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The 2020 elections are over, and while Democratic candidates did not win as many seats as they had hoped, progressive economic policies had remarkable success at the ballot box:
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In Arizona, voters approved a progressive income tax to fund education.
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In Florida, voters overwhelmingly approved a $15 minimum wage, even as they voted for Donald Trump.
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In Colorado, voters passed 12 weeks of paid family leave.
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In Multnomah County, Oregon (home to Portland), voters passed universal child care.
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Across the country, progressive economic policies won – even where Democrats lost.
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Right now, so-called “moderates” are making the media rounds complaining progressives in the Democratic Party cost or nearly cost them their election in key House and Senate races – but that’s simply not true.
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In fact, 112 Democrats who embraced Medicare for All were on the ballot this election, and each of them won their race. And of the 98 co-sponsors of the Green New Deal who were up for election, only one lost. It’s clear that these policies aren’t dragging down the Democratic Party – progressive economic issues won on the ballot everywhere.
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Nowhere was this more clear than in Florida, where Democratic representatives suffered their most high-profile losses even as the $15 minimum wage, a policy Democrats support, passed overwhelmingly. Ironically, Democratic House candidates barely even talked about raising the minimum wage, mistakenly thinking it would hurt their chances.
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The 2020 elections were a referendum on the right-wing policies of Donald Trump, but it’s clear Democrats haven’t learned the most important lesson of electoral politics: “It’s the economy stupid.” It’s not enough to skirt around progressive economic policies – Democrats need to fully embrace them.
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So, before any more centrist Democrats decide to blame their own losses on progressives, we need 10,000 supporters to send a message by answering this question. Tell us now:
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Should Democrats champion progressive economic policies?
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