Liberals Concerned Stormy Daniels Obsession Will Hurt Dems in ’18

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stressed on Tuesday that the key for Democrats in the 2018 midterms is to focus on the “economic instability for so many people” in the country. But an increasing number of liberals are getting concerned that the media’s and the Democrats’ focus on all things Stormy Daniels will hurt Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections.

When asked on Saturday evening if there is a “concern” or “danger” that Stormy Daniels will overshadow the Democrats’ message on the economy, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told CNN’s Van Jones, “absolutely.” Sanders also criticized the media, the Democrats’ tag team partner, for overplaying all things Daniels.

The Atlantic’s Ron Browstein also argued that the legacy media’s obsession with Daniels could block the party’s economic message from getting through to critical swing voters.

The left-leaning analyst noted that the “intense media attention” on Stormy Daniels “might not actually move many more voters than they already have, and the economic message pushed by Democrats—one that’s rooted, in part, in the tax bill—is having a hard time breaking through.”

He claimed Democrats would have a much easier path to taking back the House if it could also “capture at least some Republican-held seats that are more blue-collar and non-urban, in places like upstate New York, downstate Illinois, and Iowa.” More importantly, as Brownstein noted, “winning working-class voters is even more essential for Democrats in the Senate,” where the party is defending seats in states Trump won in 2016 like West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Missouri, and Indiana.”

But the economic messages that can win Democrats some of these Trump voters “now rarely break through the tabloid maelstrom constantly engulfing Trump,” Brownstein argued, pointing out that is “isn’t clear that the case against Trump’s values is a winning argument in those places.”

“In other words: For a sunny outcome this fall, Democrats probably need more health care and taxes—and less Comey and Stormy,” he concluded.

Though some Democrats still want to double down on Stormy Daniels, recent polling has found that only 23 percent of Americans believe Daniels is an important issue while Trump’s support among white evangelicals has hit an all-time high.

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