DEMOCRATS ARE FAILING HARD AT WINNING OVER THE NORMIES:
The 2024 election marked a significant shift in political dynamics. Democrats, who have long had an advantage on social issues, continued to double down on the most radical of positions, ceding the advantage to Republicans and allowing them to go on the offensive rather than being defensive. For example, the Trump campaign managed to successively use Kamala’s radical positions on gender against her, telling voters, “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.”
It’s no secret that Democrats now have to reassess their agenda if they want to win back mainstream voters, particularly working-class Americans. These voters, who make up the majority of the electorate, have increasingly become alienated by the party’s focus on identity politics and divisive rhetoric.
According to an analysis from The Washington Free Beacon, internal divisions in the party continue to hinder any real progress in this effort.
At the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting in Phoenix, party leaders made symbolic gestures that only served to further alienate average voters. A “land acknowledgment” meant to pay tribute to indigenous people was one such gesture, but for many, it felt more like a distraction than a meaningful attempt to address the concerns of working-class voters.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison recently lashed out at critics who urged the party to distance itself from identity politics. His defensive response, which included belittling concerns about alienating blue-collar Americans, reflects a broader resistance within the party to change its focus.
Smugness is the left’s Kryptonite in the hands of Trump, but it’s such an ingrained part of their psyche that it may be impossible for them to ever change. QED:
Finding comfort in the notion that their former allies were disdainful, hapless rubes, smug liberals created a culture animated by that contempt. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
—“The Smug Style In American Liberalism,” young adult Website* Vox.com, April 21st, 2016.