Several moderate Democrats have said they would focus on Sanders’ health care message — the biggest plank of his platform and a key driver of his base.
“I think health care is a good direction, I just don’t like how he wants to get there. Same with some of his other ideas,” said Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), whose district barely went for Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016, and who has not yet endorsed a candidate.
“There are certainly parts of his agenda that are attractive to some people,” said freshman Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, noting the idea of universal health coverage is popular in parts of her purple district. But she said Democrats would need to find a way to achieve that outcome that doesn’t “burn the house down in the process.”
“I’m seeing it kind of like the process of legislation,” Wild added. “There’s going to have to be compromise all the way around.”
But not every Democrat is so optimistic that they can run with — or run away from — Sanders’ message and the “socialist” sobriquet Republicans are already trying to pin on every Democrat.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who offered a high-profile endorsement of Joe Biden ahead of the former vice president’s landslide South Carolina win, warned of “down-ballot carnage” if Sanders is the Democratic nominee.
“We want to see somebody on the ticket that will allow us to expand our numbers. Not having to run some kind of a rearguard campaign in order to keep from being tarnished with a label,” Clyburn said Friday on CNN.
The fears about keeping the House are most pronounced among the several dozen Democrats running in the most competitive seats, particularly freshmen, who have never run on the same ballot as Trump.
Freshman Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, whose district went narrowly for Clinton in 2016, said he would go into his race “with the same degree of confidence” regardless of who leads the ticket.
But he said Democrats would have a much simpler message — and better odds of beating Trump — if they have someone other than Sanders on the ballot.
“All we’ve got to do is to say, we’re not messing with the economy, we’re going to improve health care, and we’re going to give you a president who tells the truth, respects the law, and can be a good moral example for your kids,” Malinowski said.
“Why we would risk this extraordinary opportunity by nominating someone who has a tendency to divide our own side is beyond me,” he said, though he added that he would “absolutely” support Sanders if he is the nominee despite their differences.
Still, it’s not clear that Sanders will be welcome on the trail with the most vulnerable House Democrats.
“We don’t know who the nominee is going to be yet, so I think that’s kind of forward thinking,” said freshman Rep. Gil Cisneros, who flipped a GOP district in Southern California, after being asked multiple times whether he would campaign with Sanders. “But again, whoever the Democratic nominee is, Democrats in my district are going to rally around that individual.”
Source: politico.com
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