Sen. Durbin Says Dems Could Lose To Trump If They Are Too Liberal & 'Overdo It'

By aaroncynic in News on Oct 17, 2017 8:00PM

Though we’re not even a year into President Donald Trump’s first term and the next presidential election is far over the visible horizon, both Democrats and Republicans have been planning for 2020 as if it’s right around the corner and we didn’t have an entire midterm election cycle in between.

Democrats have been both trying to cope with what many saw as a stunning upset in 2016 and find a path to move the party forward. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, told WLS radio over the weekend that his party could lose to Trump in the next Presidential cycle if they “overdo it” by leaning “too liberal.”

“We don't give up on our values, but we better be sensitive, too, that there are people with more moderate views, and people who may disagree with some parts of the Democratic platform as they are presented. We've got to be open to that possibility," said Durbin.

The Illinois Senator was referring to comments made by House Rep. Cheri Bustos, who had said that Democrats could lose to Trump in 2020 if they became “too liberal.”

“You can,” Durbin told WLS’s Bill Cameron. “I think you can overdo it. We have to really appeal to that sensible center. It’s a thin stripe now. It used to be a lot wider stripe, but it’s an important and determining factor in most elections.”

On Tuesday, Durbin expounded on his comments on the Big John and Ramblin’ Ray show on WLS:

“The diversity of America is embraced by some and hated by others. There are people who say ‘I don’t like all those new people...all the new lifestyles...what I hear about all this change. Others believe that’s exactly who we are, that’s what we’re going to be—that’s the future. You’re not going to resolve that fundamental different. But when it comes to the issues…criminal justice reform, dealing with foreign policy, there is a moderate and center position and we really should strive to find it.”

Our executive branch of government and its allies in the legislative however, seem more concerned with forcing athletes to participate in compulsory displays of nationalism than criminal justice reform, and the Trump administration has actually all but killed the tiny slivers of it put forward by the Obama administration. Trump has frequently stoked rhetorical flames of a potential nuclear war with North Korea over Twitter. For months, Congressional Republicans have sought to dismantle health care for our nation’s most vulnerable while giving themselves and their rich benefactors big tax breaks.

It’s hard to find where exactly the “center” is on any of these issues, or what hard fought victories for civil rights people should compromise away in the face of an administration that’s been open about its desire to roll back rights or worse for most marginalized communities.

Durbin certainly isn’t the first Democrat to suggest such a thing in the long year of soul-searching the party has had in the wake of its defeat against Trump. But, one has to wonder if spending more time worrying about a seemingly shrinking “center” and alleged “moderates” - who generally end up siding with the President and his hard-right agenda anyway - isn’t another strategy for failure.

Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, but that isn’t even the largest number showing that the public at large might not be thrilled with his agenda, or even a more “moderate” version of it. The majority of Americans - some 45 percent of adults - either chose to stay home or were unable to vote in November of 2016.

Picking and choosing which values to “compromise” on isn’t likely to energize their base in 2018 or 2020, and Republicans who might not be on board with Trump 100 percent of the time will still likely hold their noses and cast a ballot for him rather than vote Democrat. Moreover, ignoring growing voter suppression efforts by the right is only going to shrink an already narrow pool of voters.

Democrats need to not only make more of an effort to fight the right’s agenda, but put forward their own agenda that appeals to a wider majority of people who have already been suffering and will likely suffer even more under it. If they can’t actually move a much larger majority of people to come vote for them, we’re likely to see a Trump victory in 2020, regardless of a more “moderate” appeal.