Summary
Following Kamala Harris’s unexpected defeat, Democratic leaders are scrutinizing their party’s failures, particularly with working-class voters.
Figures like Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Ro Khanna argue the party lacks a strong economic message, especially for those frustrated with stagnant mobility and neoliberal policies.
Sanders emphasized Democrats’ disconnect from working-class concerns, while Murphy criticized the party’s unwillingness to challenge wealthy interests.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison announced he won’t seek re-election, leaving the party’s leadership in flux as Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries prepare to assume top roles amid a Republican resurgence.
And there’s your problem. You shouldn’t have to point that out, she and the Democratic party should have been talking about the economy non-fucking-stop once she had polling that said people only give two shits about the economy.
She should have been saying, yeah I know inflation sucked balls but we’re going to go after the assholes who price gouged you. She should have said, yeah, egg prices went up because of the bird flu and here’s the plan to make sure we tell these mass chicken farms to be better. She should have said, hey I know your rent is too damn high but here’s something actually realistic we can do about it. Every. God. Damn. Day. until she got inaugurated.
And as for the “Maybe look up her past voting record and background”, well guess what? They don’t and we know they don’t because we have a lot of social science research showing that when you’re lower working class, when you’re done working two - three jobs or a 12 hour physically demanding job trying to make ends meet, tired out of your god damn skull, and you can’t afford to pay your rent or food or internet that you need to actually get another job because the one you have is still laying you off. Yeah, you got that 17% raise that the rank and file got over the four years but to you that basically amounts to another 2 bucks an hour meanwhile you rent’s gone up 500% in four years.
I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’m not looking shit up after running a double shift dealing with asshole customers complaining about how prices are too high and some white dude spouting off racist bullshit to my face. I’m not that now and I have a job where I can post on Lemmy in the middle of the day and have that luxury of being able do that research. Most American’s don’t have that mental bandwidth to do that and one as I put up above is going to give two shits about the BLS report saying that wage growth was the highest in decades when they’re literally struggling.
Democrats are often derided for being elite and honestly there’s truth to that, Democrats, especially the people in leadership really fucking suck at actually talking to people and really suck at empathy and they have to realize that, I’m sorry but the American public isn’t the brightest, they don’t have the greatest attention span, they’re tired and just want someone to tell them they’re going to be able to eat and have a roof over their heads and not have to struggle so damn much and someone’s actually got their back. Even if it’s pretty little lies.
Funnily enough, she did!
But ok, you keep on ranting. Good rant!
Damn, you’re right, she did mention that in one single interview and I had forgotten until you mentioned it.
And that’s from someone the regularly follows politics and reads the paper everyday. Now imagine the guys I’m talking about above, what make you think they’re going to actively go out and seek that info and retain it. Again Every. God. Damn. Day. until inauguration.
All I can see is that this is why Democrats are going to keep losing because instead of coming down to talk to the people and not over them and dismissing with reports and numbers and can’t accept the fact that they have a lot of blame along with these low info voters who also have a lot to be desired. Unable to adapt to the changing landscape of how people consume news and information too. But hey, never learn Democrats, never learn.
I agree with the sentiment, at least in principle. Democrats need to reject neo-liberal (or is it really neo-con?) policies and start meeting regular working people where they are at. To my mind both AOC and Sanders have articulated this extremely well.
But… this is a two-way street. A lot of voters are low-information because they simply don’t prioritize voting and elections. There may be decent reasons for this but not voting or just voting for whoever says things that make you feel good in the moment is not taking responsibility as a citizen and it certainly isn’t voting for your own interests. Things don’t get better that way. We need to fight.
I know I know… chicken meet egg.
I guess that’s where we differ in opinion. I honestly don’t see it as a chicken/egg situation, I 100% put the communication issue on the leadership.
When I lead a team, it’s incumbent upon me to ensure communication is flowing and that my team understands what I am providing and asking for from them. Success is ours, failures are mostly mine.
That’s how I see this situation at least.
Interesting.
The difference is that when you lead a team your team does not elect you. You are in a position of power and accountable for their failures.
Our representatives are not our leaders, they are elected by us to represent our interests. Very different power dynamic and the distinction, at least ot me, is critical. We have to make informed choices about who they are and if they will adequately act on our behalf. In order to do that we need to put effort into understanding them, their background, and their choices. It’s a bit like when you choose to purchase something or even, say, commit to living in a particular city. It’s not up to the city to adequately communicate to you why you should live there, although that certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s mainly up to you to establish whether that place is right for you.
And yet, if it were an important issue to you, important enough that your vote hinged on it, I’m quite sure you and every other voter could head to google and go “Kamala Harris price gouging” to find out.
The argument is basically “Yes she was doing what I wanted but she didn’t tell me personally so I voted for the other guy.”