Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro launched his campaign by pledging support for “Medicare for All,” free universal preschool, a large public investment in renewable energy and two years of free college for all Americans.

That wasn’t enough for some of his party’s most liberal members.

 

Critics on social media quickly knocked Castro’s plan to provide only two years of free higher education — instead of four — as “half measures,” “scraps” and “corporate Dem doublespeak.” Aware of the backlash, the former Obama administration Cabinet member clarified his position in an interview days later.

 

“At least the first two years of college or university or apprenticeship program should be tuition free — and preferably four years,” Castro told The Associated Press. “We’re going to work toward that.”

 

Welcome to the 2020 presidential primary. Almost no policy is too liberal for Democrats fighting to win over their party’s base, which is demanding a presidential nominee dedicated to pursuing bold action on America’s most pressing challenges.

 

Among two dozen possible candidates, virtually all have embraced universal health care in one form or another. Some have rallied behind free college, job guarantee programs, a $15 minimum hourly wage and abolishing — or at least reconstituting — the federal agency that enforces immigration laws. While few have outlined detailed proposals to fund their priorities, most would generate new revenue by taxing the rich.

 

The leftward lurch on top policies carries risks.

 

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are betting that voters will ultimately reject the Democratic proposals as extreme. Some GOP leaders cast lesser plans as socialism during the Obama era.

 

Republican critics are joined by a handful of moderate Democrats, who fear that promises by well-intentioned presidential prospects may create unrealistic expectations with their party’s most passionate voters.

 

Billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican mayor of New York now considering a Democratic presidential bid, recently opined that primary voters might be receptive to a more moderate approach.

 

“Most Democrats want a middle-of-the-road strategy,” Bloomberg said on ABC’s “The View.” He added: “If you go off on trying to push for something that has no chance of getting done, that we couldn’t possibly pay for, that just takes away from where you can really make progress in helping people that need help today.”

 

So far, at least, very few presidential prospects are heeding such warnings.

 

In the 2016 campaign, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was the only presidential contender to support “Medicare for All,” a proposal that would essentially provide free health care coverage to all Americans. This year, it’s hard to find anyone in opposition.

 

That’s even after one recent study predicted the plan would cost taxpayers more than $32 trillion. Proponents argue that those same taxpayers would save the trillions they currently spend out-of-pocket for their health care.

 

Lesser-known policies have emerged heading into 2020 as well.

 

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who is expected to launch his presidential campaign soon, has sponsored legislation to create a federal jobs guarantee program in several communities across America. The pilot program, which is co-sponsored by fellow 2020ers like New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, could ultimately transform the U.S. labor market by providing well-paid government employment with benefits for anyone who wants it.

 

Critics decry the plan as a step toward socialism.

 

“Big challenges demand big solutions,” Booker told the AP. “Both Martin Luther King Jr. and President Franklin Roosevelt believed that every American had the right to a job, and that right has only become more important in this age of increasing income inequality, labor market concentration and continued employment discrimination.”

 

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer supports much of the liberal movement’s new priorities — including Trump’s impeachment — but says the federal jobs guarantee “doesn’t make sense” given the nation’s low employment rate.

 

“I want the private sector to produce jobs people can live on,” he said in an interview. “A guarantee of government jobs doesn’t make sense.”

Yet Steyer insists that most of his party’s policy priorities  universal health care and free college, among them — are anything but radical.

 

“The Republicans are an extremist far-right, radical party. When you say we need to moderate to their position, there’s nothing moderate or pragmatic about their position,” said Steyer, who recently backed away from a presidential run, although he’s expected to spend tens of millions of dollars to shape the 2020 debate.

 

Free college is quickly emerging as a litmus test for Democratic contenders.

 

Those already on the record backing free tuition at public colleges and universities include former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders, Gillibrand, Harris and Warren. Estimates vary for the cost to state and local taxpayers, although Sanders acknowledged it could be $70 billion annually.

 

Warren seemed to back away from her support for free college during an appearance in Iowa earlier in the month, however. In 2017, she co-sponsored the “College For All Act,” which would have made tuition free at public universities.

 

Asked in a radio interview whether she supports reducing the cost of college or offering it free, Warren responded: “No, I think this is about reducing the cost.”

 

It’s unlikely the Democratic Party’s energized base would tolerate any significant shifts to the center on free college — or any of the party’s top issues.

 

Such populist appeals helped fuel sweeping Democratic victories in last fall’s midterm elections, while producing a new generation of unapologetic Democratic leaders such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is aligned with the democratic socialist movement. And polls repeatedly suggest that voters support proposals for universal health care, free college and free preschool.

 

“We have seen a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party’s political center,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Those who deny that are hurting their chances in 2020.”

Meanwhile, Castro, like others in the early 2020 field, says he’s fully committed to a “bold vision” to address the nation’s top policy challenges.

 

“All Democrats recognize that this is not going to be easy, that to get Medicare for all, for instance, it’s not guaranteed, it’s not going to be easy, it may require along the way there are some compromises,” he said. “But I’m convinced that it’s worth it to go forward.”

 

 
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Afghanistan’s Taliban opened a new round of peace talks Monday in Qatar with the United States, the insurgent group said.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the two-day meeting in Doha will continue Tuesday. The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan political reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, is leading the U.S. delegation.

“Following American acceptance of the agenda of ending the invasion of Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from being used against other countries in the future, talks with American representatives took place today in Doha, the capital of Qatar,” Mujahid said. The session will continue Tuesday.

Khalilzad has held several rounds of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar in recent months, and the last interaction between the two sides had taken place in the United Arab Emirates in December.

Diplomatic sources privy to the previous meetings say Taliban and U.S. delegations in their current dialogue are expected to finalize proposals they had exchanged in Abu Dhabi regarding a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. An immediate anticipated outcome could be a temporary cease-fire announced by the Taliban to build mutual confidence to keep the dialogue process moving forward.

Monday’s meeting was originally set to take place in Pakistan, where Khalilzad stayed for several days before traveling to Qatar. Sources said Taliban officials refused to come to Islamabad unless the U.S. agreed to discuss a withdrawal plan for U.S.-led foreign troops from Afghanistan.

The uncertainty following the Taliban’s backing away from the proposed meeting in Pakistan led to speculation about a breakdown in the peace dialogue.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who undertook a daylong visit to Islamabad on Sunday, dismissed suggestions the dialogue with the Taliban was faltering and also praised Pakistan’s effort to help the Afghan peace process.

The South Carolina Republican senator, who is considered close to President Donald Trump, spoke after a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I can tell you, the fact that the effort that was made is good. It is going to take a while. I talked with Prime Minister Khan and I think he is going to deliver a message that would be very helpful,” Graham said. He did not elaborate.

Monday’s U.S.-Taliban talks came as Prime Minister Khan also arrived in Doha for official meetings with the Qatari leadership. Diplomatic sources say Khan is likely to make contact with Taliban officials during the visit to encourage them to help in negotiating a political resolution to the Afghan war.

After ending his visit to Pakistan on Sunday, Khalilzad sounded upbeat about the future of Afghan peace talks, saying he had “good meetings” in Islamabad.

“I appreciate their [Pakistan’s] hospitality and resolve to push for Afghan peace. We’re heading in the right direction with more steps by Pakistan coming that will lead to concrete results,” the Afghan-born chief U.S. negotiator said.

Graham, in his press conference Sunday, noted Pakistan was taking significant steps under Khan’s leadership to promote Afghan peace and regional security. He also praised Pakistan’s effort to fence the 2,600-kilometer largely porous border the country shares with Afghanistan to deter cross-border terrorism.

“I am going to go back and talk to President Trump about my meeting with Prime Minister Khan and I am going to urge him to meet with the prime minister as soon as practical,” said Graham. “Prime Minister Khan was criticized over the past 10 or 20 years about talking about reconciliation with the Taliban. He was right.”

Before coming to power last July, Khan consistently called for the U.S. to engage the Taliban in peace talks rather than using military power to end the Afghan war. His critics would call him “Taliban Khan” for demanding and supporting reconciliation with the Islamist Afghan Taliban.
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Saudi Arabia may learn to regret the political attacks launched from the kingdom on two American Muslim women who won seats for the Democrats in Congress in the U.S. midterm elections.  One of them Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, has secured a seat on a House panel that has the power to disrupt U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  

Somali-American Ilhan Omar, who won a seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, and her fellow congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, have attracted disapproving Saudi attention with the oil-rich kingdom’s government-controlled media outlets, as well as academics and commentators known to reflect the views of the ruling royal family, dubbing them secret Islamists who are in league with the Muslim Brotherhood.

On securing a seat on the House foreign affairs panel Omar said she is determined to “rein in arms sales to human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia.”

The attacks on the two lawmakers, who dub themselves democratic socialists, have not diminished since their mid-term wins when they became the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress.  Both are among several politically progressive congressional newcomers who have pledged to shake up the U.S. Congress and their own Democratic party.

A Saudi diplomat kicked off the rhetoric against the lawmakers with a tweet on election night targeting Omar, saying “she will be hostile to the Gulf” and accusing her of being an adherent of the kind of political Islam represented by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Arabiya, a news network set up by relatives of the Saudi royal family, ran an op-ed last month saying the two newly-elected congresswomen are part of an anti-Saudi infiltration of American politics, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which aims to undermine U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia.  The criticism has been echoed in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi’s Gulf neighbor and ally.  The Muslim Brotherhood, a political movement, is banned in both Gulf countries.

“The Democrats’ battle against Republican control of the U.S. Congress, led to an alliance with political Islamist movements in order to restore their control on government, pushing Muslim candidates and women activists of immigrant minorities, onto the electoral scene,” the writer of the Al Arabiya article claimed.

Irony in rhetorical attacks

Supporters of the two congresswomen describe the Saudi media campaign against the pair as a vilification, saying there’s an irony in the rhetorical attacks as both lawmakers share socially progressive views, including strong advocacy of LGBTQ and women’s rights, which are diametrically at odds with political Islam.  The Saudi targeting of the two is in response, they say, to the women’s advocacy of human rights and their criticism of the Saudi royals, and especially of the kingdom’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Both women have criticized Trump over his handling of Saudi Arabia in response to the October killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  Omar tweeted after the killing of the journalist, “The Saudi government might have been strategic at covering up the daily atrocities carried out against minorities, women, activists and even the #YemenGenocide, but the murder of #JamalKhashoggi should be the last evil act they are allowed to commit.”

Trump has refrained from severely punishing Saudi Arabia for the killing of Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.  The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 17 Saudis accused of organizing the murder, but says the strategic relationship with Riyadh is too important to do more.

Their ire is not only focused on Saudi Arabia, though.  Both lawmakers, ironically considering the Saudi criticism, are firm opponents of Israeli policy and are supporters of a boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.

In an interview Thursday with The Intercept, a left-leaning online investigative news site, Rashida Tlaib, the first ever Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, says she won’t support U.S. military aid to Israel or “any country that is not for equality or justice.”

On Palestine, she said, “I have to tell you my grandmother lives there.  By me supporting any aid to a country that denies her human dignity, denies her equality, the fact that she has to go and, you know, through checkpoints to get to the hospital for health care, the fact that she is felt as if she’s less than in her own country, that is something I will not be supporting.”

She said military aid should be used as leverage to persuade countries to observe civil rights.

“If we’re not doing that to Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries, then we’re not doing our job as a country,” she added.

 
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U.S. President Donald Trump has visited the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington to honor the slain civil rights leader on the national holiday.

 

Trump was joined by Vice President Mike Pence as they laid a wreath at the foot of the memorial statue.

 

Trump told reporters it was a “great day.” He did not respond to questions about the government shutdown during the brief appearance.

The shutdown almost led to the cancellation of a commemorative service for King at an Atlanta church called King’s “spiritual home.”

 

The Ebenezer Baptist Church is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and has been closed because of the government shutdown. The annual service was in doubt until Delta Air Lines, which is headquartered in Atlanta, gave the National Park Service a grant to reopen the site.

King’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, said in the service Monday honoring King that Washington is in a state of crisis.

 

“Our humanity is literally on the verge of digressing to two Americas and becoming the dis-United States of America,” she said.

 

Also Monday, several Democratic presidential hopefuls attended events to honor the civil rights leader. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has said he is considering a presidential run but has not officially announced a candidacy, attended a breakfast celebrating King’s life that was held by the Rev. Al Sharpton in Washington.

 

Sen. Kamala Harris from California used the holiday to launch her presidential campaign in an attempt to become the first black female president.

Every year on the third Monday in January, Americans honor the slain civil rights leader who in the 1950s and 1960s organized nonviolent protests against southern segregation, the struggle for black equality and voting rights.

 

Many around the country spend the holiday commemorating King’s tireless work to end racism by participating in community service projects. In 1994, the U.S. Congress honored that community spirit by designating the King holiday a national day of service.

 
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