Democrats and the pragmatism primary

As a Democrat working in conservative media, the 2018 midterm election was an uphill battle. I can’t tell you the number of times I argued on-air, “Democrats are running on health care, not their opposition to Donald Trump,” or pointed to the number of moderates on track to win their primaries against far-left progressives — to no avail.

Even when the results came in showing that health care was the No. 1 issue of the election for Americans and that a majority supported Democrats, there were doubters. And if you look at the board, dozens of freshman centrists were elected to Congress, making the “takeover of the party” by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) nothing more than a GOP talking point.

{mosads}We all have our narratives that are deeply precious to us.

But that has led us to another impasse with the Democratic primary race. Republicans say all we talk about is socialism and free giveaways, and Democrats want to talk electability.

A recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that by a margin of 55-35 percent, Democrats are looking for electability in a candidate over ideological purity. A Monmouth University poll mirrored this finding with 56 reporting that they’d support “a Democrat you do not agree with on most issues but would be a stronger candidate against Donald Trump.” And a CNN poll found that “has a good chance of beating Donald Trump” as the most important trait in a candidate.

These findings have been a central factor in maintaining former Vice President Joe Biden’s place at the top of the polls for months now. The release of Tuesday’s CNN poll brought excellent news for Biden, whose lead has expanded to 14 points ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). He maintains a commanding lead with whites, 29 percent to 15 percent, over Sanders and a staggering 50 percent to 14 percent with African American voters. It’s clear that he has withstood the emergence of exciting fresh faces such as former congressman Beto O’Rourke and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Even among Democratic voters whose top choice isn’t Biden, he is seen as the most electable. A Quinnipiac poll of California Democrats and a Granite State Poll in New Hampshire show a +8 point differential between Biden as a first choice and having the best chance to win in 2020. For reference, more California voters rank Sanders as their top choice than think he has the best chance of winning the presidency.

{mossecondads}There are a whole host of reasons to support the thesis that Biden is the one who can beat President Trump — and they aren’t necessarily that a progressive can’t win. I think there are arguments for the electability of someone such as Sanders or Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), though not as strong as those for Biden.

The answer lies in pragmatism, a quality underemphasized in discussions of Democrats’ electoral behavior.

Democrats have wish lists just like anyone. Polling shows we aren’t looking for an older white man to head the ticket, though both Biden and Sanders are in their 70s. Surveys also show that we want to elect a female president, but once again Biden and Sanders top the polls and Harris trails by 15 points in the Real Clear Politics average.

What gives? What’s achievable, that’s what.

Biden is now the main occupant of the “center lane” in this primary with the campaign of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) failing to catch fire (at least up until this point). We have yet to hear much from Biden on his policy platform, but I’d be willing to bet there will be distinct points of differentiation from the platforms of Sens. Sanders, Harris and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Health care is the most obvious place to do this, and it is good news for Biden that the Affordable Care Act is the signature achievement of his time in the White House. There were rumblings that a Biden strategy of not going the “Medicare for All” route when President Obama endorsed the idea last September could be complicated, but it doesn’t seem Team Biden was deterred. Yesterday, he backed the public option as opposed to Medicare for All, telling a crowd of union workers, “Let me shoot straight with you, and this may not be popular in parts of the Democratic Party, but we have to have a nominee and can’t have a nominee that is too far left.”

Medicare for All is winning the war, pragmatism and achievable results is the battle. And this primary is all about battles. One solution to couple with the public option is for Biden to endorse freshman congresswoman and former nurse Lauren Underwood’s proposal to reform ObamaCare, not replace it. Underwood (D-Ill.) is openly concerned about the cost of Medicare for All and instead offers a proposal that would lower premium prices for health insurance, increase the number of Americans who qualify for tax credits and expand eligibility for premium tax credits beyond 400 percent of the poverty line.

Combating climate change is another place for Biden to differentiate himself. The Green New Deal is extremely polarizing — 46 percent of Americans oppose it and 43 percent support it. As Jonathan Chait argues in New York Magazine, “So, remind me, why are we doing this again?” Chait suggests a “scaled up” version of President Obama’s climate agenda is very workable.

The three tools Obama focused on — green energy investment as part of a stimulus bill, tighter regulation, and aggressive international diplomacy — could be the core of a successful and pragmatic platform. Who better to bring that idea to market than Biden?

And although this isn’t a policy area, the issue of impeachment is one where Biden could keep the pragmatism points. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found that only 37 percent of Americans support beginning impeachment hearings while 56 percent oppose the idea — even though 58 percent believe President Trump lied to the public about matters under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Among top presidential contenders, Warren and Harris have gone all in on impeachment, and although Sanders has been more cautious, there is a clear opening here for Biden to be the guy with his finger on the pulse of American sentiment.  

Give voters what they want. It’s an underrated strategy to look at the polling and decide an agenda from there. In fact, Democrats are actually asking a candidate to do this.

Taken together, the ideas above would be a compelling start to a platform that reinforces the electability of Joe Biden. His $6.3 million fundraising haul in the first 24 hours of his candidacy indicates that voters are excited to welcome him formally into the race. Biden’s best chance of not letting them down is to continue to compete in the pragmatism primary.

Jessica Tarlov is head of research at Bustle Digital Group and a Fox News contributor. She earned her Ph.D. at the London School of Economics in political science. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaTarlov.