Copyright The Boston Globe
To say we agree or disagree doesn’t quite capture it. Of course both things happen, but mostly it’s about perspective. I’ve learned how to look at any issue from his angle. The substance of the issue may not change much, but I can see it better. And seeing helps understanding, helps communicating, helps legislating. Democrats govern better with a broad perspective, instead of wearing ideological blinders. Jared announced last week that he’s not running for reelection. It’s the right decision for him and his family, but it’s a loss for Congress and the country. Democrats should be seeking out more candidates like Jared to run for office at all levels. His emotional connection to disengaged voters, his authentic approach, and, most of all, his willingness to buck party orthodoxy make him a model for Democrats in districts that the party needs to win back. But that requires Democratic activists and elites to stop deriding his Blue Dog approach. Blue Dogs are Democrats who tend to be debt and defense hawks, social moderates, and, increasingly, economic populists. There are few in Congress. But they win. In 2018-24 elections, House incumbents who were Blue Dogs were much more likely to be reelected than progressives. Blue Dog members of Congress like Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Adam Gray of California, and candidates like Rebecca Cooke of Wisconsin, are potential majority makers for Democrats. We don’t flip the House without them. But they’re not just a vote margin, to be grudgingly tolerated by the base in campaign season and then arm-twisted by party leaders in the halls of power. They offer new ideas and give voice to Americans who feel dismissed by Democrats. You wouldn’t know it from watching cable news or scrolling social media, but in many ways, they have their finger closer to the pulse of the exhausted majority of Americans than either party’s mainstream. Pundits who proclaim the tent big enough for democratic socialists in deep blue places must also welcome Democrats who win over voters in red districts with an economically and socially populist message. Instead, though, Jared and his fellow iconoclasts have been met with “plain nastiness,” in Jared’s words. For example, listen to Gluesenkamp Perez’s interview with Ezra Klein in The New York Times, a thoughtful back-and-forth about how the “elite [must] reevaluate and [acknowledge] the nobility of people in the trades and the reality of dirty hands, clean money.” When Gluesenkamp Perez voted in line with those beliefs, her small business was doxxed online. Democratic leaders need to rise above tribalism and set an example. A good place to start is by supporting and defending candidates and policy makers in his mold. I have contributed to those efforts and will continue to, despite disagreeing on some Blue Dog policies. I want Democrats to win in more places, to govern better, and to build trust with voters. Empowering elected officials like Jared and campaigning for candidates like Cooke is a critical way to do that. Blue Dogs have some good ideas; for example, their focus on fiscal responsibility is much needed in an era when the federal debt can lead to inflation, instability, and cuts. So do other groups, like progressives, abundance liberals, and constitutional conservatives. Intra-party debate is too often a tiresome tug-of-war. As a result, we water down our ideas, instead of adding different ingredients for a new recipe. That won’t cut it in 2028, when the electorate — especially young voters — will want to know what Democrats are for, not who we’re against. Since 2018, Jared has been answering that question effectively in Maine’s Second Congressional District, which Donald Trump won three times. Democrats should listen to his answers.
