We need new leadership in the congress and senate, Schumer is incompetent, he's not standing up in the moment to taking on Trump and the Republicans, he is feckless. People are wanting a younger change, be it, AOC, Chris Murphy, someone with the tenacity to win over the people who won't vote Democrat. Get rid of aged out ones. Democrats are broken right now!
If all you are saying, why do people keep believe Trump? He is a billionaire who doesn't. have a clue about the common person. He plays on our bigotry and prejudices.
Democrats have been prisoners of the consultant class and the interest groups for too many years: playing little games of triangulation and demographic tag and RightThink/WrongThink that appeal to narrower and narrower subsets of the population. And there are elements of "wokeness" that are truly alienating and annoying, as anyone can testify who has ever said "homeless" and been lectured loftily and snottily for their failure to say "unhoused."
The worst aspect of Democratic popular politics is an elitist loathing for Those People, working people, "the kind of people who vote for Republicans." Democratic politicians try to avoid saying anything too blatantly contemptuous of the white working class, although they come out with an occasional riff on God, guns, and gays, or baskets of deplorables, that backfires badly on them.
But left-leaning social media, the world of Wonkette and Raw Story and Kos, are chock-a-block with ordinary people (boosted by the occasional mischief-making troll) who feel it's legitimate to heap loathing and contempt on all Republicans---to declare that anyone who would vote for a Republican is clearly motivated by raw evil: they are all racists, they are all fascists, they are all wicked and bad, they deserve to suffer, they voted for [fill in the blank with the outrage of the day], bad cess to all of them.
Outside of a small Maga core, this contempt and loathing for Republican voters is not only misplaced, but profoundly destructive: it slams doors that should be left open, it makes communication impossible, and it adds to the sense that Democrats are not merely elitist but also snottily cruel.
The Trump voters I know are perfectly kindly people. By my lights they're misguided (by their lights, I'm the one who's misguided) but we can communicate with affection and respect: they are as patient with me as I am with them, and we learn from each other. Landrieu is basically recommending living by the Golden Rule. It's not bad advice.
PLEASE, JEN, stop the bullshit!!! The Democrats didn't abandon the working class: the Republicans didn't abandon the working class; Capitalism abandoned the working class!!!
"It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" At one time, the Western World represented 80% of world GDP, now it represents 24%. "It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" Our Congress has a 14% approval rating!
That makes democracy a failed state! "It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" Having a New Orleans politician come on and talk about the working class is a joke! If you want to see wealth inequality, get out of the French Quarter and go across the River and take a look at the Housing Projects. Landrieu will not change the attitude of the poor white worker's thinking about a black person. I did business in New Orleans for over forty years. I know those people. New Orleans is a culture unto itself. Jen, you need to think bigger, a lot bigger, than an N.O. politician. I apologize for my frankness, but it's time to be frank. Adam Tooze can tell you about the history of capitalism or Thomas Piketty. John Meacham can tell you about the history of democracy. We are talking about a change as big as the Renaissance or the Enlightenment and your giving us a New Orleans politician. Jesus Christ, girl, that ain't gonna
Great interview with better suggestions than what I've heard in a very long time. I hope Democrats listen to what the published answers of Mitch's group are going to be, although I don't hold out much hope for them learning a whole lot. Look at the fact that the new DNC chair is obviously having a problem with David Hogg's idea of getting younger Democrats elected.
Also, the Democratic party has obviously given up on red states like Arkansas. Not only do they not put up strong opposition candidates to the orange felon ass kissers in the house and Senate from Arkansas, when a strong candidate comes up on his own, like Chris Jones, they don't support them with money, ads or national figures speaking out on his behalf.
What I keep on finding infuriating, is that we have two politicians who understand the working class, and are holding rallies for them throughout the country, and they are being ignored here: It's Bernie Sanders and AOC, with their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. I don't agree with all of their policies, but they clearly know this audience, which is turning out in record numbers, and voters adore them. How many other Democrats could achieve this?
As Sanders wrote in a November 24, 2024 article in "The Nation," "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them…Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy, which has so much economic power?"
"Sanders’s analysis was shared by many, not only labor leaders such as Painters Union president Jimmy Williams Jr., but also unexpected sources such as Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy." “Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded by saying, “I don’t respect saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class.”
That's news to "Chuck Schumer, who infamously declared in 2016, “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
I think Landrieu's description is the way to think of people who Contrarians may disagree with: "People mostly have some pretty significant common sense and they're decent. And even if they disagree with you, if you go sit with them and you listen to them and you talk to them and you make a decision that is not the one that they want, they'll go, okay, I get that because I trust you. because you came and you saw me and you talked to me." I think we tend to demonize trump supporters as a category but there are various reasons people did not vote for Democrat candidates. Even now, with the chaos we're seeing, we can understand that some citizens are seeing immigration in a positive way because there are no people coming across the border. There are no coyotes sending people to die of thirst in the desert or drown in the Darien Gap. There are policies targeting drug cartels and their drug trade. There are gangs being dismantled. People also vote based on cultural beliefs. They like that there are few campus protests/vandalisms occurring. They may like having less left wing university leanings. All this does not excuse the flaunting of law, the totally unqualified Cabinet members, the greed of the president and cronyism, but it does help to understand how we got to where we are.
I found this project very interesting and look forward to the results. I'm interested in more articles like this that show what Dems are doing "actions" to understand and make positive impacts for ordinary Americans
This issue goes way back. Clinton’s NAFTA deal hollowed out the rust belt and the well-paying manufacturing jobs that supported the Midwest middle class. Couple that with a decade of listening to Rush Limbaugh’s hate-spews and you’ve got an angry mob looking to blame everyone and anyone. Hillary never had a chance with a last name like Clinton, and the Dem Party was so wrong to push Bernie Sanders out in her favor. We need a populist candidate who is capable and committed to making real change and not afraid to act decisively and boldly. Biden was great, but he chose an AG who failed to immediately and aggressively prosecute Jan6, and he failed to take necessary action to address Republican shenanigans - he should have expanded the SC and eliminated the filibuster, for example. As a result, he wasn’t able to realize his full agenda and make meaningful change for the people. He set himself up for sabotage, and the Republicans took the opening and ran with it. I see the Dem Party as basically Republican lite now. They are just as focused on keeping their corporate sponsors happy, they just have less evil corporate sponsors as a rule. But neither party puts the people first.
What Mr. Landrieu said makes a lot of sense: being with people, listening, showing up and paying attention to what they need. We have gotten so far from that and the fault lies with how divided politics and the country are which causes such skewed assumptions on both sides; how money has influenced politics and politicians; the skewed media, lack of something other than talk radio in rural areas; out of control capitalism and dominance of corporations…all of it. Sanders, AOC, Warren, Booker and others get some of it and are trying to make changes. Biden got it as well but it didn’t translate. We have become so limited in our ability to be strategic and open in our thinking. The “ purity test” that has crippled us in many ways. The ageism that makes some people want to throw out everyone over a certain age. The “tribalism” that makes us want to die on the sword of one issue while ignoring other possibilities and solutions. I get the frustration, I am frustrated as well. Laws have to change, the system as we know it has to change. And so do we.
I read an article by Congressman Ra Khanna, D from Calif. He held town hall meetings in 3 red districts in CA -- had big crowds, got great input. He was talking to and meeting with people. He said he was going to do more meetings both in CA and surrounding states. I dont know what "class" the people he met with were but they were tired of Trump already. Why are not more D members of Congress and politicians up and down the ballot doing that? The Congressman also laid out a 5 step program that every candidate should adapt or something like it and it focused around listening to constituents and potential constituents. The Republicans are afraid to hold town hall meetings now. I hope the Dems are taking advantage.
Terrific interview, great insights. Yes! We have been saying this forever: Go listen to people. Stop telling voters what you think they should think. It's about time this message came out strong and clear, as it does in this excellent interview.
PLEASE FIX YOUR AUDIO ON THESE INTERVIEWS. THE SOUND BARELY COMES ACROSS.
Thank you for this conversation! I felt so much value in the listening work that Mr. Landrieu is doing. The more we can all move away from the labels, the better. People are alot more interesting and diverse than the labels that get applied to them. I love the symmetry between needing to work at listening and the working class you are trying to understand! Work always gives results! My grandmother must have known Mitch's grandmother - they both knew: there are no shortcuts to getting results! Just real work.
I think there is a lot we can learn to be more effective going forward about the electorate:
(1) Agree that a deep dive into working class Americans, such as Mitch Landrieu is conducting is definitely worthwhile.
(2) Need to better identify what media are best for reaching different segments of voters, whether by age group, degree of political involvement, gender, religion, etc.
(3) Essential to figure out why Democrats and independents who voted in 2020 stayed home in 2024 and what will motivate them to re-engage.
(4) NY Times showed Hispanic men shifted 15% towards Trump in 2024. Need to drill down to determine to what extent it may relate to reluctance to vote for a woman or if this is a permanent shift.
(5) Figure out whether to win in 2028, the Democrats need to nominate a "moderate" "strong" white male, like a Gov. Andy Beshear.
I personally want every qualified American to have a fair shot at being President (e.g., AOC, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg), but fear that if we can't win in back the White House in 2028, the American experiment is over.
As I mentioned in my comment above, we already have two politicians, Sanders and AOC who have been taking their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour across the country, and meeting with working class voters for months. Sanders has met with them for decades. He and AOC are traveling to red states and cities, in which the politicians are vulnerable, and the seats can be flipped.
Every single event attracts far larger audiences (and an overflow) than they plan for, and the voters love them. They may be the only two Democrats in Congress, who these voters believe in. AOC comes from a working class family, who struggled to survive after her her father died when she was a child, ad her mother worked multiple jobs to take care of her and her brother. Sanders has spent his entire career, working for the working class. So, I'm not sure why Landrieu needs to do a study when he can talk to them.
We need new leadership in the congress and senate, Schumer is incompetent, he's not standing up in the moment to taking on Trump and the Republicans, he is feckless. People are wanting a younger change, be it, AOC, Chris Murphy, someone with the tenacity to win over the people who won't vote Democrat. Get rid of aged out ones. Democrats are broken right now!
If all you are saying, why do people keep believe Trump? He is a billionaire who doesn't. have a clue about the common person. He plays on our bigotry and prejudices.
Not a “billionaire”. A con man, yes.
We have to address the big money problem in Washington. It turns off so many voters
Democrats have been prisoners of the consultant class and the interest groups for too many years: playing little games of triangulation and demographic tag and RightThink/WrongThink that appeal to narrower and narrower subsets of the population. And there are elements of "wokeness" that are truly alienating and annoying, as anyone can testify who has ever said "homeless" and been lectured loftily and snottily for their failure to say "unhoused."
The worst aspect of Democratic popular politics is an elitist loathing for Those People, working people, "the kind of people who vote for Republicans." Democratic politicians try to avoid saying anything too blatantly contemptuous of the white working class, although they come out with an occasional riff on God, guns, and gays, or baskets of deplorables, that backfires badly on them.
But left-leaning social media, the world of Wonkette and Raw Story and Kos, are chock-a-block with ordinary people (boosted by the occasional mischief-making troll) who feel it's legitimate to heap loathing and contempt on all Republicans---to declare that anyone who would vote for a Republican is clearly motivated by raw evil: they are all racists, they are all fascists, they are all wicked and bad, they deserve to suffer, they voted for [fill in the blank with the outrage of the day], bad cess to all of them.
Outside of a small Maga core, this contempt and loathing for Republican voters is not only misplaced, but profoundly destructive: it slams doors that should be left open, it makes communication impossible, and it adds to the sense that Democrats are not merely elitist but also snottily cruel.
The Trump voters I know are perfectly kindly people. By my lights they're misguided (by their lights, I'm the one who's misguided) but we can communicate with affection and respect: they are as patient with me as I am with them, and we learn from each other. Landrieu is basically recommending living by the Golden Rule. It's not bad advice.
PLEASE, JEN, stop the bullshit!!! The Democrats didn't abandon the working class: the Republicans didn't abandon the working class; Capitalism abandoned the working class!!!
"It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" At one time, the Western World represented 80% of world GDP, now it represents 24%. "It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" Our Congress has a 14% approval rating!
That makes democracy a failed state! "It's the SYSTEM STUPID!" Having a New Orleans politician come on and talk about the working class is a joke! If you want to see wealth inequality, get out of the French Quarter and go across the River and take a look at the Housing Projects. Landrieu will not change the attitude of the poor white worker's thinking about a black person. I did business in New Orleans for over forty years. I know those people. New Orleans is a culture unto itself. Jen, you need to think bigger, a lot bigger, than an N.O. politician. I apologize for my frankness, but it's time to be frank. Adam Tooze can tell you about the history of capitalism or Thomas Piketty. John Meacham can tell you about the history of democracy. We are talking about a change as big as the Renaissance or the Enlightenment and your giving us a New Orleans politician. Jesus Christ, girl, that ain't gonna
gonna cut it.
Great interview with better suggestions than what I've heard in a very long time. I hope Democrats listen to what the published answers of Mitch's group are going to be, although I don't hold out much hope for them learning a whole lot. Look at the fact that the new DNC chair is obviously having a problem with David Hogg's idea of getting younger Democrats elected.
Also, the Democratic party has obviously given up on red states like Arkansas. Not only do they not put up strong opposition candidates to the orange felon ass kissers in the house and Senate from Arkansas, when a strong candidate comes up on his own, like Chris Jones, they don't support them with money, ads or national figures speaking out on his behalf.
What I keep on finding infuriating, is that we have two politicians who understand the working class, and are holding rallies for them throughout the country, and they are being ignored here: It's Bernie Sanders and AOC, with their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. I don't agree with all of their policies, but they clearly know this audience, which is turning out in record numbers, and voters adore them. How many other Democrats could achieve this?
As Sanders wrote in a November 24, 2024 article in "The Nation," "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them…Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy, which has so much economic power?"
"Sanders’s analysis was shared by many, not only labor leaders such as Painters Union president Jimmy Williams Jr., but also unexpected sources such as Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy." “Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded by saying, “I don’t respect saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class.”
That's news to "Chuck Schumer, who infamously declared in 2016, “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-democrats-working-class/
I think Landrieu's description is the way to think of people who Contrarians may disagree with: "People mostly have some pretty significant common sense and they're decent. And even if they disagree with you, if you go sit with them and you listen to them and you talk to them and you make a decision that is not the one that they want, they'll go, okay, I get that because I trust you. because you came and you saw me and you talked to me." I think we tend to demonize trump supporters as a category but there are various reasons people did not vote for Democrat candidates. Even now, with the chaos we're seeing, we can understand that some citizens are seeing immigration in a positive way because there are no people coming across the border. There are no coyotes sending people to die of thirst in the desert or drown in the Darien Gap. There are policies targeting drug cartels and their drug trade. There are gangs being dismantled. People also vote based on cultural beliefs. They like that there are few campus protests/vandalisms occurring. They may like having less left wing university leanings. All this does not excuse the flaunting of law, the totally unqualified Cabinet members, the greed of the president and cronyism, but it does help to understand how we got to where we are.
I found this project very interesting and look forward to the results. I'm interested in more articles like this that show what Dems are doing "actions" to understand and make positive impacts for ordinary Americans
This issue goes way back. Clinton’s NAFTA deal hollowed out the rust belt and the well-paying manufacturing jobs that supported the Midwest middle class. Couple that with a decade of listening to Rush Limbaugh’s hate-spews and you’ve got an angry mob looking to blame everyone and anyone. Hillary never had a chance with a last name like Clinton, and the Dem Party was so wrong to push Bernie Sanders out in her favor. We need a populist candidate who is capable and committed to making real change and not afraid to act decisively and boldly. Biden was great, but he chose an AG who failed to immediately and aggressively prosecute Jan6, and he failed to take necessary action to address Republican shenanigans - he should have expanded the SC and eliminated the filibuster, for example. As a result, he wasn’t able to realize his full agenda and make meaningful change for the people. He set himself up for sabotage, and the Republicans took the opening and ran with it. I see the Dem Party as basically Republican lite now. They are just as focused on keeping their corporate sponsors happy, they just have less evil corporate sponsors as a rule. But neither party puts the people first.
What Mr. Landrieu said makes a lot of sense: being with people, listening, showing up and paying attention to what they need. We have gotten so far from that and the fault lies with how divided politics and the country are which causes such skewed assumptions on both sides; how money has influenced politics and politicians; the skewed media, lack of something other than talk radio in rural areas; out of control capitalism and dominance of corporations…all of it. Sanders, AOC, Warren, Booker and others get some of it and are trying to make changes. Biden got it as well but it didn’t translate. We have become so limited in our ability to be strategic and open in our thinking. The “ purity test” that has crippled us in many ways. The ageism that makes some people want to throw out everyone over a certain age. The “tribalism” that makes us want to die on the sword of one issue while ignoring other possibilities and solutions. I get the frustration, I am frustrated as well. Laws have to change, the system as we know it has to change. And so do we.
I read an article by Congressman Ra Khanna, D from Calif. He held town hall meetings in 3 red districts in CA -- had big crowds, got great input. He was talking to and meeting with people. He said he was going to do more meetings both in CA and surrounding states. I dont know what "class" the people he met with were but they were tired of Trump already. Why are not more D members of Congress and politicians up and down the ballot doing that? The Congressman also laid out a 5 step program that every candidate should adapt or something like it and it focused around listening to constituents and potential constituents. The Republicans are afraid to hold town hall meetings now. I hope the Dems are taking advantage.
Terrific interview, great insights. Yes! We have been saying this forever: Go listen to people. Stop telling voters what you think they should think. It's about time this message came out strong and clear, as it does in this excellent interview.
PLEASE FIX YOUR AUDIO ON THESE INTERVIEWS. THE SOUND BARELY COMES ACROSS.
Thank you for this conversation! I felt so much value in the listening work that Mr. Landrieu is doing. The more we can all move away from the labels, the better. People are alot more interesting and diverse than the labels that get applied to them. I love the symmetry between needing to work at listening and the working class you are trying to understand! Work always gives results! My grandmother must have known Mitch's grandmother - they both knew: there are no shortcuts to getting results! Just real work.
I think there is a lot we can learn to be more effective going forward about the electorate:
(1) Agree that a deep dive into working class Americans, such as Mitch Landrieu is conducting is definitely worthwhile.
(2) Need to better identify what media are best for reaching different segments of voters, whether by age group, degree of political involvement, gender, religion, etc.
(3) Essential to figure out why Democrats and independents who voted in 2020 stayed home in 2024 and what will motivate them to re-engage.
(4) NY Times showed Hispanic men shifted 15% towards Trump in 2024. Need to drill down to determine to what extent it may relate to reluctance to vote for a woman or if this is a permanent shift.
(5) Figure out whether to win in 2028, the Democrats need to nominate a "moderate" "strong" white male, like a Gov. Andy Beshear.
I personally want every qualified American to have a fair shot at being President (e.g., AOC, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg), but fear that if we can't win in back the White House in 2028, the American experiment is over.
As I mentioned in my comment above, we already have two politicians, Sanders and AOC who have been taking their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour across the country, and meeting with working class voters for months. Sanders has met with them for decades. He and AOC are traveling to red states and cities, in which the politicians are vulnerable, and the seats can be flipped.
Every single event attracts far larger audiences (and an overflow) than they plan for, and the voters love them. They may be the only two Democrats in Congress, who these voters believe in. AOC comes from a working class family, who struggled to survive after her her father died when she was a child, ad her mother worked multiple jobs to take care of her and her brother. Sanders has spent his entire career, working for the working class. So, I'm not sure why Landrieu needs to do a study when he can talk to them.
Great points, Mitch!