Pragmatism, "Half-Loaves", Small Measures, Policy wonkiness is how we got Trump [View all]

[Yavin4]

Yes, the Russians played a role. Yes, Republicans have gone totally to the darkside, etc. However, the real problem is that the Democratic party has not offered the American people a bold, forward-looking vision that resonates with the public through multiple election cycles.

Ask yourself, what was Bill Clinton's big policy legacy that Democrats throughout the country could rally behind?

Obama's ACA left a terrible legacy with one huge exception, selective expansion of Medicaid. That expansion alone led to a massive mid-term victories in the House in 2018. The lesson here is that the one big policy idea that the Democrats put into law over the past 40 years is what got them huge wins over the Republicans in 2018 and continues to be a electoral force in our favor.

Yet still, there are Democrats that still run on being pragmatic, go for the half loaf, etc. It's hard to rally people to vote for you based on "Pay-Go".