Democratic presidential candidates steering toward socialist platform
Wall Street Journal editorial page deputy editor Dan Henninger discusses how some Democratic presidential candidates are beginning to back socialist policies.
With less than a year to go before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, more and more 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls are embracing socialism.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page deputy editor Dan Henninger argues this move to the left was inevitable for the party.
“I think maybe it is in their DNA and they’re trying to keep it at arm’s length,” he said during an interview on FOX Business' “After The Bell” on Thursday.
Henninger drew a comparison between New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.
“Nancy Pelosi understands we’re not living in 1935 anymore," he said. "We’re living in an economy that has a labor shortage.”
Democratic presidential candidates Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, California Senator Kamala Harris, New York Senator Elizabeth Gillibrand and Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent-Vermont, have all endorsed the Green New Deal.
“The Democratic Party has disconnected itself from the private economy, they barely understand it anymore,” Henninger said.
Other potential 2020 challengers, like former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, are taking a more moderate approach.
“It’s a big crowded field and they’re going to have to figure out a way to differentiate themselves,” Henninger explained.
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Henninger warned the key for any candidate is to figure out how to thread the needle of the Democratic left wanting a presidential nominee who will align itself with policies like "Medicare-for-all," eliminating private health insurance while running a more moderate campaign necessary to win the general election.
“That’s the answer any Democrat is going to have to come up with.”