A handful of Democratic lawmakers gathered at the left-wing Center for American Progress on Wednesday in Washington, DC, to test the political waters for a possible presidential run in 2020.
The plans each offered for getting President Donald Trump to vacate the White House ranged from winning back the American workers who voted for him to installing socialism.
But they all shared an anti-Trump message, with a reporter at the Hill declaring one of them the winner because she best articulated that message.
“It was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who ultimately won the day with a full-throated assertion of the need for Democrats to hew closely to a base she characterized as “angry and scared” about President Trump’s impact on the nation,” the Hill reported.
Warren called the Democratic Party “the party of ideas,” according to the Hill:
“But she added, ‘The sad truth is, most of these ideas won’t go anywhere unless we deal with the defining crisis of this moment in our history … Democracy is crumbling around us,’” the Hill reported.
Warren appeared better able to synthesize anti-Trump anger with a more positive policy platform than any other speaker.
Each speaker at the Ideas Conference got the chance to pitch their plan for taking out Trump, including having a message that’s more than villainizing the president.
“I don’t have time to wallow,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), said in the Hill report, which noted she faces a re-election bid in the midterm election. “He’s there, and we need to provide an alternative.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who also faces re-election, said workers are key to a Democrat win.
“Trump won communities in my state that he had no business winning,” Brown said in the Hill report. “I think workers in my state are looking for somebody in elected office to talk about the dignity of work.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “was enthusiastically received, especially in his calls to ‘dismantle the oligarchy’ of ‘multibillionaires,’” the Hill reported.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) tried to present a social justice platform, saying improving the plight of poor whites and poor blacks is something that would resonate with social justice voters.
“We have in this country a common pain, but we are lacking a sense of common purpose,” Booker said in the Hill report.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY.), who has proudly promoted her feminist credentials, said she was a champion of women, while Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called himself a “bold progressive” at the event.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter