Dear readers,

There’s a conversation — occurring, as these conversations do, mostly among coastal elites — about how Democrats can better promote abundance. But for that conversation to end up being useful, it needs to be connected to what the average American thinks abundance even is.

To that end, it’s worth thinking about Sen. Ruben Gallego’s comment to the The New York Times last month that “every Latino man wants a big-ass truck.”

Here’s what he told the Times’ Lulu Garcia-Navarro about how he campaigned in Arizona:

I was talking to men, especially Latino men, about the feeling of pride, bringing money home, being able to support your family, the feeling of bringing security — they wanted to hear that someone understood that need… It was a joke, but I said a lot when I was talking to Latino men: “I’m going to make sure you get out of your mom’s house, get your troquita.” For English speakers, that means your truck. Every Latino man wants a big-ass truck, which, nothing wrong with that. “And you’re gonna go start your own job, and you’re gonna become rich, right?” These are the conversations that we should be having. We’re afraid of saying, like, “Hey, let’s help you get a job so you can become rich.” We use terms like “bring more economic stability.” These guys don’t want that. They don’t want “economic stability.” They want to really live the American dream.

Sen. Gallego’s formulation provides a helpful frame: will my policy agenda help Americans achieve their dreams — not just stability? And it leads to some more specific questions that “abundance” advocates should ask themselves:

1. Will my agenda make it easier to buy a big-ass truck?

2. Will voters find me credible when I say my agenda will help them buy a big-ass truck?