We Democrats need to look in a mirror. We didn’t lose because we missed the “right” audiences or didn’t have the perfect candidate. We need much more than Monday-morning quarterbacking.
We lost because we’ve become blind to the soul of this country. As a nearly life-long Democrat from a fifth-generation Kansas family farm, a family of Trump supporters, and married to a self-professed, ultra-MAGA Trumper, I’m perplexed.
For the first time in 20 years, a Republican candidate for president won the popular vote.
Fellow Democrats, let that sink in. For the first time in 20 years, the majority of Americans voting chose a Republican, Donald J. Trump, no less. And after all the political and legal flogging we inflicted on him, much of which was justified, we still lost.
Americans are knocking at our door, and we’re refusing to answer. EVs are parked out front, all our approved, alphabet-compliant guests have arrived, and we’re serving vegan wine. Oh, and don’t forget the passed bacon-wrapped scallops while we trip over all the dropped names. For the Trump-supporting Americans waiting at our door, there’s no more room at the inn.
We Democrats assume if you’re Latinx, black, GLBTQIA+, POC, BIPOC (look it up), you’ll vote for us. Drowning in acronyms and self-created ethnicities, we proclaim to be the champions of minorities. We’re proudly woke.
“Woke” shouldn’t be a noun; it should remain the past tense of “wake.” We Democrats tout our big tents (and not the ones from REI) and proclaim that everyone is invited. But, to cross the zipper-entry you have to show your identity i.d.
I rarely agree with Sen. Bernie Sanders, but he’s spot-on when he warns we’ve forgotten the working class. Yet today’s Democrats see them just as the ones passing around the scallops and requesting those pesky toothpicks be placed on a platter. Just make sure their tips aren’t taxed and call it a day.
I thought we were the party of FDR and the New Deal; JFK and shooting for the moon; LBJ and civil rights; Jimmy Carter and human rights; and Barack Obama, the first Black president who brought us closer to universal healthcare. Today, we would rather dance on the head of pins defending Ivy League, word-parsing presidents. We Democrats need to remember in nearly all of America, “ivy” isn’t a school; it’s a plant. We lost because of us. Not because Biden was selfish and ran for reelection. Not because Harris was anointed the next emperor with no clothes. Not because we went too far left. It’s much more than that. We lost because we have little clue. And when we’re clueless, we blame “them.” It’s the couple across the street with a Trump/Vance sign; the guy with the Ford F-350 with the Trump flags; all of the Trump rally attendees.
Now, I’m not blind. President-elect Trump is a misogynistic, anti-immigrant, xenophobic, transphobic, authoritarian want-to-be. He’s a convicted felon with a mugshot. He’s guilty on every count — along with a long list of other counts. He’s normalized grievance politics, nearly all of which used to be taboo; it’s corrosive.
But does this mean all Trump supporters are misogynistic, anti-immigrant, xenophobic transphobes? Of course not. Just meet my extended, Trump-supporting, farm family and Trump-touting husband. Admittedly, the plural of anecdote is not data, but I guarantee you would like them. They are examples of the soul of America.
Trump is connecting, and we’re refusing to open the door. Through the keyhole, we look down on “them” and openly ask “how could ‘they’ be so clueless and support ‘that’ guy?” We “know” we’re “right,” and they’re just “garbage” and “deplorable.” I was taught judgment was reserved for God.
So as we Democrats brush our teeth each morning, we should be asking “mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most clueless of us all?”
Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
