Representative. ro khanna Said Democrats “need to emphasize economic issues”. In view of 2024 electionsWhich dealt a crushing blow to the party – and prompted it to consider the way forward.
“We didn't have a compelling enough economic vision,” Khanna, a California Democrat, said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
newly elected president donald trump won a decisive victory Above Vice President Kamala Harris Last week, Democrats lost support from key demographic groups from the 2020 election. Khanna, a member of the party's progressive wing, blamed shortcomings in the party's economic message for the breakdown among the Democratic coalition.
Khanna said, “The Democratic Party should have a simple mission and that is to address the economic hardships and struggles of many Americans.” “Not just working-class Americans — there's a huge segment of Americans who feel that the American dream is over for their families and their children.”
Khanna said new voices in Congress such as Representatives Pat Ryan, Mary Gluesenkamp Perez and Chris DeLuzio are encouraged that Democrats need to tell a “better economic story,” including raising the minimum wage, addressing child care and new Emphasis has been laid on the vision of building factories. ,
“I think it can unify our party – liberals and progressives – and it transcends race and will help us with Latino voters, black voters, white working-class voters,” Khanna said. “And we have a better perspective on that than Donald Trump.”
In the days following the election, some Democrats have expressed that the economic message should have been front and center in the campaign, while arguing that the party's focus was on identity politics. But Khanna said that while he is clear on the importance of economic issues, I don't think we should run away from issues like transgender rights and standing up for equal rights.
Khanna urged Democrats not to “back away from their commitments”, saying that by focusing on the issues as well as the economy the party could still be successful.
Khanna said, “I think we can win people's hearts, even if they don't agree with us on a particular social issue.”
In Michigan, Harris lost significant support in Arab American areas amid Israel's war in Gaza. Khanna said he believed Harris would have won Michigan “had the policy failures on Gaza been taken to account.” He said he noticed that “even beyond Michigan, this was really a point of concern for a lot of young people and a lot of progressives.”
Amid the tussle over the election, Democrats have also pointed to President Biden's late decision to leave the race and endorse Harris. Involved Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Khanna said that although he has great respect for Speaker Pelosi, he “laughs” at the idea.
“The day he came out, we had a lot of Democrats comparing him to George Washington, saying he did the most honorable thing,” Khanna said. “So it seems a bit contradictory to go back and criticize him now.”
Khanna said Harris had a 'winnable campaign', adding that 'whoever is saying now that 'this was not a winnable campaign' didn't say that in August.'
Pressed on economic issues, Khanna said, “Ultimately the reason we did not win is because we did not listen to the people at the grassroots level enough.” “The reason I'm optimistic for the future is that we have enough capacity.”