By Bill Parry
Calling Nov. 8 a difficult day for the country and the Democratic Party, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) announced Thursday that he will run for chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Crowley served as the vice chairman of the body for the last four years.
“This is a critical time for our party and our caucus,” Crowley wrote in a letter to all Democratic members of the House. “We need independent messengers who can go toe-to-toe with a President Trump and stand up for Americans who feel left behind — and who certainly will be left behind by Republican attempts to end Medicare and Social Security, offer tax breaks for the rich, and gut investments in job training and education. “I have always fought against bullies, and that’s how we need to approach the biggest bully of all for the next four years.”
The nine-term congressman is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Crowley believes the caucus must be focused on developing policies and messages that better resonate and connect with the American people.
“Getting in touch with American voters will require focusing on more than polls and fund-raising records,” he said. “We need to think differently about how to make sure that all Americans realize our party includes them and it looks out for them.”
After his party’s losses across the board on Election Night, President Obama suggested the entire campaign strategy needed to change during his Monday news conference.
“We have to compete everywhere,” Obama said. We have to show up everywhere. We have to compete on a grassroots level.”
Crowley agreed.
“We all agree that Democrats are the party with a vision and that we are the ones working on behalf of the American people,” he said. “Our challenge now is to better connect with voters — in this election, they were not telling us what they saw on social media or read in the news, but how they feel.”
The Woodside native said a “truly collaborative effort” is needed to create an inclusive environment within the caucus.
“I grew up in working-class Queens, New York — only a few miles away from where Donald Trump himself grew up, yet very much on the other side of the tracks,” Crowley said.
“Mr. Trump and I certainly experienced two very different upbringings and chose two very different paths in life. I grew up the son of an immigrant mother and a New York City policeman father in a community sustained by working-class and, in many cases, first-generation Americans. It’s a community populated by firefighters, teachers, construction workers, small-business owners and new immigrants. They all feel uncertain about their economic futures, like many Americans across the country.”
Crowley, 54, is expected to run unopposed and replace U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, when leadership elections are held Nov. 30. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer will be the next Senate minority leader after winning the Democrats’ closed-door election Wednesday.
“We’re ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be-President Trump on issues where we agree,” he told reporters. “But we will go toe-to-toe against the president-elect whenever our values or the progress we’ve made are under assault.”
Schumer, who has been in the Senate since 1999, replaces the retiring Harry Reid as the party’s Senate leader.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
