Democrats Heed Obama’s Warning

is a column by POLITICO founding editor John Harris, offering weekly perspective on politics in a moment of radical disruption.

Notably, most of the ten candidates who qualified for the MSNBC/Washington Post stage made efforts to explain that they regard themselves as unifiers and coalition-builders -- even those like Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who have stirred anxiety among some Democrats that they are too divisive to win a general election against President Donald Trump or govern effectively if they do.

While the first debates did seem to show candidates lurching leftward, it is too simplistic to say this debate represented a lurch to the center. These are candidates with big and costly plans, and they were speaking with full confidence that their party has a progressive soul—animated by people who embrace government, are feeling urgent about climate change, uncompromising on abortion rights, and angrily vigilant about suppression of minority voting rights.

Biden, likewise, talked as he had before about his long Senate career working on legislation with all sides and how “I have brought people together my entire life.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, likewise, continued emphasizing her pragmatic credentials, saying right now the country can only afford three months of mandatory paid parental leave, even though Sen. Kamala Harris and others back six months.

Sen. Cory Booker, as though advertising himself to people who worry the party has turned anti-capitalist, said Democrats need to focus more on “how to grow wealth” by supporting entrepreneurs, especially among African-Americans.

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