Is Chuck Schumer's vision for America realistic?
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Sen. Charles Schumer is urging Democrats to embrace government as the solution to middle class decline, cronyism, and the destructive forces of technology and globalization. However, polls show that voters' trust of government is at a historic low.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a key player in crafting the Democrats’ message to voters, has put out an idea for 2016 that portends a steep climb for Democrats: Embrace government, don’t run from it.
In a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the New York senator said that “the public knows in its gut” that only a strong and united government “can reverse the middle class decline and help revive the American Dream.”
Senator Schumer argued that only government is strong enough to shield Americans from the destructive forces of technology and globalization – not that government should try to stop those forces, but that it should help people adapt to them and thrive.
It is an age-old stand that needs vigorous backing, in Schumer’s view. Democrats should start by convincing Americans that government is on their side – not acting on behalf of special interests, he charged. Then the party needs to lay out a pro-government plan to motivate the base and win back white working class voters who abandoned them in 2014.
But at every step, this path will be a challenging one.
First, a gut check. Polls paint a different picture about Americans’ views of government than Schumer does. The 2014 midterm election exit polls showed that a majority of voters (54 percent) believe that the “government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals,” while just 41 percent think “the government should do more to solve problems,” The Washington Post reported. ...
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