The best way for Democrats to win working-class and centrist voters over in 2020 is to speak to “kitchen table issues,” union-backed group Working America says.
Matt Morrison, the group’s executive director, told Hill.TV that discussing everyday issues that resonate with most Americans will be key to Democrats winning over voters.
“The way to win centrist voters, working class voters, etc. isn’t a tact to the middle but to actually speak to their economic issues,” Morrison told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton during an interview on “Rising.”
Morrison cited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) campaign in Michigan, describing how Whitmer defeated Republican opponent Bill Schuette during the 2018 midterm elections in a state that President Trump carried by almost 50 percent of the total vote.
“Look at what Gretchen Whitmer just did, she ran a campaign on auto insurance and ‘Fix the Damn Roads’ problem that really resonated with those voters,” he told Hill.TV.
Morrison said that even though Democrats must appeal to all voters, there is no path to the White House without the support of white, working-class voters in states like Ohio and Michigan.
“If you look at the fundamentals of the electoral map, what you see is states like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania where more than half of the electorate are white, non-college voters,” he said.
Working-class voters played a key role in delivering Trump’s victory in the 2016 election.
Still, Democrats aim to seize on momentum from the 2018 midterm elections that delivered them 41 GOP-held House seats.
Morrison said Democrats still have an uphill battle in the next election cycle when it comes to their political messaging.
“Democrats need to make sure that they’re eye-to-eye with voters,” he told Hill.TV.
—Tess Bonn
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