Dem Rep. Crow on if Dem Socialist Can Be Elected POTUS: Many of Them Saying 'Important Things'

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Arena,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) responded to a question on if a Democratic socialist can be elected president in 2028 by saying that “I think there are great communicators. And regardless of the moniker or the labels you put on them, a lot of the things those candidates say are actually important things,” and labels aren’t that important to people. Host Kasie Hunt asked, “If the margin is small enough that some of the Democratic socialists in the party are likely to, potentially, be able to control the floor, what is the risk, for Democrats, of overreaching in ways that might turn voters off ahead of the 2028 presidential election?” Crow responded, “Well, that’s a leadership function. All of this boils down to making sure that we, as party leaders, are leading our coalition, we are leading our caucus, regardless of the size of the majority. And, to me, it doesn’t matter whether we have a five-seat majority or a 50-seat majority, because the solution is the same, the response is the same. And that is, when you’re in leadership in this moment, what you have to do is sit down, you have to talk to people — this is what Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has been doing constantly, actually, around the country, I’ve seen it — having all of these discussions with candidates, of all stripes, around the nation and figuring out what motivates them, what are their priorities, and — most importantly — what does their district expect? Our job title is representative. I represent 750,000 Coloradans. That is my job. And that’s where my analysis begins and ends, as it does for every House member, as it should for every House member. And once you figure out what those priorities are, then you’re able to figure out what are we able to achieve. And, again, that doesn’t matter whether we have a small majority or a big one, it’s the same process.” Hunt then asked, “When you look ahead to 2028 and to — there could be quite a few of these candidates who get quite a bit of attention, especially if Abdul El-Sayed, for example, wins a Senate seat in Michigan, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) potentially weighing a presidential run. Do you think that someone who identifies as a Democratic socialist could win a national general election for president?” Crow responded, “I don’t know. I think there are great communicators. And regardless of the moniker or the labels you put on them, a lot of the things those candidates say are actually important things, right? Like the country is ready for universal healthcare. The country is ready to end our endless wars. The country is ready to make sure that we have an economy that delivers for working-class folks, and not just the top 1%. Those are the messages, right? And there [are] people across the spectrum that are delivering that message. And the interesting thing about the Trump era, Kasie, is that a lot of these labels are actually less relevant now, what people are looking for is somebody who’s willing to fight for them, street fighters, to defend them against this president and the lawless policies, people that are willing to think big, and people that are willing to say, we are not going back — this is really key — we’re not going to just rebuild a system that once was out of the ashes of this administration. People don’t want to go back. They want to build something new. They want to build something better, America 2.0, that, actually, can deliver for folks in a way that we didn’t before. And there [are] people on the right and the left and the middle who can be and must be a part of that project.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett