On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Washington Post Associate Editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said national Democrats have told Democratic candidates to avoid talking about jobs, the economy, and inflation and focus on abortion and democracy as issues in the midterms, but despite this advice from national figures, “plenty of” individual candidates pushing back against that advice and telling the national party, “I’m listening to my constituents, and they care about the economy. They care about gas. They care about jobs” and running their campaigns accordingly.
After New York Times columnist David Brooks accused many Democrats of spending too much time telling people to care about abortion and democracy and not to care about things like crime, homelessness, and inflation, Capehart stated, “I think Democrats are running — national Democrats, sure, will say, run on this, run on that, and this is your — what your message should be. But, in individual races, there are plenty of Democrats who are saying, don’t tell me what to do. I’m out there campaigning. I’m listening to my constituents, and they care about the economy. They care about gas. They care about jobs. And they are running in that way.”
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