Tough Medicine for Democrats: “Too liberal” and “out of touch” | Simon Bazelon

Democrats are riding high after this year’s special elections,but that still doesn’t mean they’re popular with voters. Strategist Simon Bazelon has advice on what to fix.Less than a year into his second term, President DonaldTrump is already hobbling toward lame duck status. His approval rating has plummeted to 36 percent, according to Gallup’s latest survey, including just a 25 percent thumbs-up among independents. He’s squandered his gains with Latino voters, with nearly 80 percent now telling Pew that his policies are more harmful than helpful. Democrats, meanwhile, are enjoying an uptick in theirelectoral fortunes. Democratic gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill cruised to victory in Virginia and New Jersey, while generic Congressional ballots have begun to show commanding leads for Democrats hopeful of capturing the House. But don’t mistake Trump’s unpopularity with newfoundaffection for Democrats, warns strategist Simon Bazelon, a Research Fellow at the Democratically-aligned organization Welcome. Democrats have increasingly shifted leftward in recent years, Bazelon argues, and are perceived as too liberal and out of touch. Bazelon is the lead author of Deciding to Win, an exhaustive,data-driven autopsy of the Democratic Party recently published by Welcome. He advocates a new brand of “moderation” among Democratic candidates, defined not by old models of compromise and “triangulation” but by the dictates of popular opinion. Host: Anne KimGuest: Simon Bazelon, Research Fellow, Welcome