Today on the Bulwark a piece was written by Charlie Sykes quoting Josh Barro. Neither Charlie nor Josh care much for leftie-talk and Josh put up 6 ads run by pro-choice groups in Kansas.
NOTE: Kansas, not Manhattan. THEREFORE, there were no thunderbolts like ‘men get abortions too’ or jargon like ‘reproductive justice.’ Slogans and word-play that appeal to us left-of-center types do not resonate with people who voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
It is true that the no vote, i.e. against the proposal to take out the guarantee of abortion rights from the state constitution, garnered support in rural areas as well as urban conglomerations (defined as more than five houses in Kansas). So how did these tank-top wearing, tattooed goddesses of free love get Pastor Inqvist in Frazzle Pond, Kansas to vote their way?
By ditching the talk the right labels ‘woke’ and talking like a good ol’ boy, a concerned mom, an Evangelical Christian, anyone suspicious of the ‘gummint.’ And guess what? It had the same effect as when I switch to Spanish with someone who speaks only Spanish. They not only don’t tune out, they get what you are saying.
Why does the Demo establishment not understand this? Because they are incestuous (and in need of an abortion). They talk to each other, read the same editorials, practice the same sex habits and drink at the same bars….. and they just ‘don’t get’ people who have other values, other words, other needs. It’s like the supersophisticated public intellectual who thought it affected to say ‘folks’ instead of ‘people.’ Totally out of touch.
What can we do? Start by hiring the people who came up with the ads for the Kansas pro-choice vote. Notice also that they did thinks like display prominently a yes-no choice on a ballot with the no filled in. Direct, Graphic. Clear. And no pandering to sympathy for the oppressed or for struggling grad school students. They don’t care unless it’s their kid being oppressed or eating ramen all through grad school.
Pat’s Polemics
On-going brilliance
I should Not even write here, as I likely will not obtain an answer or clarification.
BETWEEN Your HEADLINE:
Time to replace the top leadership of the Democratic Party
A N D
Why does the Demo ? establishment not ? understand this?
_____________________
and all the convolution between, where you were clear about tRump voters
but then went with the >> Why does the Demo establishment Not understand ?
I either Must be reading some one Other than Pat, or my brain is missing…..
Maybe your “Leadership” wording * needs to be replaced by Specific people in the Democratic party, You think should be Replaced….
okay I read it 3 times.
guess it is Not in the cards for me to get it…
HOPE SPECIFIC People will be forthcoming from you,,, so that
I can follow the dots in reverse and grasp, Who, Why, How, you prefer
they be replaced.
Thanks
I should be more direct to make myself clear. Thanks for the comment. I will restate my issues with the leadership of the Democratic Party.
Not being conversant with those in the leadership other than people appearing in the news a lot, I cannot pinpoint who is responsible for the overwhelming tendency of the party to use the language of the left. Being on the left myself, I understand and usually agree with what the party stands for.
My argument is that when the party attempts to reach voters other than people like me, they seem unable to address the voters in the sort of language those voters respond to. A good example is the very notion of government. We on the left tend to see government as responsible for the welfare of the public while those not on the left tend to see government as a nuisance. That view is very short-sighted on their part but it is how they think. Here are the ads the pro-choice activists put up in Kansas:
https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/what-did-kansas-tell-us-about-abortion?r=9qawk&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
I hope you can access it. Notice how it avoids anything smacking of liberal or progressive language. When you use terms like ‘reproductive justice’ you turn off voters who went for Trump by huge margins. Instead you speak their anti-government language like “government overreach” and “oppressive regulation” etc.
Where are similar ads put out by the DNC? It is like they want only to reach people like me who are going to vote Democratic anyway. They need to reach other voters if they want to win elections. Otherwise, they will just keep attracting the same liberal and progressive voters like myself.
I hope that clarifies. As to exactly who in the party is neglecting the Mexican-American voters, I can only cite the many Democrats I listen to on TV or the radio who talk as if those very Mexican-American Republican voters in Uvalde do not even exist. Just note the shock expressed by some TV hosts that those people vote Republican. What is not to understand? They are working-class Catholics living in a rural area close to the border. Republicans appeal to them with their family values, religious appeals, fear of illegal immigration, rigid opposition to abortion, an eagerness to see military action as the way to solve international problems, etc. IMHO, most of the leadership of the party have little contact with Mexican-Americans witness their recycling of the same few in appearances TV: the Castro brothers, and a couple of others, all worthy spokespersons but there are so many more solid Democratic Mexican-Americans out there who can articulate the Mexican-American perspective. Ana Navarro, now a regular on The View, is of Honduran birth; Maria Teresa Kumar is of Colombian background; only Victoria deFrancesco Soto is of Mexican origin, Sonora, right in my backyard.
I would like to hear from you to see if I have made myself clear on this. Some years back I lost a friend who offered me criticism of what I wrote so I value comments from readers of my blog.