Democrats are in the wilderness, and the Congressional Black Caucus thinks it knows the way out.
The way to rebuild the coalition that Democrats partly lost to Trump, especially voters of color and working-class voters, isn’t to prioritize the economy over social issues, CBC members told NOTUS. It’s to do both at once.
“We need to make sure that whatever we do honors the fact that core constituencies continue to show up,” Rep. Steven Horsford, the chair of CBC, told NOTUS of how Black voters overwhelmingly voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s a false choice to say it’s either the economy or social issues.”
Other caucus members echoed similar sentiments.
“The question is, ‘How can we put those things together as principals or platforms of a party that’s inclusive overall?’” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told NOTUS of the need to message on both social issues and the economy. “I think one of our problems is that we didn’t hit back enough when the other side was talking immigration, the border or the economy.”
The soul-searching within Democratic circles is acute. Some, like Rep. Seth Moulton, argue it’s time Democrats pivot away from being the party of social issues and focus more on economic messaging. Others are in the Sen. Bernie Sanders camp of divorcing themselves from the elite and appealing more to working-class voters.
CBC members are taking a nuanced approach. They say an economic-focused message that appeals to working-class voters is crucial. But they also believe Democrats can’t just do away with messaging on social issues completely.
Trump’s landslide win was powered by increased support from voters of color compared to 2016 and 2020. He saw a 14 percentage point increase in support from Hispanic and Latino voters from 2020, according to exit polls. Black voters overwhelmingly voted for Harris, but their overall turnout was lower than in 2020 and enough Black men in North Carolina and Pennsylvania flipped to the GOP, giving former President Donald Trump a decisive win in those states.
Multiple members emphasized the need for Democrats to talk about the economy while also making clear where they stand on civil rights issues such as reforming the criminal justice system and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“[Social issues are] what so many of us believe in, and we should believe in,” Rep. Robin Kelly said. “We need to talk about everything.”
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver believes the same.
“If we become a party that dismisses grievances from minority groups, we are headed in the wrong direction in our car without even knowing where the road leads,” he said. “We haven’t done any mapping, and that’s what we need to do.”
CBC members were ardent supporters of Harris’ economic agenda. Many of them stumped for her across the nation on their national bus tour and touted her economic talking points. They were also heavily involved in Win With Black Women organizing calls for Harris, and its male counterpart, in which they extensively discussed Harris’ economic plan for Black Americans.
Harris talked extensively about her plan for the economy on the campaign trail, which CBC members noted during Joe Biden’s campaign needed to be a crucial part of Democrats’ messaging. Her hallmark policy ideas were to prevent price gouging, build affordable housing and offer $25,000 to first-time homebuyers.
She also had an “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” that promised to provide loans to Black entrepreneurs, to create mentorship programs aimed at placing Black men in high-paying jobs in competitive industries and to provide support for Black men who invest in cryptocurrency and digital assets.
The problem, CBC members said, wasn’t that voters were unaware of her economic vision. It was that her message wasn’t convincing enough. And they think this election proved that voters are more motivated by economic messaging than topics like abortion rights and Trump being a threat to democracy. Trump was able to snag support from voters who’d historically voted Democratic.
Thompson also reflected on a recent visit to Alabama where he spoke to members of the Teamsters Union and realized the cost of Democrats not touting their wins with unions.
“We fixed them. They were upside down,” Thompson said, referring to the Biden administration infusing more than $36 billion into pension funds to help union workers. “Never saw a commercial about that.” He even narrated the message he envisioned for such a commercial.
Nevertheless, Democrats haven’t yet charted a clear path forward and CBC members are confident they won’t have to deprioritize messaging on social issues anytime soon. Or at all.
Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project who also has close ties to the CBC, told NOTUS that Democrats can’t ever abandon messaging on social issues, even if some members of their party want them to.
“It’s just not going to happen,” he said.
“There’s no way that a member of the CBC is the highest-ranking Democrat in the House, and you think you’re not going to talk about Black issues,” he added of his conversations with CBC members about Rep. Hakeem Jeffries who is minority leader and also a member of the caucus.
Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist with close ties to the CBC, cautioned against abandoning social issues in party messaging lest the party alienate Black voters.
“If some of our party leaders didn’t take a position on George Floyd being killed on camera, then 91% of Black women and 77% of Black men wouldn’t have voted for Kamala Harris,” Seawright said, as he recounted a conversation he had with a CBC member. “There’s a world in which we’re required to do both. How we emphasize one or the other is a strategic decision.”
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Tinashe Chingarande and Torrence Banks are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.