the Dem mid-term campaign has kicked of, that’s all. look at all the latest at Axios:
31 Jul: Axios: Sam Baker: Exclusive poll: Democrats have an edge on health care
Democrats’ health care message is resonating with critically important blocs of midterm voters, according to the latest Axios/SurveyMonkey polling.
The big picture: Democrats are moving left on health care. Embracing the Affordable Care Act is now a given, and candidates are increasingly embracing a bigger role for the federal government. The voters they’ll need most this fall — including white suburban women and Millennials — are largely on board.
Axios: Alexi McCammond: The Democratic Socialists’ campaign playbook
America is not a socialist nation, and the Democratic Party is not a socialist party. But after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shocker win in New York, a growing number of Democrats are pushing a formula to try to nudge both the nation and the party in Bernie Sanders’ direction.
The bottom line: This isn’t going to end — Ocasio-Cortez was just in California spreading the Democratic socialist message.
The template:
1.Find candidates who fit the rising Democratic coalitions: young, female, minority — ideally all three.
2.Go big or go home with policy fights: Medicare for all, a much higher minimum wage, down-with-corporations regulations.
3.Bet that the Trump phenomenon is transferable: that political parties are open to swifter change than commonly believed as long as you are loud and authentic.
Bring in Bernie. He remains a rock star with the far left, and a sure bet to juice crowds and attention.
We saw this in vivid display this past weekend in Michigan, when we went to see Ocasio-Cortez campaigning with Abdul el-Sayed, a progressive Democrat running for governor.
It was clear that people are craving this brand of politics in 2018. The energy at the rallies was undeniable. But just because a movement can get a thousand people out to a local university doesn’t prove it can win elections in Michigan, or across the country...
Axios: The health care surge: Why it’s rising as a midterms issue
Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation
In recent elections, Republicans have effectively used health care and anti-Affordable Care Act sentiment to rally their base. Now, the repeal effort has made the ACA more popular and given Democrats a weapon to use to motivate their base and reach out to independents.
Between the lines: The importance of health care as a national priority is sometimes overstated — but our recent polling shows it really could be a decisive issue in the midterms. That’s because it has been surging as an issue for Democrats, and in an election many see as a referendum on President Trump, it may now be as important a factor as Trump is...
The other side: The ultimate role health care plays will depend on how effectively the issue is prosecuted in the campaign by Democrats, and how Republicans respond. And a lot can still happen between now and November to change voter priorities. A big combat operation overseas, a report from the Mueller investigation or any big unexpected development could bump health care down the hierarchy of voter concerns...
https://www.axios.com/health-care-surge-2018-midterms-99265abc-e360-4a34-b6db-e2161ec4ced5.html