Populist economic policies can sway moderate voters in swing districts and states, according to a left-leaning advocacy group pushing Democrats to craft messages that attack billionaires and large corporations ahead of the critical Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The effort adds fuel to a fierce debate within the Democratic Party over whether its candidates should embrace populist policies — such as government-set prices for certain goods and higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy — or offer more gradual solutions to the nation’s economic problems in hopes of appealing to centrist and right-leaning voters.
Groundwork Action, a progressive policy group led by a former economic policy adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), argues for the former. According to a poll the group conducted with Hart Research, a Democratic polling and public opinion research firm, more than half of voters are looking for fundamental changes to make the economy work for everyone.
In addition, most voters say targeting the wealthy and large corporations is a necessary step to bring prices down, according to the survey. And they are open to more aggressive government intervention to shield consumers, including price caps on pharmaceutical drugs, health care premiums, rent, groceries and utilities, according to the survey.
“Everybody is talking about affordability … [but] while focusing on affordability is necessary, it will be insufficient” for Democrats to win elections, said Lindsay Owens, Groundwork Action’s executive director, who has worked for former Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), in addition to Warren.
Instead, Owens said, Democrats need to talk about “how the rigged economy is built to serve the interests of billionaires and big corporations.”
The findings overlap with independent polls showing voters are frustrated with the economic status quo. Most Americans now doubt their living standards will improve, according to a July Washington Post-Ipsos poll — a reversal from 2018, during Trump’s first term, when 65 percent of those surveyed told the General Social Survey they believed their living standards would improve.
In May, three-quarters of respondents to a CNN poll said the U.S. economy unfairly favors powerful interests. And half of respondents to a Pew Research poll conducted last November said the economy was not fair. About a third said it was “somewhat fair,” while only 13 percent dubbed it “very” or “extremely” fair.
Heading into elections that could flip the balance of power in the narrowly divided U.S. House and Senate, the economy tops a list of factors voters say are most important to their midterm decision, according to the Post-Ipsos poll.
Groundwork Action has presented its findings to Democratic congressional leaders and campaign officials, including the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association. The survey is just one of many data points Democrats are reviewing, said one national Democratic strategist, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
That strategist said the survey supports the idea that it’s time for the party to “acknowledge that the system is broken.” However, a second strategist, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, argued that such a message is unlikely to resonate for every candidate.
Gabe Horwitz, economic director at the centrist Democratic group Third Way, said it’s useful to talk about price-gouging corporations. But Democrats also need to show they know how to increase wealth and lower costs by promoting economic growth and improving government efficiency.
“Between moderates and the far left, a lot of the goals are very similar: lower costs, make sure working middle-class voters, if they work hard, they can have a good life,” Horwitz said. “But there is a real debate over how to do that.”
Groundwork Action’s push comes as populist candidates are already gaining steam in some swing states.
In Michigan, progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed defeated establishment favorite Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Progressive candidates also won Democratic primaries in two congressional districts in the state, including the 7th District around Lansing, where Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence will face incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett (R) this fall.
In Maine, progressive Graham Platner won the Democratic Senate primary and was preparing to face longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins before pulling out of the race amid allegations of sexual assault. His replacement, former Maine Senate leader Troy Jackson, is a similarly populist candidate.
And in Wisconsin, a democratic socialist candidate, Francesca Hong, holds a big lead in the polls heading into next week’s Democratic gubernatorial primary — though incumbent Gov. Tony Evers, a moderate Democrat, has publicly questioned her electability in a general election.
Groundwork says they are not suggesting that more candidates run as socialists. In a recent Washington-Post Ipsos poll, most Democrats said they would be open to a democratic socialist president, but fewer than half of all Americans say the same. In an earlier Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted in late April, 17 percent of Democrats said their party was too conservative while 19 percent — nearly 1 in 5 — said it was too liberal.
“We are pretty clear that support for outright socialism is not something that will travel nationally,” Owens said.
However, she said, candidates also run a huge political risk “in being seen as defending the market fundamentalism that voters think of as the rigged status quo.”
Democratic politicians that Owens cites as embracing this approach include moderate New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who pledged to freeze utility rates as a candidate and who recently signed legislation outlining a rate-setting process for data centers; Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who has called out corporate PACs and special interests; and Iowa congressional candidate Josh Turek, who has proposed a federal ban on price-gouging food.
In a recent speech marking the final 100 days of the midterm campaign, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) echoed such sentiments, pledging to hold accountable anyone who is “screwing over the American people,” including through “corrupt price gouging.”
The party’s soul-searching comes as both parties are viewed unfavorably by nearly 60 percent of Americans, according to Pew Research — though voters tend to view their own party favorably.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy, according to the Post-Ipsos poll, in the face of stubborn inflation and high gas prices fueled by the war in Iran. While voters once said they trusted Republicans more to handle the economy, the GOP is now nearly neck and neck with Democrats.
Scott Clement contributed to this report.
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