Calling it a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity, Rubin claimed that the combination of national outrage over the killing of African-Americans by police, and the coronavirus pandemic with the attendant economic collapse during the Trump administration makes taking control of the government easily attainable.
According to a report from NBC News noted by Rubin, there is a huge demographic shift going on in the country, with NBC reporting, "Republicans have actually grown their advantage among white voters who do not have a college degree. They now hold a 24-point party ID edge with that group. In 2015, the GOP held a 21-point lead with them.
But among whites with a college degree, the numbers have moved sharply in the other direction. Democrats and Republicans drew equal support among that group in 2015, 47 percent identified with each party. But in the latest data whites with a college degree leaned Democratic by 12 points."
Many of those voters, the columnist points out, are suburban white women who are already voting overwhelmingly for Democrats, with Rubin suggesting the "gender gap has widened into a canyon."
"For the first time, you have a significant majority of white Americans who think there is a need for systemic change," she explained. "Coupled with the preference of most Americans for more government (spurred in part by the need for government action to battle the coronavirus and the ensuing economic recession), the party that is aligned with addressing racial inequity and that believes government can be a force for good has a huge advantage. Republicans anti-government ethos is entirely ill-suited to the time."
As Rubin notes, Democratic voters have selected a moderate in former Vice President Joe Biden to oppose Trump and, in Biden, they have a candidate who call pull more independents and moderate Republicans into the Democratic Party.
"Democrats may have the voters and the ideological consensus not only to win big in November (a sweep of the House and Senate majorities and the White House is a distinct possibility) but also to drive a progressive agenda on criminal justice, health care, economic opportunity and education. Democrats will need to address several issues if they are to not only win big but also govern boldly," she suggested.
"The public wants reform and change, but it is far from clear whether they want a radical agenda. Expanding Obamacare rather than doing away with it, creating a tax reform bill that undoes the excesses of the Trump era and equalizes the rates for capital gains and salary income, offering free community college tuition and advocating significant reforms in policing, sentencing and pot legalization would gain broad support. The Democrats will run into trouble if they put their energies into items such as single-payer health care," she added before cautioning, "They have a narrow window to do real things; overreaching risks them getting very little."
Rubin's analysis falls in line with more reports over the weekend that GOP candidates once thought safe are now scrambling to hold onto their seats.
"Democrats must win and win big in November if they hope to gather support for what may amount to a new New Deal," she wrote before concluding, "If they play their cards right, they can have as dramatic an effect on the scope of government and on the electoral landscape as did the original New Deal."
You can read the whole piece here.
