Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Wednesday morning that Democrats have spent too much time arguing about Russia in Washington, an issue that real voters don’t care about.
That was Murphy’s reaction after Democrats failed to win the seat in the 6th District in Georgia.
“I think what it means is the Democrats have to be hyper-focused on an economic message that tells people that the Republican Party is all about economic growth for millionaires and billionaires, and the Democratic Party is about economic growth for everybody,” he said on MSNBC.
“The fact that we have spent so much time talking about Russia, you know, has been a distraction from what should be the clear contrast between Democrats and the Trump agenda, which is on economics,” he added.
Murphy said he rides the commuter bus when he’s home in Connecticut to talk to voters, and said allegations that Russia meddled in the election and may have colluded with President Trump are not something real people are talking about.
“I have to say, they are never talking about issues like Russia,” he said. “They are not talking, frankly, about what’s on cable news at night.”
“They are talking about the same things. Wages. They’re talking about education,” he said. “They’re talking about public safety.”
“And so, I think Democrats have to be hyper-focused on an economic contrast,” Murphy concluded.
Those were the same conclusions many Democrats reached after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in November, with the help of Rust Belt states that were thought to be in the Democrats’ safe hands.
