Delaware Democrats in Charlotte for their party’s national convention are ready to respond to the message Republicans delivered at their convention last week in Tampa.
U.S. Senator Tom Carper is with the First State’s delegation and says Democrats must counter what he calls the “fiction” Republicans delivered at their convention – that President Obama did not deliver in his first term.
Carper says GOP suggestions that all voters need to do is ask if they are better off than they were four years ago and they’ll see the need for a change is not a winning message for Republicans. Carper argues the facts of the economic recovery indicate otherwise.
“We have seen in the last 29 months, some 4 and a half million private sector jobs created. Ford and Chrysler and GM are all healthy again. GM is again the top auto company in the world. The auto industry is hiring people back,” said Carper. “And housing, which was in the toilet for much of the last three years, four years if you include 2008 – housing is now coming back. Not quite as strong as we’d like, but are we better off than we were four years ago, you bet we are.”
And Carper that the improvement seen in the economy comes without Republicans making any effort to .
“For much of the last four years, they’ve followed the words of the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch Mc Connell, who basically said his top job, his top responsibility during this past four years was to make sure that Barack Obama is a one-term president – to not let anything get done. In spite of that, we still got quite a bit done,” said Sen. Carper in an interview Sunday with WDDE from Charlotte.
Carper believes the Democratic Convention also needs to be more than just countering Republican attacks. He feels votes want more and that Democrats must also lay out a clear agenda for the next four years that includes specific plans for deficit reduction, job creation, tax reform and improved access to healthcare.
Carper faces numerous challengers in his bid for a third U.S. Senate term. He must win a Democratic primary against Keith Spanarelli September 11th.
If he does, he’ll join Republican Kevin Wade, Independent Alex Pires and Green Party candidate Andrew Groff in a crowded November general election field.
