The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Democrats risk losing battleground voters in this year's midterm elections if they ignore the GOP's "alarmingly potent" culture war attacks, according to documents obtained by Politico.
The memo also warns that voters see Democrats as "preachy," "judgmental," and "focused on culture wars."
Political candidates should "correct the record" because "changing the subject risked confirming suspicions," according to presentations given by the DCCC over the past two weeks.
DCCC operatives used polling from late January that shows Republicans leading by four points on a generic ballot of swing districts. That lead jumps to 14 percentage points if Democrats fail to respond to Republican attacks.
For instance, presenters encouraged Democrats to reiterate support for police when attacked with "defund the police" rhetoric. On immigration, they said Democrats should discuss efforts to keep the border safe and deny support for "open borders or amnesty."
If Democrats don’t "correct the record" they risk "confirming suspicions."
The internal presentation found that attacks by the GOP are most effective with center-left voters, Hispanic voters and independents.
"Rather, Democrats need to demonstrate they fully understand and care about stressors in people's lives" and focus on the issues "without stoking divisive cultural debates," one of the slides said.
Summarizing Democrats' midterm problems directly, the DCCC said voters think Democrats "are not making good use of their majority."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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