House Democrat: Party is struggling to ‘provide the meat’ in messaging

A top House Democrat said in a new interview that his party must improve its core message to voters.

“That message is being worked on,” Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) told The Associated Press.

“We’re doing everything we can to simplify it, but at the same time provide the meat behind it as well. So that’s coming together now,” the House Democratic Caucus chairman continued.

{mosads}Crowley’s comments come as Republicans grapple with a series of bombshell revelations surrounding the probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian election meddling, as well as the Senate GOP leadership’s difficulty in passing an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill.

Despite those struggles, Democratic leaders say the party must unite around a common message.

The Associated Press noted that Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said last week that the party must “articulate” what it stands for.

“The Democratic Party needs to up its game,” Perez said in a speech, according to the news service. “What I hear most from people is, ‘Tom, we not only need to organize, but we need to articulate clearly what we stand for.’”

Democrats are preparing for the 2018 midterm elections, where they will be tasked with trying to win back both chambers of Congress.

Veteran Democratic operative James Carville predicted this week his party had a 50-50 chance of taking back the House in 2018, but had slimmer chances when it came to the Senate, despite only having to win three seats back.

“The problem in the Senate is we have a large number of seats we have to hold in states that Donald Trump carried. Indiana, Missouri, you know places like that we have to hold seats,” Carville told John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York on Sunday.

“The only places where we have an opportunity for pick up are, you know, Nevada is pretty good. After that Arizona is less good, then you’re down to Texas and Alabama, and for Democrats to win the Senate back, they have to pick up three seats,” he said.

As for the 2020 presidential race, Carville said primary voters will have a plethora of Democratic candidates to choose from, saying “it will be double digits.”

“There will be a number of serious candidates that are going to run on the Democratic side, and our party needs that,” he said.