Many Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities

[wmheel1287]

The board will not tolerate this view. It will attack folks who agree with it. It will coalesce around a politically convenient view that others caused the dreadful election result and not look internally one bit. I fear it will be a long, long time if ever before we get the common voter back.

I dint think you will find many people on here that who don't "tolerate" the view that Americans view Dems as being too driven by social issues. That is, of course, different thN Dems actually being toondriven by social issues. If one polled actual economic and health policies, the Dem positions would be be far more popular than Republican positions.

 

[wmheel1287]

We’ve tried having this conversation on the board and most posters don’t want to hear it or have it. I fear they are representative of the party as a whole, unfortunately. The DNC chair race shows that the party isn’t interested in taking a hard look in the mirror.

That's not accurate.

 

[Batt Boy]

I dint think you will find many people on here that who don't "tolerate" the view that Americans view Dems as being too driven by social issues. That is, of course, different thN Dems actually being toondriven by social issues. If one polled actual economic and health policies, the Dem positions would be be far more popular than Republican positions.

I agree about the polling, but not about this board or Dem leadership. The board is replete with reasons we lost: Biden waited too long, the economy was bad, egg prices were high, not enough money., Obama waited too long, the country is full of racists, the tech oligarchs swayed things, etc but seldom the issues shown in this poll - that we are sadly out of touch with what's important to many voters.

 

[finesse]

We’ve tried having this conversation on the board and most posters don’t want to hear it or have it. I fear they are representative of the party as a whole, unfortunately. The DNC chair race shows that the party isn’t interested in taking a hard look in the mirror.

You're right about that. I don't give a shit about changing things to cater to the false image passed off by a bunch of lying assholes in the MAGAt movement. Let the bastards go to hell finding out what they bought.

 

[UNCatTech]

I dint think you will find many people on here that who don't "tolerate" the view that Americans view Dems as being too driven by social issues. That is, of course, different thN Dems actually being toondriven by social issues. If one polled actual economic and health policies, the Dem positions would be be far more popular than Republican positions.

There was a poll last year that listed policy without party, dem policy clearly won out.

 

[UNCatTech]

I agree about the polling, but not about this board or Dem leadership. The board is replete with reasons we lost: Biden waited too long, the economy was bad, egg prices were high, not enough money., Obama waited too long, the country is full of racists, the tech oligarchs swayed things, etc but seldom the issues shown in this poll - that we are sadly out of touch with what's important to many voters.

You don't see any of those as factors?

 

[UNCatTech]

Like I said, most posters aren’t going to agree.

I’d recommend reading Yascha Mounk’s book called The Identity Trap. It does the best job of explaining what Mounk calls “the identity synthesis” that has pervaded the Democratic Party, nonprofit sector, universities, and businesses.

These Americans who say the Democratic Party is too focused on social issues over economic issues are absolutely right and there is something there. This isn’t all because of Republican propaganda or whatever.

Liberal Democrats and progressives have strayed too far from the universalist message of liberalism.

So under the biden administration I recall more policies to achieve a soft landing economically than I do to support LBGTQ rights.

 

[wmheel1287]

Like I said, most posters aren’t going to agree.

I’d recommend reading Yascha Mounk’s book called The Identity Trap. It does the best job of explaining what Mounk calls “the identity synthesis” that has pervaded the Democratic Party, nonprofit sector, universities, and businesses.

These Americans who say the Democratic Party is too focused on social issues over economic issues are absolutely right and there is something there. This isn’t all because of Republican propaganda or whatever.

Liberal Democrats and progressives have strayed too far from the universalist message of liberalism.

I find great irony that your assertions that Democrats aren't connected to everyday Americans and are too connected to ideas born of academia always involve further reading assignments into academia and theory.

Dems need a better way to connect to everyday Americans. The last thing Dems need to do is a reading assignment. They just need to listen and echo what people say is important to them. That happens by just being there. It also happens, unfortunately, by pandering to what people want to hear because average Americans are far too childish to deal with harsh truths that we cannot have it all.

Republicans are full of bombast and pandering with almost no substance. Dems are full of substance but are tedious and boring.

That is the modern American political battle.

 

[Batt Boy]

You don't see any of those as factors?

of course they were all factors. every one of them. Additionally, the Dems have made a bunch of social policies more important than those policies the common workers values. That's what so frustrating. We could do so much better if we were smarter. But I don't think the Dem leadership, nor the cabal here even considers what the common voters cares about because "we" know better.

 

[CFordUNC]

The good news is that all of the people who apparently think that pronouns or the audacity of the existence of transgender people are the greatest existential threat of our time are about to get to take their medicine at the supermarket or at the gas pump over and over and over again in the coming months. Will be interesting to see whether they continue to care that a purple haired Starbucks barista out there somewhere may have pronouns on their nametag when they’re paying a needless Trump tax on literally everything that we use and consume on a daily basis.

As a former Republican whose entire family still votes Republican for the most part, I have said for years that I wish the Democrats would lay off the culture war stuff because it’s a fight they simply can’t win against the right wing media apparatus. They need to focus almost exclusively on economic issues and then figuring out an effective way to boast, brag, and shout it from the rooftops that historic data repeatedly shows that everyday Americans fare much better under Democratic administrations than they do under Republican ones. “Republicans are for billionaires. Democrats are for you.”

 

[finesse]

of course they were all factors. every one of them. Additionally, the Dems have made a bunch of social policies more important than those policies the common workers values. That's what so frustrating. We could do so much better if we were smarter. But I don't think the Dem leadership, nor the cabal here even considers what the common voters cares about because "we" know better.

Tell me the genuine problems they are scared of that weren't being addressed. It's all about things that go bump in the night.

 

[wmheel1287]

I’m not saying Democrats need to hand out reading assignments to voters. People on this board who are actually interested in this need to read though. Not sure how you can argue otherwise.

What i argue is that while you are well meaning and bring a lot to the board, you are actually far more isolated from what average Americans want in political leadership than most of us that you rail against. Your own ideas of governance, if championed, would be pilloried by the American populace. Thats my point about further reading and theory. It doesn't work for dealing with realities on the ground.

Democrats suck at personality. Much of rhat is because pushes at equality are almost always led by people who need to be told to shut the fuck up and sit down. We need Dems strong enough to do that while also pushing for the equality.

We don't need a change in direction of policy whole hog...we need a change in direction of personality and perception.

 

[UNCatTech]

of course they were all factors. every one of them. Additionally, the Dems have made a bunch of social policies more important than those policies the common workers values. That's what so frustrating. We could do so much better if we were smarter. But I don't think the Dem leadership, nor the cabal here even considers what the common voters cares about because "we" know better.

I think the dem leadership are poor marketers. They had an improving economy to run on and don't effectively use it. They had trump's record to run on and didn't effectively use it. While the magas threw out garbage and constant lies.

But it makes one wonder about the position of those being marketed too. It says something about the voters that said the Trump commercials about trans prisoners getting aex changes was more impact full than the Biden soft landing. Was there actI ally any real possibility of getting those votes?

 

[UNCatTech]

I’m not saying Democrats need to hand out reading assignments to voters. People on this board who are actually interested in this need to read though. Not sure how you can argue otherwise.

Everyone needs to actually read.

I believe i was much more informed this election because I don't watch much regular TV and I dont watch commercials, so I had to actually find the information instead of trusting the advertisements.

 

[CFordUNC]

What i argue is that while you are well meaning and bring a lot to the board, you are actually far more isolated from what average Americans want in political leadership than most of us that you rail against. Your own ideas of governance, if championed, would be pilloried by the American populace. Thats my point about further reading and theory. It doesn't work for dealing with realities on the ground.

Democrats suck at personality. Much of rhat is because pushes at equality are almost always led by people who need to be told to shut the fuck up and sit down. We need Dems strong enough to do that while also pushing for the equality.

We don't need a change in direction of policy whole hog...we need a change in direction of personality and perception.

Agree with this wholeheartedly. Having known you personally for a long time, I think that you and I, as former Republicans and as people from rural, poorer backgrounds with large swaths of our family who still vote Republican, are very similar in our understanding of how Democrats should try to reach those kinds of folks. Yes, commitment to furthering equality is among the most noble of principles and one certainly worthy of undertaking, but it’s ultimately useless if you can’t get elected. And in our country right now, you cannot get elected if you are *perceived* as caring more about progressive social issues that sound like they come from the ivory tower or the faculty lounge instead of working to make life more affordable for the majority of Americans who aren’t wealthy, educated, or “elite.”

 

[CFordUNC]

I also come from a rural area and most of my family is Republicans, included all of my immediate family.

I agree with everything you say about needing to speak to average people and not like elites from the ivory tower or faculty lounge. That’s been something that I’ve said a ton. Please don’t confuse my personal politics with what I think the strategy for the Democratic Party should be. These things inform each other for me, but my criticism of the Democratic Party fit perfectly alongside everything you and other conservatives on the board have laid out.

Oh no, I completely understood and even agreed with where you were coming from. My post wasn’t intended to seem like it was directed at you. It was intended are more overarching critique of Democratic strategy.

 

[farce©]

of course they were all factors. every one of them. Additionally, the Dems have made a bunch of social policies more important than those policies the common workers values. That's what so frustrating. We could do so much better if we were smarter. But I don't think the Dem leadership, nor the cabal here even considers what the common voters cares about because "we" know better.

No, Republicans said Dems “made a bunch of social issues more important,” and that view was amplified by mainstream and right wing media. Go look st the ads Dems were running in the last election. Other than abortion, economic issues and Republican plans for Project 2025 were always at the forefront. Healthcare was one of the issues cited in the article as important to voters. Democrats were all over affordable healthcare for all and Republicans were still harping on “Obamacare.” This poll indicates the media coverage of the election was an amplification of GOP talking points and that’s what people remember.

 

[UNCatTech]

It is very interesting how many former conservatives, me included, are on this board.

I believe it makes a statement about the movement of that party.

 

[CFordUNC]

Ultimately, even though I do think that all of this is worthy of discussion and dissection and analysis, in the greater scheme of things, it’s kind of irrelevant for the moment in time. Republicans have complete and total control of the federal government. They’ve (and presumably many American voters) have got exactly what they say they want. Everything moving forward between now and when the next election occurs is owned by the Republican Party and their voters. In a way, it’s a blessing in disguise for the Democrats. The average everyday American fares worse economically under Republican administrations than they do under Democratic ones. There’s nothing controversial about that, and it’s not an opinion – it’s backed by data spanning many different administrations. This time will be no different, and in fact will likely be much, much worse. The Republicans are dismantling the economy and openly boasting about how it’s necessary for everyone to feel economic pain.

Give it six, nine, 12 months or whatever and there’s going to be a lot of people who figure out the hard way that perhaps dozens of transgender people playing sports somewhere out there isn’t more of an existential threat than their energy bills or their grocery store bills skyrocketing by 25% or more.

 

[BubbaOtis]

The "One Big Tent" approach bit the Dems in the ass in the last election. There are too many issues that, rightly or not, are perceived as zero sum games; a loser for every winner. Diversity hires are seen as taking jobs from better qualified candidates. The existence of Diversity $300k positions angers people.

LAFD’s $300K-per-year diversity chief sparks fury for defending DEI by blaming the victim: ‘He got himself in the wrong place’

Deputy Chief Kristine Larson — who heads the Equity and Human Resources Bureau — was addressing accusations that female firefighters aren’t strong enough carry a man out of a burn…

nypost.com

I totally get that how LA spends their money doesn't affect me but the public perception is unpopular.

Labor and immigration create a rub. Cheap immigrant labor depresses wages. Immigrants create a drain on the social welfare system. Progressive social issues don't sit well with some Christians, particularly African Americans. I tried to avoid political ads rolling up to the election, but the " taxpayer paid sex change operations for prisoners" ad and Harris's failure to walk back her comments were a tremendous blow to her chances, imo.

I doubt Dem leadership will change their approach, though.