The Democratic Party is going to have to adopt a key platform of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign if it hopes to gain seats in 2018, according to a Tuesday report.
Left-leaning think tank Third Way published a report after surveying “persuadable” voters that either didn’t vote in 2016 or voted for Trump. The results showed that African American, Latino, and millennial voters could be talked into voting for Democrats as long as the party pursues a strong agenda on creating more jobs.
Trump famously declared that he would be the “greatest jobs president God ever created” on the campaign trail. In fact, Trump’s jobs messaging was pervasive through his entire political platform, according to an archived versionof the president’s campaign website saved in October 2016.
The popular border wall also included language that asserted he would stop illegal immigrants from taking jobs from American citizens. Even his foreign policy platform included language that sought to protect jobs through renegotiation of key deals like NAFTA that allow for trade between multiple nations.
Despite the fact it will be borrowing from Trump’s winning strategy, the think tank asserts that a central message around increasing jobs is the best way to win against Republicans.
“Even as the economy approaches full employment, there remains a real economic anxiety, and people will always aspire to new and better job opportunities. Trump spoke to this — and voters responded,” the report concluded.
Although voters responded to that message, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the lead in voters who were worried about the economy. Fifty-two percent of Clinton voters asserted that the economy was the most important issue, compared to 41 percent of Trump voters who agreed.
“To rebuild the Party and regain the power to enact their priorities, Democrats need to craft a broad path that’s inclusive of a diverse coalition and sustainable across election cycles. Reclaiming its status as the party of jobs is a unifying way to do just that,” the report said.
The report also said that traditionally progressive ideals like free college tuition or a universal basic income are viewed negatively as “handouts” by the average voter, a sort of resentment that is likely to turn off key persuadable voters identified in the report.
“Rallying around proposals like free college or universal basic income just exacerbate this resentment,” the report said. “Effective policy solutions to bolster economic security are vital, but they must begin with job creation and be tethered to the values of hard work and earning your way that underscore America’s economic compact.”
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