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Democrats need to show they're up for a fight -- without falling apart

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

One, timing. How Booker must wish he had made a presidential run sooner in his career. I first met Booker when he was beginning to gain national attention on his way to being elected mayor of Newark. I can only imagine how much he wishes that he had made his presidential bid before Obama, then a promising Illinois state senator, did. At least, he wouldn't have to put up with inevitable -- and confining -- comparisons to Obama.

Second and more important, Booker's campaign lacked a memorable theme to separate him from the rest of the teeming Democratic herd -- as Obama did, pardon the painfully inevitable comparison, when he offered "hope" and "change."

Witness the mileage that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gained from bringing universal health care into the mainstream -- or Andrew Yang's surprising success with his universal basic income idea.

But, third, a candidate has to get out and fight for his or her idea with a passion. We saw some of that breakout this past weekend between Sanders and his rival in the party's progressive wing, Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts senator confirmed reports that Sanders, contrary to his denials, told her that he didn't think a woman could win this year's election.

A lot of Democrats and their allies bemoaned this revival of factional feuding in the progressive family. If it gets out of hand, the divisions could spill over into the general election campaign and the party's eventual nominee.

 

But as Donald Trump showed, for better or worse, voters want to see how passionately you care about the issues you raise. After all, as one Trump supporter told me in 2016, "If you won't fight for your own beliefs, how do I know you're going to fight for me?"

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)


(c) 2020 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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