A strategy memo in January said that of three options available when Republicans deny President Joe Biden the ten GOP votes he will need to advance his legislative agenda through the Senate, the worst option would be to dramatically weaken the proposal and deliver diminished results for the American people.
“Watering down the proposals in a hunt for Republican support is a bad idea on both substance and politics,” said progressive firebrands from Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, and New Deal Strategies in their January 18, 2021 strategy memo.
“We should not play into Republicans’ hands by delivering less aid while making the bill less popular,” said the memo. “When the Obama administration decided to deliver a smaller ARRA package in exchange for paltry Republican support, it was a bad trade. Democrats got no credit politically for a bipartisan deal, and Americans judged Democrats harshly in the 2010 midterms in large part because they did not see enough improvement in their own economic situation.”
Progressives warn that Democrats will suffer in the 2022 midterms because they failed to deliver tangible results that improve Americans’ lives even though the problems besetting those citizens were actually caused by Republicans, either intentionally or through ineptitude.
Their message is not getting through.