Elaborating on a premise that should be familiar to TPM readers, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters Wednesday that the political terrain has shifted so much over the last several months that the GOP’s playbook isn’t working — and it has them badly wrongfooted.
“You have to follow the broad movements underground that affect our politics,” he said. “And it’s happening. And they seem to be just stuck on the wrong side of issue after issue after issue. They’re very good at messaging. They’re very good, you know, they have some media people who just follow their line….but the weight of the issues and the place where America is at is so overwhelming that’s no longer enough to sustain them.”
In other words the plates have shifted. And the GOP’s having a tough time messaging their way out of the box they’ve put themselves in now that the country’s clamoring for fairness for the middle class even if it means higher taxes on wealthy people. Dems ultimate goal is to break the GOP’s will on that score.
“We’ve had four Republicans now talk about taxes on incomes of over a million dollars. If you don’t keep at it you’re not going to change their view and the purpose is that the public comes to our side on this issue and they feel it.”
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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