Which issues should Democrats FOCUS on the most?
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  Which issues should Democrats FOCUS on the most?
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Question: Which issues should Democrats FOCUS on the most?
#1
Universal Single-Payer Healthcare (also allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices and allow drug importations from other countries like Canada)
 
#2
Tuition-free College for state colleges
 
#3
$15/hour Minimum Wage
 
#4
Paid Leave (family, sick, vacation)
 
#5
Affordable Childcare
 
#6
Universal PreK
 
#7
Infrastructure
 
#8
tax reform that includes the Buffet rule for millionaires, a carbon tax, bank risk tax, elimination of tax deductions/credits that favor the rich and wealthy corporations
 
#9
elimination of the payroll FICA tax cap, and expanded Social Security... and transitioning Social Security into a Universal Basic Income for people of all ages that begins to replace many government bureaucracies
 
#10
the Paycheck Fairness Act for gender equality and closing the pay gap
 
#11
the Equality Act, adding LGBT to antidiscrimination protection in employment/housing/medicine/adoption/education/public-accommodations/etc. at the national level
 
#12
comprehensive Immigration reform with pathway to citizenship for everyone, more Muslim refugees
 
#13
Marijuana Legalization nationwide
 
#14
Universal Gun Background & Mental Health Checks
 
#15
Criminal Justice Reform (end for-profit prisons, low-level offenders not having mandatory minimums, nonviolent offenders offered treatment not jail, encourage police body cameras, requiring transparent public databases to report all violent police inciden
 
#16
Universal voter registration/updating, repairing the Voting Rights Act, making Election Day a federal holiday, and encouraging early voting in all states
 
#17
new Public Housing projects
 
#18
Bank Breakups
 
#19
Cut Military Spending
 
#20
Environmental & Animal Protections
 
#21
Outlawing coal, fracking, oil drilling
 
#22
amendments on campaign finance and the electoral college
 
#23
being Pro-Choice
 
#24
our International Alliances abroad, and value of Human Rights
 
#25
OTHER (please specify)
 
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Partisan results

Total Voters: 68

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Author Topic: Which issues should Democrats FOCUS on the most?  (Read 2414 times)
Blue3
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« on: June 04, 2017, 08:56:33 PM »

Which issues should Democrats FOCUS on the most?
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Confused Democrat
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« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2017, 10:49:16 PM »
« Edited: June 04, 2017, 10:55:38 PM by Confused Democrat »

Issues I care most about at the moment:

- Free college
- $15 minimum wage
- Climate change
- Marijuana legalization
- Getting money out of politics

What Democrats should focus on:

- Infrastructure
- Raising the minimum wage
- Universal healthcare
- Getting money out of politics
- Tuition free college
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Da2017
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« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2017, 11:05:12 PM »

Issues I care about.
Universal Health Care
15 dollar minimum wage
Getting money out of politics.
Environment

Issues the Democrats should Focus on
Health Care
Minimum wage
Breaking up the banks.
Infrastructure 
Free college.
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dw93
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« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2017, 12:01:13 AM »

Issues they should focus on by Importance

1. $15 hour minimum wage
2. Infrastructure
3. Getting Money out of Politics
4. Universal Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug costs
5. Breaking up Banks
6. Criminal Justice Reform
7. Marijuana Legalization
8. Tuition Free State Colleges (with k-12 education reform to better prepare students for higher learning)
9. Restoring International relationships after 4-8 years of Trump/Pence
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SoLongAtlas
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« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2017, 07:25:13 AM »

1. Trump's scandals/collusion with Russia
2. National security
3. Climate change
4. Infrastructure
5. Economics/Taxes
6. International relations post-Trump

The other stuff is important but the above sticks, esp. with indies and conservatives that won't vote Trump again.
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Coolface Sock #42069
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« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2017, 07:47:47 AM »

1. Foreign Policy / not being an embarrassment to our country's worldwide standing
2. Open questions having to do with Trump/GOP collusion with Russia/corruption/nepotism
3. Criminal justice reform (there have been efforts by Republicans to take the lead on this, but it really seems to me that it'll he to primarily be a Democratic effort at this point, sadly)
4. Infrastructure - specifically bridges. I've seen way too much infrastructure money wasted on stupid stuff in my home state and believe just throwing money at the problem will not be enough.

And your candidate to best convey this message is one Joe Biden.
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tmcusa2
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« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2017, 10:29:58 AM »

Cut Military Spending

Other: IRV, open primaries so Independents can vote in Democratic primaries.
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« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2017, 10:32:52 AM »

Also, I don't trust electronic voting. They need to do something about that.
That should be more of an issue.
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Blue3
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« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2017, 03:20:18 PM »

Any new thoughts?

People aren't really talking about this, DESPITE people saying the lack of this is why Hillary lost. Perhaps we should then focus on the issues first, and THEN which candidates are the best champions for those positions on the issues?
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The Undefeatable Debbie Stabenow
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« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2017, 03:43:14 PM »
« Edited: August 29, 2017, 03:51:28 PM by slightlyburnttoast »

What I personally care about the most:
  • criminal justice reform
  • reform of campaign finance and the electoral process
  • moving towards single-payer healthcare
  • tax reform

What the Democrats would be the most successful focusing on when it comes to winning elections:
  • raising the minimum wage (for such a widely-discussed and seemingly controversial topic last year, it's been surprisingly popular in several recent state referendums, and focusing on it conveys a care for working-class people)
  • criminal justice reform (hasn't been touched on all that much in recent campaigns, but many proposals under this umbrella could easily be viewed as common sense proposals among much of the electorate, ex. abolishing private prisons)
  • healthcare, but instead of focusing on getting single-payer, focus on the healthcare failures of the Trump administration and the Republican Congress (single-payer still isn't approved of a majority of Americans, and a leap that big so suddenly would be off-putting: Democrats should certainly move in this direction and should start making it a bigger part of their platform, but gradually, as single-payer gets more publicity as a concept)

Gun control measures and infrastructure are areas where Democratic policies are mostly popular among the public but neither seem to be political winners.
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BoAtlantis
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« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2017, 04:17:57 PM »

https://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2017/05/01/Editorial-Opinion/Graphics/Post-election_Research_Deck.pdf

This is pretty informational.

Among the most important issues for Trump voters were

Protecting Social Security for senior citizens
Protecting Medicare for senior citizens
Creating good paying jobs for American workers
Making sure that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance
Cleaning up corruption in gov't
Cracking down on the outsourcing of American jobs
Making sure that wealthy pay their fair share of taxes

His soft supporters don't care much about immigration/trade.

What I found interesting:

1) Drop-off voters (Obama voters that did not vote in 2016) were more likely than Obama-Trump voters to feel they are not well off economically.

2) "Health care is a critical motivator for both Democratic drop-off voters and
persuadable Trump voters."

3) "Persuadable voters believe Trump will help the middle class over the
wealthy, but don’t feel the same about Congressional Republicans"

This is what confuses me. He has proposed tax cuts just like Congressional Republicans do. What's so drastically different about his proposal?
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GGover
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« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2017, 04:56:01 PM »

1. Tuition free college
2. Infrastructure
3. $15 minimum wage
4. Paid family leave
5. Tax reform
6. UBI/expand social security
7.  Universal Pre-K & affordable childcare
8. Public housing projects
9. Mandatory voting like Australia
10. Environmental & Animal Protections

Start with the things that improve the quality of life for everyone, forget about identity politics for now.
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MarkD
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« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2017, 05:03:14 PM »
« Edited: August 29, 2017, 05:52:11 PM by MarkD »

I'm no Democrat, but I voted for these: tax reform, SS reform, the Equality Act, the constitutional amendments for campaign finance and electoral college, and "other."

Here's my suggestion for "other."

Improve the Supreme Court in a way that no Democrat has talked about in ages. Make sure that the people who get appointed to the Court are the most objective interpreters of law that can be found in this country. The kind of people who should be appointed are those like Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Benjamin Cardozo, Hugo Black, and Judge Learned Hand. The Democratic Party has got to give over their ideological litmus tests - just like the Republicans have got to. I knew last year I would not be voting for Hillary Clinton when I heard her specifically say that she would have a litmus test for her Supreme Court appointees, that test being that her appointees must be predisposed to overturning Citizens United v. FEC. I see nothing wrong with overturning that decision with a constitutional amendment, but I find it completely unacceptable to appoint anyone to the Court on the expectation that the appointee must overturn it. Also, the Democratic Party has got to stop clinging to their notion that Roe v. Wade was a wonderful and irreversible precedent, and the same goes for the Court's same-sex marriage decisions. During the 2nd televised presidential debate last year, held about six miles from where I live (the campus of Washington University), Hillary said:
1) "I want to appoint Supreme Court Justices who understand the way the world really works, who have real-life experience, ... they understand what people are up against."
2) "I would want the Supreme Court to reverse Citizens United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics."
3) "I would like the Supreme Court to understand that voting rights are still a big problem in many parts of the country."
4) "I want a Supreme Court that sticks with Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose."
5) "I want a Supreme Court that sticks with marriage equality."
6) "I want a Supreme Court that doesn't always side with corporate interests. I want a Supreme Court that understands because you're wealthy and you can give more money to something that doesn't mean you have any more rights or should have any more rights than anybody else."

(Source)

Number 1 was just a bland platitude that is neither here nor there. Number 3 was a valid, legitimate thing to say. Numbers 2, 4, and 5 all happen to be misinterpretations of the Constitution. The fact she said those three things was why I refused to vote for her. Regarding number 6, it would be interesting to see if she could point out any time when the Supreme Court always did rule in favor of corporate interests - always, every single time a case came up that involved the interests of a corporation - or when did the Court ever say that people with more money have more rights than anybody else.

The Supreme Court should not be either party's political tool. It should be made up of the nine most highly objective interpreters of law that can be found anywhere in this country. I need to hear a presidential candidate say that.
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« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2017, 05:45:27 PM »

Infrastructure, reinstating glass stegall
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cwt
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« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2017, 08:49:36 PM »

I didn't vote for it anyway, but the wording of "Marijuana Legalization nationwide" is a little problematic. There are Democrats who want to repeal federal prohibition and leave it up to the states, but "nationwide legalization" is pretty extreme.
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AN63093
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« Reply #15 on: August 29, 2017, 09:09:00 PM »

I'll answer this from a "Dem strategist" perspective, rather than my own personal desires.  I'm only addressing issues from your list and not adding any of mine.

The best issues to focus on would be these:

-Paid Leave
-Affordable Childcare
-Universal PreK
-Infrastructure
-Marijuana Legalization nationwide

These are good issues for the Dems because most people are OK with them and there is no easy GOP counter that most people either agree with, or doesn't make the GOP look way out-of-touch.  With marijuana legalization, this is a particularly good issue for the Dems to start pressing, since it's one of the easiest ways to lock up millennials and even a lot of conservatives just don't care about it enough to get that riled up.


These are good issues to press, but I would make them secondary to the above.  The main reason to press these issues would be as red-meat for SJWs:

-the Paycheck Fairness Act for gender equality and closing the pay gap
-the Equality Act, adding LGBT to antidiscrimination protection


These are issues that I wouldn't mention, but would covertly work on after getting power:

-Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
-comprehensive Immigration reform with pathway to citizenship for everyone

What the Dems should do on healthcare is basically just lie, and say they aren't for single-payer, but for "fixing Obamacare."  And be as vague on that as possible.  Then when in power, work on single-payer.  Same thing with immigration; basically I would just advise the Dems lie on this issue, then when in power, do basically nothing on the issue (by doing nothing, you are then in effect, covertly granting de facto amnesty).


These are issues I also wouldn't mention, but would let Dem candidates simply answer the litmus test, then move on:

-being Pro-Choice


Finally, these are issues the Dems probably shouldn't touch.  Not much to gain, and too much cost.  Plus these are the issues that are more likely to be vulnerable to GOP counter-attacks that people would sympathize with, or are easily obfuscated by the GOP such that the public gets confused about what the Dems real position on it is:

-Tuition-free College for state colleges
-$15/hour Minimum Wage
-tax reform
-elimination of the payroll FICA tax cap
-Universal Gun Background & Mental Health Checks
-Criminal Justice Reform
-Universal voter registration/updating
-new Public Housing projects
-Bank Breakups
-Cut Military Spending
-Environmental & Animal Protections
-Outlawing coal, fracking, oil drilling
-amendments on campaign finance and the electoral college
-our International Alliances abroad, and value of Human Rights
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Blue3
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« Reply #16 on: August 30, 2017, 01:51:31 PM »
« Edited: August 30, 2017, 01:53:08 PM by Blue3 »

Poll results, the collective wisdom of the Atlas 2020 Election subforum, right now seem to be:

Tier 1:
1. Infrastructure
2. Single-Payer Healthcare
3. Mandatory Paid Leave
4. Voting Reform
5. Criminal Justice Reform

Tier 2:
6. Affordable Childcare
7. Tuition-free State Colleges
8. $15 Minimum Wage
9. Tax Reform
10. Marijuana Legalization



With the bottom being:

25. Other
24. Pro-Choice
23. International Alliances & Human Rights
22. Outlawing Coal, Fracking, Oil Drilling
21. Universal Gun Background/MentalHealth Checks

20. Paycheck Fairness Act for Gender Equality
19. Public Housing
18. Social Security that's better-funded and expanded
17. Cut Military Spending
16. Immigration Reform + Citizenship Pathway

15. Bank Breakups
14. Univesal PreK
13. Environmental & Animal Protections
12. Equality Act for LGBT
11. Amendments for Campaign Finance & Electoral College
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tmcusa2
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« Reply #17 on: August 30, 2017, 02:01:10 PM »

The Iraq war is still a big issue for me. I think nominating Biden would be a huge mistake.
Wars are costly, so there is a lot of overlap between this issue and economics.

I think that being anti-war can only help the Democrats, because people are tired of war and want a break from it.
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tmcusa2
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« Reply #18 on: August 30, 2017, 02:05:14 PM »

Voting reform is strategically important. The more people that vote, the more legitimacy the winning candidates have. Of course, I think FPTP is a bad way to elect candidates. There are a number of issues that fall into this category.
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