Schumer: Health Law Took Democrats Off Course
Democrats smarting from this years midterm losses need to focus on policies benefiting the middle class, something they failed to do when they pursued the 2010 federal health-care law, Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Tuesday.
Mr. Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, suggested Democrats have veered from this focus to their detriment in recent years. In a sharp criticism, he said Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them following the 2008 elections by focusing on an overhaul of the health-care system.
It wasnt the change we were hired to make; Americans were crying out for an end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs, not for changes in their health care, Mr. Schumer said in a speech at the National Press Club. He later added that when Democrats focused on health care, the average middle-class person thought, the Democrats are not paying enough attention to me.
If Democrats hope to rebound in 2016, they need to outline a specific plan and programs that, if enacted, would actually improve lives and incomes, he said.
By using government in a careful, focused way, we will provide a shield against the large forces that have worked against middle-class families so that they have a better job and more money in their pockets, Mr. Schumer said.
Democrats have been forced to do some soul-searching in the wake of bruising midterm elections that saw them lose control of the Senate to a Republican Party that also cemented a larger majority in the House of Representatives. Senate Democrats expressed their frustrations in a recent closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill that ran more than four hours.
Mr. Schumer, who as a member of the Democratic leadership will help shape his partys response to the new GOP majority, said his plan should unite the spectrum of Democrats, from former Sen. Hillary Clinton to the more left-leaningSen.Elizabeth Warren(D., Mass.). The party cannot run away from its belief that the government can be a force for good, he said, because its what unites the party.
If we run away from government, downplay it, or act as if we are embarrassed by its role, people wont vote for our pale version of the Republican view: theyll vote for the real McCoy, Mr. Schumer said. He added that Democrats need to add a populist element to their outreach, even for those of us who dont consider ourselves populists.
Ms. Warren offered a similar prescription for the party last week, warning Democrats they must not get too cozy with large corporations at the expense of the middle class.
Mr. Schumer acknowledged that Democrats have been hurt by a number of government missteps, including problems in the Department of Veterans Affairsand rollout of the federal health-care law, that contributed to the publics belief that the government doesnt work.
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Schumer: Health Law Took Democrats Off Course