In a new Op-Ed for the Federalist, Emily Jashinsky explains how one hard working Iowa dad exposed a major weakness in the Democratic Party’s 2020 strategy.
Jashinsky writes:
n about 30 seconds, one man in Iowa exposed a major weakness in the Democratic Party’s 2020 strategy. It’s a weakness, but it’s also a blindspot.
After a Monday town hall in Grimes, population 13,562, a father confronted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a photo line. Warren, it should be noted, touts a higher education proposal that “cancels $50,000 in student loan debt for every person with household income under $100,000,” paid for by her 2 percent annual “Ultra-Millionaire Tax” on families worth $50 million and more.
“My daughter is getting out of school. I’ve saved all my money. She doesn’t have any student loans. Am I going to get my money back?” the man asked Warren, who breezily replied, “Of course not.”
“So you’re going to pay for people who didn’t save any money and those of us who did the right thing get screwed,” he continued. When Warren sought to protest that characterization, he kept going. “My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacations. I saved my money. He made more than I did. But I worked a double shift, worked extra. My daughter worked since she was 10. So, you’re laughing.”
“We did the right thing and we get screwed,” he told the senator before walking away.
The man’s frustrations are extremely resonant, and will be extremely useful as Republicans make their case in 2020. Wiping out debt is an easy sell in a far left primary being covered by a broadly liberal media. But there’s a dark side to redistributive policies that Democrats will ultimately struggle to counter, particularly with key constituencies in key states–and Republicans know it. As Warren’s stammering response in Grimes suggests, Democrats aren’t entirely prepared to reassure skeptics.
Follow the logic of the father in Iowa: I paid into the system, I did things the right way, and my tax money is going to people who went on vacations instead of working double shifts. Warren’s loan bailout plan isn’t exactly the National Health Service, but it hits the same nerve.
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