With Democrats in danger of losing big on Election Day, some progressives already have started blaming the Obama administration for failing “to define any agenda” for voters this year and are pledging to remake the entire party in the image of populist hero Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a rising force on the left and the biggest champion of Mrs. Warren and other populist liberals, took direct aim at President Obama Tuesday and said the Democratic party must be remolded.
The criticism comes as Democrats face the real prospect of relinquishing control of the Senate and losing seats in the House.
“The White House failed to define any agenda for voters in 2014,” the PCCC said in a statement Tuesday. “Progressives will remold the Democratic party in Elizabeth Warren’s image — focused on big ideas and popular economic issues. We’ll organize in New Hampshire and Iowa to ensure that all Democrats running for president take a position on Warren’s populist agenda of reforming Wall Street, reducing student debt, and expanding Social Security benefits.”
Potential Democratic candidates for president, including frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton, have given clear indications they intend to sound a highly populist note in the 2016 elections.
But progressives don’t want to wait until 2016 to see populist ideals come to the forefront in Washington. They’re urging Mr. Obama to base the final two years of his presidency on the platform outlined by Ms. Warren.
“If President Obama makes Elizabeth Warren’s agenda the centerpiece of his agenda in 2015, his popularity will rise and Americans will get the debate about big, bold ideas that we deserve,” the PCCC said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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