After the 2018 midterm elections, the mainstream media focus has been on incoming Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and deservedly so given the huge odds they overcame to get elected. There has been relatively less talk however about incoming Democrats like Lizzie Fletcher of Houston who flipped TX07, a congressional seat that has been held by Republicans for decades because of her centrist stance. In other words America is not just about the left(liberals) vs the right(conservatives) as is often portrayed by the mainstream media. The 2018 elections clearly showed that across the country, there is a huge swath of winnable voters in the middle(independents), especially in urban areas like Houston, where centrist candidates are preferred.
At a time when college educated voters in urban areas are increasingly frustrated by President Trump’s erratic, even reckless stances on key issues that affect their lives–stock market, immigration, race relations etc–Democrats should focus more on winning these educated urban independent voters. The best way to do that is to showcase Lizzie Fletcher and other centrist Democrats to show the undecided educated urban voters out there that there is room for them in the Dem party. Simply put, Democrats cannot/must not go into 2020 with voters thinking they are just an amalgamation of radical leftists united solely by their hatred for Trump, which is undoubtedly the Dem caricature GOP strategists will try very hard to portray. Centrist Democrats like Lizzie Fletcher are very important for the 2020 fight both at the congressional level and even in the presidential race.
You don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it, Lizzie Fletcher recently sat down for an interview with Newsmakers host Khambrell Marshall and said as much; “It[TX07] is an independent district and there is an independent voice that needs to be heard. It is a moderate voice, but it’s a voice that’s going to stand up for what’s right….Ultimately the way I view this district is that this is an independent voice that we need to hear more of in congress.” The full Newsmakers segment is available here but the relevant clip is below
Bottom line there are a lot of exciting new Democrats headed to Washington in 2019. One only hopes that the Dem establishment will shed some light on the less often talked about, but nonetheless very promising incoming centrist voices like Houston’s Lizzie Panill Fletcher.
Yours Truly has always believed that properly harnessed, Houston Texas in particular and Harris County generally, hold the keys to the future of the Democratic Party and it just turns out we have found a “shovel-ready” messenger in Lizzie Fletcher. Folks, you heard it first at grassrootsdempolitics.com that H-Town Dem Lizzie Fletcher is going places and Washington/mainstream media better be ready for her. Her signature tweet below says it all.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.