PCCC OP-ED: Democrats must embrace Elizabeth Warren's agenda & Elizabeth Warren's Op-Ed: It’s time to work on America’s agenda 9&11NOV14

HERE is an op-ed piece from the PCCC, published in +The Hill  analyzing the results of the 2014 Mid Term elections and just why the democrats did so bad. The article was published the week of the election and it seems someone in the democratic party leadership paid attention because Sen Elizabeth Warren has been appointed to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (are you paying attention Hillary?). Flashback, "It's the economy, stupid!" Read Sen Warren's op-ed (below) in the +Washington Post to understand why she was the most popular democratic speaker for campaigns this year and why she is one of the most popular politicians (with regular Americans, not the rich, or the bank-financial cabal or corporations) in Congress.

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Craig...we just published an op-ed telling Democratic leaders, "We won't win our own tidal wave elections unless we can build a movement around big ideas -- like free college education, full employment, Medicare for All, expanded Social Security, and real reform of Wall Street."

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PCCC Op-Ed In The Hill:

By Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, PCCC Co-Founders  

Democrats lost on Tuesday, as widely predicted. But for months, pundits got wrong what Democrats would need to win.  

There was rumor that youth turnout, Latino turnout, and cutting-edge Get Out The Vote practices would tip the balance in close races. But when "close" elections are decided by 7 to 12 points, something much bigger is happening.  

Pundits say President Obama was unpopular. Score one for the pundits. But the critical question is: Why was the president so unpopular?  

Did voters not show up because of Syria, Obamacare, or Ebola? No. 

Was President Obama proposing some big liberal idea, sparking backlash? No. It's hard to remember the last time the President offered a big idea.  

Jobs and economic security are consistently the top issues voters say they care about in red, purple, and blue states. But Democrats did not have a united economic agenda in this election.

Voters did not wake up on Election Day thinking that their ability to have a job, have affordable college education, or to retire with security was at stake. It was a Seinfeld-ian election about nothing. And nothing does not inspire potential voters to vote. In the absence of big ideas, Democrats lost.  

(Of note, some Democrats campaigned as Republicans. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) campaigned as the "most conservative Senate Democrat" -- but voters chose a real Republican over a fake one.)  

However, someone did spark energy this election cycle. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) attracted standing-room only crowds in red and purple states. Democrats who didn't want to be seen with the president were proud to be seen with Warren.  

And Warren was the most popular Democrat on the campaign trail for a reason: Her message of taking on Wall Street, reducing student debt, and expanding Social Security benefits is popular everywhere.  

While progressives such as Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-ore.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) won re-election -- and Representatives Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) and Mike Honda (D-calif.) won their close races -- they won because they have consistently been economic populists and local voters knew that. But for other Democrats across the nation, nothing substitutes for a clear, authentic, united Democratic message focused on big ideas. 

Moving forward, something needs to change for Democrats. We need a bigger politics. We won't win our own tidal wave elections unless we can build a movement around big ideas -- like free college education, full employment, Medicare for All, expanded Social Security, and real reform of Wall Street.  

We need to make these issues so central to the national debate that candidates actively campaign on these ideas. And we need to start now.  

Hillary Clinton may be coming around to this strategy. In the final few weeks of the campaign, she tried to sound more and more like Sen. Warren. (While not hitting the language precisely, the intent seemed admirable.)  

Progressives will be organizing in states like New Hampshire and Iowa to ensure that all Democrats running for president take a position on -- and campaign actively on -- Elizabeth Warren's bold populist agenda. This is the path to victory in the primary and general election. 

A national progressive movement stands ready to work with those leaders in Congress who choose to recognize this imperative and step up to champion big ideas.  

And if Obama makes Warren's agenda the centerpiece of his agenda in 2015, his popularity will rise and Americans will get the debate about big, bold ideas that we deserve.  

Focusing on big ideas is the path forward for progressives and Democrats. The Warren wing of American politics is ready to lead.  

Green and Taylor are co-founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, at BoldProgressives.org

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Elizabeth Warren published an op-ed in The Washington Post, warning Democrats:

Before leaders in Congress and the president get caught up in proving they can pass some new laws, everyone should take a skeptical look at whom those new laws will serve. At this very minute, lobbyists and lawyers are lining up by the thousands to push for new laws -- laws that will help their rich and powerful clients get richer and more powerful.

The American people ... want a government that will stand up to the big banks when they break the law ... help out students who are getting crushed by debt ... [and] protect and expand Social Security.

Read her piece below and tell us what you think.
Elizabeth Warren's Op-Ed in The Washington Post:

Elizabeth Warren: It’s time to work on America’s agenda There have been terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Election Days for Democrats before -- and Republicans have had a few of those, too. Such days are always followed by plenty of pronouncements about what just changed and what’s going to be different going forward. But for all the talk of change in Washington and in states where one party is taking over from another, one thing has not changed: The stock market and gross domestic product keep going up, while families are getting squeezed hard by an economy that isn’t working for them. The solution to this isn’t a basket of quickly passed laws designed to prove Congress can do something -- anything. The solution isn’t for the president to cut deals -- any deals -- just to show he can do business. The solution requires an honest recognition of the kind of changes needed if families are going to get a shot at building a secure future. It’s not about big government or small government. It’s not the size of government that worries people; rather it’s deep-down concern over who government works for. People are ready to work, ready to do their part, ready to fight for their futures and their kids’ futures, but they see a government that bows and scrapes for big corporations, big banks, big oil companies and big political donors -- and they know this government does not work for them. The American people want a fighting chance to build better lives for their families. They want a government that will stand up to the big banks when they break the law. A government that helps out students who are getting crushed by debt. A government that will protect and expand Social Security for our seniors and raise the minimum wage. Americans understand that building a prosperous future isn’t free. They want us to invest carefully and prudently, sharply aware that Congress spends the people’s money. They want us to make investments that will pay off in their lives, investments in the roads and power grids that make it easier for businesses to create good jobs here in America, investments in medical and scientific research that spur new discoveries and economic growth, and investments in educating our children so they can build a future for themselves and their children. Before leaders in Congress and the president get caught up in proving they can pass some new laws, everyone should take a skeptical look at whom those new laws will serve. At this very minute, lobbyists and lawyers are lining up by the thousands to push for new laws -- laws that will help their rich and powerful clients get richer and more powerful. Hoping to catch a wave of dealmaking, these lobbyists and lawyers -- and their well-heeled clients -- are looking for the chance to rig the game just a little more. But the lobbyists’ agenda is not America’s agenda. Americans are deeply suspicious of trade deals negotiated in secret, with chief executives invited into the room while the workers whose jobs are on the line are locked outside. They have been burned enough times on tax deals that carefully protect the tender fannies of billionaires and big oil and other big political donors, while working families just get hammered. They are appalled by Wall Street banks that got taxpayer bailouts and now whine that the laws are too tough, even as they rake in billions in profits. If cutting deals means helping big corporations, Wall Street banks and the already-powerful, that isn’t a victory for the American people -- it’s just another round of the same old rigged game. Yes, we need action. But action must be focused in the right place: on ending tax laws riddled with loopholes that favor giant corporations, on breaking up the financial institutions that continue to threaten our economy, and on giving people struggling with high-interest student loans the same chance to refinance their debt that every Wall Street corporation enjoys. There’s no shortage of work that Congress can do, but the agenda shouldn’t be drawn up by a bunch of corporate lobbyists and lawyers. Change is hard, especially when the playing field is already tilted so far in favor of those with money and influence. But this government belongs to the American people, and it’s time to work on America’s agenda. America is ready -- and Congress should be ready, too.

Do you agree? Which big ideas do you think Democrats should rally behind?
Click here to share Elizabeth Warren's op-ed on Facebook, and click here to share it on Twitter.

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