On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” DNC Chair Ken Martin argued that Republicans have “tried to create a boogeyman. They’ve tried to use fear as a [tactic] to say, the Democratic Party, they’re a bunch of socialists.” And also said that “despite all the labels that people throw around and the divisions within our party, there’s more that unites us as Democrats than those small differences.”
Martin began by saying, “Democrats are unified. We are united. And we’re through most of these primaries now. So, it’s no longer Democrat-on-Democrat violence. Right now, everyone is focused on November –.”
Host Laura Coates then cut in to ask, “Do you think they’re really united, though, Ken, I don’t want to cut you off, but the DSA, — so, you’re saying that all the Democrats and the DSA candidates, they’re all united?”
Martin answered, “Let me say, we are a big tent party. We always have been. As you’ve heard me say before, we have moderate Democrats, we have conservative Democrats, we have progressives, we have leftists. And the key is to make sure that, despite all the labels that people throw around and the divisions within our party, there’s more that unites us as Democrats than those small differences. Every Democrat I know believes that we should get money out of politics, and we should put more money into people’s pockets, that we should raise the minimum wage, and we should work for universal healthcare. Every Democrat I know that’s running for office wants us to get out of these endless wars that Trump has put us in. And every Democrat I know is focused on affordability and making sure that we can actually build stronger communities and improve people’s lives. Those are the things that unite Democrats, whether you’re on the far left or you’re a conservative Democrat or anything in between.”
Later, Coates asked, “There’s a whole heck of a lot of money that’s going to be spent trying to use, even what you’ve just said about Democrats being united, to paint everyone with the same brush, including some of the more controversial policies and stances of the DSA, how do you combat that? Are you hoping to be able to use some of, what, there’s $7 million left from Vindman alone? How are you going to combat the enormous campaigns that are going to be spent to try to say, Democrats are united, as a monolith, in everything?”
Martin answered, “Well, what I would say, Laura, is, look, what the Republicans have been doing this last year is not working. They’ve tried to create a boogeyman. They’ve tried to use fear as a [tactic] to say, the Democratic Party, they’re a bunch of socialists. And you know what? It hasn’t worked.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett