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POLITICO Exclusive: Democrats Want to Reclaim ‘Freedom’ In 2024

News Category: 2024 Freedom Agenda, Media

EXCLUSIVE: DEMOCRATS WANT TO RECLAIM ‘FREEDOM’ IN 2024

By Zach Montellaro

A group of moderate Democrats — the New Democrat Coalition in Congress and the NewDEAL, a group focused on state and local officials — are rolling out their “2024 Freedom Agenda.” It wraps several planks of the Democratic Party — protecting abortion and LGBTQ rights, advocating for gun control, defending democracy — under a broader message looking to recapture a word Republicans have tried to monopolize.

“We’re calling it a ‘freedom agenda’ and really leaning in on freedom,” said Kuster, the chair of the New Dems, “so that it’s the Democratic brand that’s carrying freedom, because people have been losing their freedoms to an extreme ideology across the board.”

Their message, shared first with Huddle, gives you a good idea of what the party wants to run on in 2024. A sizable chunk of frontline Democrats are New Dems and will make or break a potential Democratic majority next year.

The organizations say their new agenda can help the party attract the voters they need for the party to be successful in 2024 — not just the Democratic base, but the swingy suburban voters who have decided presidential races and the fight for control of Congress in recent years.

“This election in 2024, we’re going to need to build a broad coalition that is not just Democrats, but … center and center-right, even. People who are appalled by the rising chaos and extremism and even political violence on the right,” said Debbie Cox Bultan, NewDEAL’s chief executive officer.

Kuster said that she hoped the agenda would serve as a guidepost for her members’ messaging heading into next year. The agenda “makes it easier to share with people, it makes it easier for our members to use it,” she said. “With two wars, and democracy being threatened around the globe and right here at home, and 91 indictments, it’s hard to get through to our constituency.”

Read the 2024 Freedom Agenda here.