Looking inward, Dems fan out
2020 hopefuls hit early-vote states, urge focus on policy
Presidential candidate Cory Booker on Saturday urged fellow Democrats not to be distracted by vitriol directed at the party’s candidates by the man whom they seek to replace.
Asked during a Charleston, S.C., town hall meeting how best to oppose President Donald Trump without running an overly negative campaign, the New Jersey senator said Democrats need to look inward and focus on issues important to many of them, such as health care and education.
“We have got to understand this is not about him, it’s about us, and we should not be motivated by what we are against by what we are for as a country,” Booker said.
Booker urged the audience of activists, some waving campaign signs, not to become complacent because Democrats marked successes in the 2018 midterm elections.
The senator also had sharp words for those who don’t vote.
“It is inexcusable that we have rates of voting in presidential elections at 40, 50, 60 percent when so much is going to be hung in the balance in this election,” he said.
As other Democratic hopefuls campaigned in early voting states, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont made Brooklyn the official launch site of his second run for the White House, telling supporters that his campaign is tailor-made to defeat Trump. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts courted voters in Iowa while Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio visited South Carolina. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota represented Democrats at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an event where politicians traditionally poke fun at the press and other politicians.
Highlights of Saturday’s campaigning:
Bernie Sanders: Calling Trump the most dangerous president in modern U.S. history, the Vermont senator said his campaign is built to defeat Trump.
Sanders was in his birthplace of Brooklyn to call for Americans from all walks of life to join his effort for a political revolution, one he’s been waging for decades.
Sanders told supporters at a rally at Brooklyn College, which he once attended, that his campaign is saying “loudly and clearly that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, hatred and lies. It will not be racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious bigotry. That is going to end.”
Sanders pledged to fight for “economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.”
He had begun his 2016 campaign in Vermont, which he has represented in the Senate for nearly two decades. But this time, as he tries to showcase more of his personal story, Sanders kicked off his 2020 bid in the New York City borough where he grew up as the son of a Jewish immigrant and lived in a rent-controlled apartment.
Elizabeth Warren: In Waterloo, Iowa, the Massachusetts senator emphasized the need for Democrats to focus on policies over personal attacks, and to remain united in order to win the 2020 presidential race.
“I’m not here to attack Democrats, I’m here to get our country back on track. I’m going to stay on the issues,” she said, in response to a question from a voter about what she would do to avoid the primary becoming “a circular firing squad.”
Warren focused heavily on policy, but she refused to draw any contrasts between her own policy proposals and those offered by other candidates — even when asked directly by a voter to clarify her health care policy. Warren said she supported Medicare for All, but that there were many ways to achieve universal coverage.
“We’re working it through as Democrats. We’re talking about it,” she said.
Sherrod Brown: In the final swing of a political tour as he decides whether to enter the 2020 presidential race, Brown spent time this weekend in South Carolina. He stressed his commitment to higher wages and more robust health care and acknowledged the crucial role of the early-voting state.