Senate Democrats Press Conference 3/26/2014 – Video
Senate Democrats Press Conference 3/26/2014
By: CASenDems
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Archive for the ‘Democrats’ Category
Hey, Democrats! Here’s a Winning Strategy for 2014 – Video
Hey, Democrats! Here #39;s a Winning Strategy for 2014
Sam Seder takes a look at the issues Democrats need to focus on if they actually want to hold the Senate in 2014... This clip from the Majority Report, live ...
By: Sam Seder
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Coastside Democrats Endorsements Convention. – Video
Coastside Democrats Endorsements Convention.
Leland Yee, a couple Supervisors, and Alifan vs Eblovi debate.
By: CitizenAccess.TV
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Senate Democrats struggle to define a message that can save their majority
J. Scott Applewhite/AP -
Thus far, what they have produced is a smaller, more targeted approach one that seeks to gin up the enthusiasm that has been lacking in key parts of their base, but that strategy is a gamble since it targets many voters who historically spurn midterm elections.
Senate Democrats latest effort in that regard is a 10-point plan for legislation they intend to bring to the floor over the spring and summer.
The issues are familiar ones for Democrats, and poll well among Americans generally.
Yet they are top priorities to narrower slices of the Democrats constituency particularly those who showed up to vote for President Obama in 2012, but who do not have a history or voting in off-year contests.
The first items up for Senate debate will be increasing the minimum wage, from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour, and a bill to assure paycheck equity between male and female workers.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said that those are measures that would have their greatest impact on young people, unmarried women, Latinos and African-Americans all of whom can be difficult to turn out in years when there is no presidential election.
This doesnt replace a broader economic message. In the long run, we have to do that. But in the short run, this is very helpful, said Lake, who has warned that the Democrats face a large turnout disadvantage in a year when Republican voters appear to be more motivated.
GOP pollster Neil Newhouse said the Senate Democrats targeted strategy echoes that of Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, where he emphasized a number of niche group issues such as the Dream Act, mandatory contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act, student loan expansion and support for same-sex marriage.
This is all about turnout. Theyre not doing this to win swing voters, Newhouse said.Theyve got to do this. Otherwise, theyre totally doomed.
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Senate Democrats struggle to define a message that can save their majority
Democrats' plan for keeping the Senate? Repeat their 2012 message
Senate Democrats this week laid out their legislative and political agenda for this year, making it clear they hope to replicate the electoral success they saw in 2012 by focusing on economic issues that impact the middle class. They expect their economic message to trump the Republicans' large focus on Obamacare.
"We picked up seats in the Senate, we carried the presidency by a large amount" in 2012, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "The American people, the majority aren't affected by Obamacare. They want to hear what we're going to do for them -- just go back and look at the 2012 election."
It's unclear whether Democrats will be able to sufficiently mobilize their 2012 supporters -- the CBS News poll released this week shows that Republican voters are clearly more energized about this election. What's more, Senate Democrats this year are defending seats they won in 2008 -- a breakthrough year in which Democrats won eight seats, the most they'd won since 1986.
"They won in a lot of red states that are doing to be difficult to defend this year," RealClearPolitics national political reporter Scott Conroy said in a conversation with CBS News elections director Anthony Salvanto. Democrats have to defend seven Senate seats in states that Mitt Romney carried, he pointed out, while they have only two clear opportunities to pick up seats (in Georgia and Kentucky).
"In the sixth year of a presidency it's... very tough for that president's party to win in midterm elections," Conroy added.
That's especially true given the coalition that Democrats built in 2012, notes Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Young people played a crucial role in President Obama's re-election, but data shows that for more than three decades, younger voters don't turn out for midterm elections the way they do for presidential elections.
Braley's gaffe in Iowa: One seat Democrats could have trouble defending is in Iowa, where Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin is retiring. The likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Bruce Braley, didn't do himself any favors this week when he was caught on camera at a Texas fundraiser criticizing Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for being just a "farmer from Iowa who never went to law school."
Braley apologized for the comment, but Republicans seized the opportunity to slam Braley for talking down to Iowa farmers. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP's campaign arm, launched robocalls urging voters to "tell Bruce Braley to stop insulting Iowa farmers and that a law degree doesn't equal success." A conservative group called Priorities for Iowa is running an ad urging voters to tell Braley, "We'd rather bet the farm on Grassley than a bunch of trial lawyers from Texas."
Braley this week could take consolation in new endorsements from progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and the grassroots group the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. In an email to PCCC supporters, Warren called Braley a strong voice for working families.
A Palin endorsement in Iowa: At the same time, one of the prospective GOP candidates in Iowa received her own high-profile endorsement.
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Democrats' plan for keeping the Senate? Repeat their 2012 message