Luke Brinker — Connecticut’s crucial lesson: Democrats can win when they listen to progressives

Dannel Malloy waged a fiercely economic populist campaign against a tough opponent -- and he won.…

…Malloy signed both paid sick leave and the minimum wage increase into law despite encountering opposition among more moderate Democrats in the state legislature, particularly on the former.

“When we passed paid sick days, when we passed the minimum wage increase, it wasn’t easy,” she said. “We had a lot of opposition from more moderate Democrats. In Connecticut, there are strong Democratic majorities in both chambers, but you get a lot of opposition from moderate, corporate Democrats. So if they had won the day on those issues, we’d probably be preparing for Gov. Foley right now, because Malloy would have been without these strong economic justice issues to run a campaign on.”

Salon
Connecticut’s crucial lesson: Democrats can win when they listen to progressives

Luke Brinker