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https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/government-and-politics/4570445-new-democratic-blocs-push-left-unsettles-party

New Democratic bloc's push left unsettles party

WASHINGTON - A new generation of Democrats is using far-reaching policy ideas and a brash social media presence to upend the party - pushing it to the left on divisive issues such as health care and climate change while it charts a path aimed at taking the White House in 2020.

But the liberal shift, and the lawmakers driving it, are also creating challenges for Democrats in more-conservative areas, and they are giving President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans fresh opportunities for political attacks. The GOP has been particularly focused in recent days on hammering Democrats over draft details of a broad "Green New Deal" proposal, even if most Democrats have not directly endorsed the fine print.

The party's increasingly liberal bent is also creating dilemmas for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is trying to manage a band of outspoken new liberal members while also staying attuned to the needs of moderates hailing from swing districts that could be key to Democrats retaining the House majority in 2020.

"We won the House through the middle," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who co-leads the Problem Solvers Caucus. "Our party has to be open and recognize that. And if we don't and insist that everyone takes a hard line view on everything, (a) I don't think that's going to attract votes in the next election, and (b) it puts our majority at risk."

Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said of his party's shift to the left: "It makes it more difficult in more-rural areas like mine. Absolutely makes it more difficult."

But many lawmakers - including 2020 presidential candidates - argue that a general push leftward is long overdue and reflects the broad popularity of many of their positions, from universal health coverage to taxing billionaires at higher rates.

"You can feel it now. In Congress, it has started to shift. It has started to shift. We're not there yet. We're not all the way there, but it has started to shift," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at a presidential campaign event Sunday night in Davenport, Iowa, when discussing her support for the Green New Deal. "We've got new energy in this. We've got new blood in this. We've got new ideas in this. No one is saying there's a single silver bullet that's going to fix the whole problem. What's happening is people are coming up with lots of pieces."

Trump and the Republicans see the shift - and the Democratic division - as an opportunity to portray their opponents as "radical" and out of touch with mainstream America. The attacks have been fueled further by actions on the part of some Democrats, including remarks from Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., supporting the elimination of private insurance as part of a single-payer health-care system and a document from the office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., outlining details of the Green New Deal that her office has since disavowed.