Deborah Barfield Berry

Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — In the wake of devastating losses in Congress and the White House, Congressional Black Caucus members say Democrats must expand their agenda to include more economic issues and reel in more voters, particularly in the South.

“The South has the greatest opportunity for growth in the Democratic Party than anywhere in the country,'' said Mississippi 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a caucus member. “We’d be remiss if we didn’t look to the South and the middle of the country for opportunity … We can’t be a West Coast and East Coast party and win.''

The 45-member caucus, made up of mostly Democrats, is an influential voting bloc in the House. The caucus has met several times since Election Day to discuss its priorities and develop a strategy to push its agenda in the Republican-controlled Congress.

The caucus and House Democrats will hold leadership elections Wednesday.

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Leaders of the caucus, often called the "conscience of Congress,'' plan to include more economic issues as part of the group's agenda along with traditional issues such as voting rights and civil rights.

“A lot of whites have left the Democratic Party because they feel that we don’t understand their plight and that we’re not willing to fight with them on economic issues just as strongly as we fight on social issues — and that’s legitimate,'' said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Butterfield said it’s important Democrats “recalibrate'' their strategy. He said polls show whites, in general, are trending away from the party.

“It’s partly our fault because we’ve allowed it to happen,'' he said. "I think we will see a reversal in this trend in the South.''

Many caucus members, including Thompson, supported Democrat Hillary Clinton who lost handily to President-elect Donald Trump in the Deep South, including in Mississippi.

The South is probably the hardest place for Democrats to make headway in part because many blacks, who traditionally support Democrats, are clustered in supermajority districts, said Albert Samuels, interim dean of the Nelson Mandela College of Government and Social Sciences at Southern University.

Samuels said Democrats also face a challenge trying to re-engage moderate white voters, whom he called an “endangered species.''

The Democratic Party has been in trouble since abandoning it’s 50-state strategy in the mid-2000s, Samuels said.

“Republicans, conservatives, business groups … have just been a lot more focused on not just winning the presidency, but congressional races and state legislatures,'' he said.

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Less than a week after the elections, Butterfield called a special caucus meeting in Washington to discuss the losses. The meeting ran for three hours. “We just commiserated together and talked about our successes and our failures,'' he said.

Members also discussed the fallout at the caucus’ recent weekly policy luncheon and at their annual policy in Miami the weekend after elections.

They also agreed to push to delay Democratic leadership elections originally scheduled for Nov. 17 until Nov. 30.

“Many of us believed that it was much too quick to have the leadership elections nine days after the biggest defeat in decades,'' Butterfield said.

Caucus members are still reeling from the losses, particularly the White House defeat. Clinton held a conference call recently to thank caucus members for their support.

Caucus leaders said they will need help from Clinton and other Democrats, including President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, to push back Trump plans, including an effort to repeal Obama's health care law.

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“If Trump continues down the path that he’s presently on, we’ve got to be ready to fight fire with fire,'' Butterfield said.

Thompson said, meanwhile, the party must shift its strategy to “write the South off’’ and instead invest more resources. “We have to have a 50-state party,'' he said.

Thompson said Democrats should have pushed for more summer youth employment programs and job training opportunities.

“Our message was a message driven too much by consultants and pollsters rather than the facts of the situation,'' he said. “A lot of us are looking forward to cleaning house with all these consultants and pollsters who have been lying to us through the years and go back and talk to the people.''

Butterfield said the caucus will push to channel federal aid to areas with persistently high poverty rates. Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, the assistant Democratic leader and a caucus member, has championed the effort.

The caucus also plans to push for $2 trillion to $4 trillion for infrastructure projects, criminal justice reform and more aid for historically black colleges and universities.

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Rickey Hill, chairman of the political science department at Jackson State University, said Democrats should also focus more on local and state politics.

“There are many fights to be had on reapportionment, gerrymandering and legislation and public policies impacting the lives of everyday people,'' he said.

Caucus leaders said they will also focus on keeping members in key committee posts and leadership roles.

“Once we get the in-house stuff in order… then we can pivot and turn to our agenda,'' he said. “Many of these issues Republicans cannot ignore once we turn up the volume. So we’ve got to turn up the volume in the next two years and we’re prepared to do it.''

Contact Deborah Barfield Berry at dberry@gannett.com. Follow @dberrygannett on Twitter.