New progressive caucus chair: Democrats need to prioritize winning 'above being right all the time'

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the newly elected chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, weighed in on Democrats’ future strategy, saying the party needs to prioritize victory with a stronger focus on economic issues.

“We are now at a place where we have to put winning way above being right all the time,” he told NBC News in a story published Thursday, the day of his caucus election victory.

“It’s less of a left-right fight and more of a getting back to a Democratic Party that’s for everyday people, no longer being seen as preachy or disconnected,” Casar added.

The Texas Democrat argued the average Democratic voter is more culturally conservative than the party brands itself to be, leaving it “vulnerable” to GOP attacks.

President-elect Trump defeating Vice President Harris in every swing state and increasing his vote share almost across the board has left Democrats debating what went wrong and what to do about it.

Casar said President Biden should have dropped out of the 2024 race earlier than he did, saying his late exit negatively impacted Harris’s campaign and Democrats more broadly.

But Casar also said Democrats must shift their focus back to the working class “without throwing vulnerable people under the bus,” such as immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.

“We need to re-emphasize core economic issues every time some of these cultural war issues are brought up,” he told NBC. “So when we hear Republicans attacking queer Americans again, I think the progressive response needs to be that a trans person didn’t deny your health insurance claim, a big corporation did — with Republican help.”

“We need to connect the dots for people that the Republican Party obsession with these culture war issues is driven by Republicans’ desire to distract voters and have them look away while Republicans pick their pocket.”