OPINION: Get ‘working,’ not ‘woke,’ Dems: An economic message is the path to victory in 2020

Jul. 3--As a candidate for president, Mayor de Blasio isn't surging in the polls or bringing in massive donations -- at least, not yet -- but he is getting one important thing right that all the Democratic hopefuls should remember: the only way to win the White House is to be a fierce, forceful, practical champion of working families struggling to make ends meet.

"I'm going to talk [during the campaign] about what we have done here, the things in New York where we actually changed the status quo, put money back in the hands of working people," de Blasio recently told me. "Pre-K For All, Paid Sick Leave, guaranteeing health care, $15 minimum wage, I mean things that make a huge difference in everyday people's lives."

De Blasio's gambit might not succeed, but he has the right idea. For Democrats, the road to the White House runs through economically-burdened, working-class households.

It's easy to lose sight of that core political truth. The restless base of the Democratic coalition -- college-educated women, millennials, environmentalists, LGBTQ Americans, union households and black and Latino voters -- represent vocal constituencies with a wide variety of needs.

In any given news cycle, Democratic candidates must respond to breaking news stories about a wide range of issues important to part of the coalition. In recent weeks, we've seen attacks on abortion rights; Latino children held in migrant camps on the Mexico border; and protests over the killing of a black man by a white police officer.

Most of the 24 Democratic hopefuls, seeking to win over women, Latino or black voters, issued statements, made speeches, or attended protests to signal concern to these vital constituencies. But flitting from one issue to another this way makes it hard to stay on track and craft a solid economic message.

Sen. Kamala Harris, the hands-down winner of the recent, nationally televised debates, scored a devastating hit against ex-V.P. Joe Biden by attacking his past opposition to court-ordered busing, in a direct, emotional appeal to black voters and liberal whites. Harris was mightily rewarded for the carefully-planned attack on Biden, raising $2 million in the hours after the debate and vaulting into second place in a national poll and in the all-important lead state of Iowa.

All well and good. But to build a winning message, Harris will need to say much more about her rather modest economic agenda, which calls for a $15 minimum wage and a batch of tax credits for rent, child care and other basic needs.

Biden himself remains in the top position in all polls, in part, because he is eloquent, passionate and believable on the subject of rebuilding a bigger, fairer middle class. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another front-runner, has a dazzlingly detailed set of economic proposals, including a national affordable housing plan that de Blasio ought to copy or match.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders, determined to outbid other candidates on middle-class entitlements, is proposing Medicare for All and cancellation of all college debt.

De Blasio hopes to join this field of front-runners, warning that Democrats who forget to put the economy first end up regretting it.

In 2016, as a candidate, Hillary Clinton failed to project the obsessive concern with middle-class issues that characterized the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton and the welter of programs he championed, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program, the Family and Medical Leave Act and a 45% increase in WIC benefits.

Hillary's loss of focus opened the door to the razor-thin victories in midwestern states that delivered the Electoral College -- and the White House -- to Donald Trump.

In the 1992 presidential campaign, political strategist James Carville created a short poem to remind his team -- and his candidate, then-Gov. Bill Clinton -- about their priorities.

The second line of the haiku was: The Economy, Stupid.

It was true then, and even more so now.

Louis is political anchor of NY1 News.

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