As liberals push big 2020 agenda, Democratic old guard tries to seize the wheel

WASHINGTON — After months in which liberal political stars and activists have driven the Democratic agenda, some party elders are taking the wheel, and tapping the brakes.

While ambitious proposals such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal have drawn headlines — and Republican fire — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and senior Democratic leaders this week introduced more modest plans on both health care and the environment, each aiming to build off existing policies that have won support in the recent past.

One would shore up the Affordable Care Act by expanding protections for people with preexisting conditions and undoing some of the steps President Donald Trump has taken to undercut the law commonly called “Obamacare.” The other would aim to reduce carbon emissions and bind the U.S. to the targets set in the international Paris climate accord.

Each would advance progressive aims, but move far less dramatically than the bold plans laid out by a rising crop of liberals such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and a faction of activists who have pressed Democratic presidential candidates to embrace far-reaching ideas including eliminating the Electoral College and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to create a more liberal tilt.

While those plans have thrilled some liberals, they have also excited Republicans, who have used the proposals to paint Democrats as “socialists” pushing a radical agenda that would result in higher taxes, bans on flying and hamburgers, and government-run health care.

Another note of caution came from former President Barack Obama, who spoke to Democrats’ freshman class Monday. While encouraging bold ideas, he also told the new House members to be mindful of the potential costs, which could scare off some voters, the Washington Post reported.

Obama’s advice came as energized liberals and more centrist Democrats wrangle over what posture to present in the 2020 presidential race. Some Democrats worry that far-left proposals could hurt them with the swing voters in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while the party’s left wing argues they have to give their supporters a reason to get excited.

Democrats from more moderate districts, including those around Philadelphia, welcomed the new, more modest approaches.

“I was at President Obama’s conversation for most of it and I think that his advice is good advice,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D., Pa.), who won a House district based in Chester County, which has long sent Republicans to Congress.

Houlahan, one of dozens of Democrats who helped take the House majority by winning moderate districts, noted that many of the proposals grabbing national attention don’t have “price tags” or “frankly even details.”

“I’m very happy to see these kind of more pragmatic, incremental ideas coming out that are bite-sized, as well, that aren’t so aspirational and grand, and I think they reflect, frankly, the groups of people who came here as freshmen,” she said.

When Pelosi rolled out the health care and climate change bills Tuesday and Wednesday, she prominently included freshmen Democrats who had flipped swing districts, including Reps. Andy Kim, of South Jersey, and Susan Wild, of the Lehigh Valley, who each spoke at the health care event.

Pelosi’s backing likely ensures that her proposals will come up for votes far faster than the more polarizing plans offered by the party’s left wing.

Democratic leaders have also taken other steps to temper their party’s approach. Pelosi dismissed the idea of impeaching Trump even before the special counsel investigation into Russian interference was completed. Democrats’ House campaign arm adopted a policy to ice out political operatives who help primary challengers, an apparent warning shot to progressive groups that have threatened to oust Democrats they view as insufficiently liberal.

The moves come as Democrats wrestle with some of the same challenges that long confronted Republicans, who had to contend with a bloc of far-right House members who exerted outsize influence and created conservative litmus tests, with sometimes damaging political results.

Some presidential candidates who have supported bold liberal plans have also tried to temper expectations. At a town-hall meeting hosted by CNN Wednesday, for example, Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) reiterated his support for Medicare for All, but quickly added, “That’s an ideal that we have to show a pathway to get there through practical things.”

He suggested, as he has before, that expanding Medicare to people aged 55 or targeting prescription drug costs might be more realistic first steps.

And he sidestepped the recent calls for reparations for African Americans, saying the issue is too complicated to reduce “to a box to check.”

Some liberals, however, warn that if the party waters down their ideas they risk diluting the enthusiasm that powered the party in 2018.

“There’s always been that tension obviously that exists where people are concerned, ‘Are we going too fast?’” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), cochair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and sponsor of the main Medicare for All bill in the House. “But I would just say that I think the 2018 election and sort of the energy across the country really shows us that the energy is with the people, and the people want bold proposals.”

Republicans are also eager to keep those big plans in the spotlight.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) forced a vote this week on the Green New Deal, hoping to embarrass Democrats — nearly all of whom voted “present,” saying it was a sham vote on a serious issue.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) introduced a constitutional amendment to keep the Supreme Court at nine justices, a long-shot idea that nonetheless highlights the calls on the left to expand the high court. Several Democratic presidential candidates have suggested they are open to the idea.

“When Democrats coalesce around some idea that I think is a huge threat to us, then absolutely we should have a discussion about it,” Toomey said.

Some Democrats are trying to move the discussions in a different direction.