“THIS IS A FORWARD-LOOKING ANSWER TO DONALD TRUMP”: INSIDE THE DEMOCRATS’ PLAN TO CONTEST THE MAGA MESSAGE

Donald Trump’s 2016 pitch to “Make America Great Again,” whatever its latent meanings, was artful in its branding and simplicity, carrying a potent economic message: I know things aren’t great for all of America. Even in a fairly strong and growing economy, the message played brilliantly in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, whose mammoth industrial sectors had eroded even as Hillary Clinton’s coastal strongholds seemed to have grown more powerful. Clinton’s economic message was more diffuse, and Trump rode a wave of economic and political divisiveness all the way to the White House.

Headed into the 2020 election, the Democrats are looking for a way to reach into areas that had undeniably felt overlooked by the party when Trump made his appeal. The supercharged stock market and low unemployment are the kinds of numbers incumbents often win with. “The Democrats have to have an answer for that,” said Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna. “What is our vision for rural communities and for minority communities?”