Dem campaign chief: Medicare for All price tag 'a little scary'

“The vast majority of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives want to see us fix the Affordable Care Act and make it functional,” she said, “so we can protect people with pre-existing conditions and so people have affordable health care.”A former journalist from the Quad Cities area, the 57-year-old Bustos is a key moderate voice in a Democratic Party that is lurching left on issues like health care and government job guarantees, while celebrating the rise of democratic socialists such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezHouse Dems delay vote on resolution rebuking Omar over Israel remarks Overnight Defense: Briefing calms senators' nerves over Trump-Kim summit | GOP chair looks to lock in Trump withdrawal from Iran deal | Senators offer bill to end Afghanistan war Mellman: What's socialism anyway? MORE (D-N.Y.) and Sanders.And some liberal groups are watching her warily.“As the leading Democratic presidential contenders increasingly unite around Medicare for all and the Green New Deal, I don’t understand why the chair of the DCCC is trying to divide Democrats by putting forward talking points from Republicans and insurance corporations,” said Waleed Shahid, a spokesman with the progressive grass-roots group Justice Democrats.As head of the DCCC, Bustos is charged with protecting the Democrats’ newly won majority during a high-stakes presidential campaign, where President TrumpDonald John TrumpTlaib to join protest calling for Trump impeachment Ex-Trump campaign aide says he might not cooperate in House Dem probe Trump to meet with former Yemen hostage: White House MORE will devour much of the media attention and Democrats have dozens of vulnerable incumbents in conservative-leaning districts — a tough map that she readily acknowledges.“I consider this somewhat of a fragile majority in the sense that we have 26 Democrats who won by 5 points or fewer. “More than anything, it’s changing demographics,” Bustos said of the Democrats’ newfound success in Texas, “and I would say over the next, you know, one, two, three cycles, that that state’s going to look very different.”Another challenge facing Bustos revolves around the Republicans’ strategy of branding all Democrats — even the moderates — as leftist extremists by linking them to liberal figures like Ocasio-Cortez and Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy Patricia D'Alesandro PelosiTlaib to join protest calling for Trump impeachment House Dems delay vote on resolution rebuking Omar over Israel remarks Dem says request for Trump's tax returns could come within weeks MORE (D-Calif.).