Yglesias is very much the "Manhattan Private School/Yale Philosophy Major" type of Smart Guy. However, I keep reading him because he does occasionally have some nice nuggets and I don't want to silo my reading too much.
He has a Six Point Plan for Democrats to run on in 2026:
Ban congressional stock trading (+34)
Expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing (+31)
Raise the minimum wage to $12 (+22)
Crack down on tax evasion (+18)
Spend on reducing lead pollution (+14)
Guarantee abortion rights nationally before 12 weeks (+13)
You’ve got some economic populism in there, some progressive social policy, some environmental policy, some good government reform, and a link to Trump’s corruption and abuses of power via tax evasion.
That's a good plan. He goes on to say that other planks are less popular and therefore you shouldn't include them. Climate actually polls poorly - don't touch it. Even background checks, which poll well, don't poll well enough, though a few mass shootings could nudge that into plank seven.
He notes that a 12 week right to abortion isn't popular with abortion rights groups, but that it needs to be understood as a floor rather than a ceiling. Raising the minimum wage to $15 isn't quite as popular, but again: floor.
I think you have to throw in some stuff about protecting democracy, just on principle and checking Trump's unbridled power and corruption, because I think that's going to poll well by next autumn.
Still, picking a few things to win a majority sounds like a really solid plan. Once you have the majority, then you can do more.
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