Democrats Should Focus on "Kitchen Table Issues"

Literally for decades now Republicans have relied on appeals to "god, guns and gays" to dupe their constituents into voting against their own economic and welfare interests.   Indeed, a piece in Politico looks at how the GOP "big beautiful bill" would harm the Felon loving state of Louisiana:

Louisiana is poorer, sicker and hungrier than most states, and the deep cuts to Medicaid have a growing number of Republicans in Louisiana worried that Congress and the White House are going too far. They are anxious that rural hospitals whose finances are highly dependent on federal Medicaid funds would face crippling revenue losses and be forced to shut down, depriving all residents of accessible health care. The blowback over Medicaid represents the most significant crack between GOP leaders in Washington and in the states so far in this administration, according to interviews with nearly two dozen Louisiana state leaders.

In a formal appeal to Washington, the state Legislature — controlled by a GOP supermajority — unanimously passed a resolution this month calling for no cuts to Medicaid. More than 1.6 million Louisianans — roughly 35 percent of the state’s population — count on it for health care. Under the House budget bill, which would impose first-ever federal work requirements on Medicaid recipients, up to 158,000 Louisianians are predicted to lose coverage. The Senate’s version of the bill threatens even more low-income residents.

One estimate says a Senate proposal would cost Louisiana more than $326 million to maintain its current nutrition assistance program, which is more than the state sends to the entire University of Louisiana System each year.

Yet, the voters of Louisiana voted overwhelmingly for those now pushing cuts to social programs and Medicaid.  Too often, Democrats allow themselves to be drawn into culture war issues rather than focus on "kitchen table" such as economic issues, quality public education, health care coverage, and the like.  All of this aids Republicans' disingenuous campaigns that in reality typically push reverse Robin Hood policies that aid the very rich while screwing over the working and middle classes.  The huge upset in the New York Democrat mayoral race is based seemingly on Zohran Mamdami's calls to make New York more affordable and to tax the very rich to benefit the many.  Another piece in Politico looks at how Democrats need to focus on everyday kitchen table issues and refuse to be drawn into the culture wars.  Here are highlights:

The leader of the largest PAC dedicated to electing LGBTQ+ people to office says Democrats should talk about “kitchen-table issues,” not gender identity. Evan Low, president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, said he has been advising candidates specifically to avoid talking about trans people in sports — a focus of President Donald Trump and a rallying cry for conservatives.

Arguing the issue affects few people, the former Democratic California state lawmaker said in an interview, “This is not a top 1, top 5, top 10 or top 30 issue.”   “We want to talk about kitchen-table issues, not about identity,” Low said. “We are running to serve the people, not to distract on issues that divide.”

Low’s remarks come amid widespread debate within the Democratic Party about how to win back working-class voters following the party’s drubbing in November — and about how much or little to highlight issues of identity. But LGBTQ+ advocates are in Trump’s crosshairs. The Republican president made anti-transgender attacks a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign, while the GOP regularly mocks Democrats over the issue.

[T]he need for LGBTQ+ candidates to run pragmatic campaigns has been heightened as Trump leans into cultural wedge issues like banning the use of “nonbinary” or “other” options from federal documents, cutting federal funding to schools that let transgender students play on the sports teams of their gender identity and barring transgender people from serving in the military.

Low said a growing number of successful campaigns are following the “kitchen table” formula, and his organization has numbers to back it up. . . . . the number of openly LGBTQ+ people serving in public office — 1,334 — has nearly tripled since Trump’s first term.

In 2018, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis became the first openly gay candidate to win a governorship. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek followed in 2022. All three are Democrats. . . . . Polis, a former member of Congress, said he’s rarely felt the need to discuss his identity in his runs for governor, instead simply answering questions about his sexuality if people asked. His first statewide campaign in 2018 primarily focused on three policy issues: providing taxpayer-funded preschool and kindergarten, lowering health care costs and expanding renewable energy.

“You answer any questions, and then you move on and talk about what you want to do,” Polis said. “It’s similar to how you deal with your faith. You’re not running just to represent that faith.”

LGBTQ+ candidates’ gains in representation might seem like a paradox considering the harsher climate the community has faced nationally in recent years as large tech companies roll back their diversity programs and Pride festivals once awash in corporate logos struggle to attract sponsors.

There’s California Rep. Robert Garcia, who is gay and a rising star in House Democratic leadership, and New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, the first member who is both Afro-Latino and openly gay. There are now transgender legislators serving in eight statehouses, including in red states like Iowa, Missouri and Montana.

He said much of the recent gains in representation stem from the “Rainbow Wave” of the 2018 midterm elections, when dozens of LGBTQ+ people ran in response to Trump’s first-term win. When many of them succeeded, he said, it showed others it was possible for them to run as out candidates.

Imse said many elected in that wave year ran on issues like education and affordability, noting that a recent Gallup poll showed only 9.3 percent of adults identify as LGBTQ+. “We are not going to win elections by pandering just to the nine percent of voters,” Imse said.

Focusing on everyday issues, he said, helps blunt vitriol against candidates and “really takes away from their opponents’ ability to paint them as radicals who are somehow not fit for leadership roles.” . . . . “‘There was no need to respond to it. If you respond to it, you make it a thing,” she said. “Iowans are fair people. They will give anybody a chance if you speak to them directly.”