings of party faithful. 'We can — and we must — condemn Donald Trump's reckless actions,' Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) told about 800 people at the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner. The nation's only Black governor said Democrats must also advance their own agenda and be 'the party of action,' supporting policies that will quickly improve the lives of Americans. Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), last year's Democratic vice presidential nominee, told the South Carolina Democratic Convention that Democrats should 'be a little meaner' in standing up to what he called President Trump's bullying. He then flew across the country to speak to the California Democratic Convention and urged Democrats 'to find some goddamn guts to fight for working people,' because the party 'lost a big chunk of the working class' in last year's election. 'That last election was a primal scream on so many fronts,' he said. Neither Moore, Walz, nor any other Democrat has announced a 2028 presidential run so far, but Democrats have many excellent potential candidates. Former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) may seek the presidency a second time or run for governor of California in 2026. Other Democrats who may run for president include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and several others. Democrats are trying to figure out the winning recipe to cook up some wins following Republican victories last year. However, Republicans would like nothing better than to make former President Joe Biden's alleged mental decline in office — something Biden strongly denies — a major issue in their campaigns. I have known Biden for decades and believe he was an outstanding president. But debating his fitness for office is pointless. He will never run for office again. Democrats must look ahead, because voters will cast ballots for candidates they believe will give them a better future. Trump and congressional Republicans are doing an abysmal job governing. They embrace policies that threaten our liberties and the rule of law, give the richest Americans unjustified tax cuts and make massive cuts to vital government programs that benefit millions of people. They have eliminated hundreds of thousands of federal employees' jobs and support huge tariffs that raise consumer prices, reduce American exports and force U.S. businesses to lay off workers. Their legislation also harms our health and environment, weakens colleges and universities and ends diversity, equity and inclusion programs that open the door to the American Dream wider. They have worsened relations with other nations, endangered U.S. national security and seek to deport 1 million unauthorized immigrants, often without due process, and weaken freedom of the press and speech. Democrats should explain, in easily understandable language, how they would replace extremist Trump policies with better ones. For example, Democrats should point out that Trump and Republicans are prioritizing GOP tax cuts that would bring little or no benefit to most Americans. The Internal Revenue Service reports that in 2022 the 1 percent of taxpayers with the highest incomes paid about 40.4 percent of federal income taxes, while the top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The 50 percent of taxpayers with the lowest incomes paid only 3 percent of income taxes. This means that Trump's tax cuts would save the richest Americans millions of dollars every year, but would save most Americans little or nothing. And Democrats should accept the reality that in swing congressional districts and states, they need independent and sometimes a slice of moderate Republican votes to win elections. Embracing far-left progressive policies will help Republicans get elected. Rather than fighting over ideological purity, Democrats should focus on defeating Republicans. Democrats also need to reach out to low-turnout young voters and people of color with every method available. Personal contact is more effective than paid ads in reaching nonvoters. Beyond any speculation about 2028 and the presidential race, Democrats should first prioritize this year's statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia, and then the 2026 midterm elections for Congress, state legislatures and governorships. Nearly half the members of the House and Senate are former state legislators. Capturing at least one house of Congress would give Democrats the power to block some of Trump's legislative initiatives, call on administration officials to testify under oath and file lawsuits against illegal and unconstitutional actions by Trump. Democrats have an excellent chance of winning control of the House in 2026. Republicans now have a slim majority of 220 to 212. Three vacancies were created by the deaths of Democratic members, who are likely to be replaced by other Democrats in special elections. The president's party has lost House seats in 18 of the 20 midterm elections since the end of World War II. We don't know how popular Trump will be in 2026, but I'm betting his popularity falls as his policies hurt growing numbers of Americans, dragging down Republican candidates with him. A Gallup poll found that Trump had a public approval rating of 43 percent in May and a disapproval rating of 53 percent. The only post-World War II president with a lower approval rating in May after being elected was Trump himself, with an approval rating of 39 percent in May 2017. Democrats will have a harder time winning a Senate majority than taking control of the House, but good candidates attuned to their state's electorates can help to prove the political prognosticators wrong. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Thirty-five seats will be on the ballot in 2026, 23 of which are held by Republicans. Democrats had an awful 2024, marked by election defeats. America and the world are having an awful 2025 as a result of Trump's erratic, incompetent and dangerous leadership and Republicans' blind loyalty. Democrats are tired of looking back at what went wrong last year. We are rebuilding the party, holding town halls in Republican congressional districts where Republicans are too scared to do so and filing lawsuits challenging Trump's efforts to govern by executive order as if he were a king. A new era is beginning for Democrats. I look forward to better days ahead when my party starts winning elections against the radical Republicans who have abandoned Ronald Reagan's principled conservatism and embraced Trump and his MAGA movement's reckless extremism. Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of 'Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tim Walz headlines two Democratic conventions but fails to address the party's leadership concerns
Two of California's Democratic hopefuls for the 2028 presidential election — former Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom — were notably absent from the state's 2025 Democratic convention. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' former running mate from last year, was the headliner at the convention on Saturday. Walz, who is on a sort of apology tour, didn't have an answer to the lingering question about who is best suited to lead the Democratic Party. As the control former President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wielded over the party fades, there is an opening for a new leader with a fresh perspective, but no one obvious enough to fill the role. At the convention, Walz scolded Democrats for failing to listen to voters, costing the party the 2024 presidential election. 'Some of it is our own doing,' Walz said at the Anaheim Convention Center, a few long blocks away from Disneyland. 'The Democratic Party, the party of the working class, lost a big chunk of the working class,' he said. 'We lost to a grifter billionaire giving tax cuts to his grifter billionaire buddies.' In the past election, Trump gained ground in nearly every county in the country. In California, where Democrats control the legislature, Trump flipped 10 counties previously won by Biden in 2020. 'We have to have confidence to get the basic stuff done like helping folks find meaningful work that pays a living wage so they can buy a home in a safe neighborhood and send their kids to good public schools,' the Minnesota governor said. 'Somewhere we strayed from our North Star.' The same day, Walz also headlined the South Carolina Democratic Convention. Wes Moore, another 2028 hopeful, joined Walz in Columbia. Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who seems to be positioning himself for another presidential bid, also showed up in Anaheim. Both the governors and the New Jersey senator dismissed rumors of presidential runs, although Booker first has to run again for his Senate seat in 2026. Walz in a recent interview did admit he's thinking about seeking a third term as governor of Minnesota. But he is going to wait until after calling a special election in July, when he hopes the divided state legislature finalizes the state's budget. After losing the 2024 presidential election, Walz hit the road again in March for a series of town halls in Republican-held congressional districts, starting in Iowa before traveling to Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas. 'I'm getting called out on this because I called Donald Trump a wannabe dictator. It's because he is. It's because he is. 'Oh, the governor's being mean and the governor's speaking out on that,'' Walz said in South Carolina. 'Maybe it's time for us to be a little meaner. Maybe it's time for us to be a little more fierce,' he said. Newsom, who is barred by term limits to run for re-election, attended a Democratic Governor's Association conference in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, the day of the convention. The San Francisco Standard's Josh Koehn speculated Newsom is avoiding the fall out of his latest podcast, 'This is Gavin Newsom,' where he has invited MAGA-loyalists to chat about controversial topics, like transgender men participating in women's sports. Unlike Newsom, Harris didn't have any scheduled engagements. Although Harris made an appearance through a pre-recorded video at the California Democratic Convention, she didn't answer any of the burning questions at the top of the minds of elected officials, political consultants, staffers, and union representatives: Is Harris going to run for president? Or does she have her eyes set on the governor's mansion in Sacramento? Harris' tough loss in the last presidential election makes her less of an obvious choice. But she hasn't called off her bid for the highest office just yet. The Golden State's gubernatorial race is already crowded thanks to high-profile names like Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. But many, like Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant governor of California, and Katie Porter, a former California representative and a 2024 senatorial candidate, plan to withdraw if Harris launches a bid for governor. Even if Harris runs, does she have enthusiasm behind her? According to the reporting from The Washington Post and The New York Times, many Democratic activists and delegates aren't convinced the former vice president should run for a statewide office. 'I think she'd be fine. I mean, she's already been a state leader, right?' Denise Robb, a Democratic Party delegate from Pasadena, told the Post. 'It's just that she lost the presidential race and she's been almost — gone. We don't hear from her. We don't see her.' Harris shied away from public appearances after her defeat against Trump. Last month, Harris in a rare political address dodged questions around her future plans and instead focused on Trump, criticizing his first 100 days in office. One delegate, Mark Gracyk from San Francisco, told the Times he doesn't support her run for governor either. 'The working class would say, 'Oh, there she is again, she has the support of the elites,'' the delegate said. Walz didn't necessarily provide more comfort to the dejected delegates, nor did he lay out a coherent path for future Democratic success. As he tried his best to energize voters across two states over the course of a single day, Turning Point Action organized a large rally in support of the political vehicle's gubernatorial candidate of choice in Arizona — Rep. Andy Biggs, a Trump loyalist and staunch conservative. At the rally, Biggs said he is all in on President Donald Trump's plan to reinstitute federalism, and when the president gives power back to the states, he is ready to be the 'strong, conservative governor' Arizona will need.
