It is hard, this whole “life thing.” It can really kick you around. And yet everyone knows that the only way to learn anything is to power through the most difficult times, soaking up the hard lessons to avoid similar problems in the future. This doesn’t take genius insight.
One can sit and pout, talking about the world being so unfair or one accept that the world is unfair but can be made better by picking up and using the lessons on the way. Democrats just got their donkey’s ass kicked and can talk about it all being unfair – that people simply don’t understand, and then turn around to make the same mistakes, over and over. The only way forward is to admit that something is wrong and no one will fix it for us.
To that end, David Axelrod has some very wise words that need to be considered before one presumes to “know better” – to “know” that it is others’ racism or misogyny, it is their greed, their uncaring nature that keeps getting in the way. That smug factor might well be what stands in the way, that which prevents us from making anything better. Axelrod believes it. He thinks we are a bit too pleased with ourselves.
Democrats made gains in the portion of the electorate that we believe is worthy of us – and like us… and in so doing we then promptly lost everyone else. If you think that’s okay, if you think “We can do better without them… ” You don’t want democracy. You have to persuade a majority that their lives matter to you and that you have a plan for everyone:
I do have concerns about the way the Democratic Party relates to working-class voters in this country. The only group that Democrats gained within the election on Tuesday was White college graduates, and among working-class voters, there was a significant decline. The only group they won among– Democrats won were people who make more than a hundred thousand dollars a year. You can’t win national elections that way, and it certainly shouldn’t be that way for a party that fashions itself as the party of working people.
I am going to remind myself to be careful about the presumption that “they don’t understand as well as I do” and “But they’re only in for themselves, they don’t care about minorities, women, LGBTQ… ” The explanation is just so tempting but it is the means by which I could feel fully justified in my arrogance and unwilling to look at myself. The point is that you and I can provide better answers for the marginalized, women, any group we want to break down if – and only if – we’re willing to do it for everyone. Not just the people we want to like. Mediaite provides the context in which Axelrod went on to say:
“You can’t approach working people like missionaries and say, ‘We’re here to help you become more like us.’ There’s a kind of unspoken disdain, unintended disdain in that,” before concluding that while President Joe Biden had done “some good things for working people,” the “party itself has increasingly become a smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated party and it lends itself to the kind of backlash that we’ve seen.”
BANG! I’m dead. You? Because it sounds exactly like me – “smarty pants suburban college elite” trying to tell others what is best for them. The thing is, whatever might be best for all has to be wanted for all and I’m starting to wonder whether I only want certain people to benefit from this country. Or do I start out with the presumption that I know best and have nothing to learn from them? I know the answer and it’s hard.
Because if we truly truly believe that we do know how to best usher in a more pluralistic, caring, “fair” nation, without the input of “all” – then we best set up our own country and rule it with an iron fist so that “they” don’t get a say because it’s in their best interest in the long run and… ” that has never worked. Never.
Democracy works – it just doesn’t work fast, or cleanly. But it works better than the alternatives we’ve been presented. The belief that a small group knows better is the antithesis of democracy’s premise. It also leads to a slippery slope that history can ride to the gutter with horrific and ugly results. A kingdom is great when the king is benevolent and wants the best for all. Those kingdoms are hard to find, impossible to keep, and we’re not kings to begin with.
Having said all of that. It is not like we are supposed to stand back and let our values and our beliefs get run over by people more committed to preserving their own power over the very same democracy we’re busy trying to protect! Nor is there any rule saying we must be run over and over. Tough problem. Almost unfair.
But no one said it had to be either easy or fair. The only answer will come from how we respond to any attempt to simply rule from a gold throne without regard to us or democracy. We must fight any attempt – but only, only, only if we’re willing to open our cause to all, fighting for the same inherent principles. We cannot be “missionaries” who already know best. We need to spend far more time listening than speaking right now and maybe forever forward. Wouldn’t that be something?
Please help me resist the temptation to wave a hand saying, “If they only knew what I know… ” Because that is what got us here in the first place. Maybe if we spent more time open to what “they know” we will be better for it?
Worth a try because the alternatives are even worse. But do fight any attempt to grab power for power’s sake while at it. Democracy demands that we don’t get left behind, either.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
All well and good. Now let us wait to see if we get another chance to ever use this in another election. I won’t hold my breath but will remember the words…just in case.
So, what I’m reading is that Axelrod wants Democrats to behave exactly like Republicans and LIE to the people just to get their votes and then ignore everyone who’s not EXACTLY like them after they cast their votes.
The GOP has shown REPEATEDLY that
THEY.
DON’T.
CARE.
ABOUT.
MINORITIES.
OR.
WOMEN.
OR.
LGBTQ+.
Hell, TRUMP himself said as much. He TOLD EVERYONE that he didn’t need Nikki Haley or HER SUPPORTERS.
But Axelrod seems to think that the Democrats are in the wrong? Fork Axelrod.
I’d ask for exactly how many elective offices has David Axelrod run in his life that he can come to this “realization” about the Democrats’ “bad messaging?”
Look back at the Democrats’ history. Franklin Roosevelt spoke to EVERYONE and won the Presidency four times. With Trump’s election this time, we’ve come a VERY long way from “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” to “Be afraid of everything and everyone that’s not you” (with the unspoken dog whistle of “straight white male” in place of “you”). John Kennedy inspired a country to get to the moon by the end of the decade (he, of course, didn’t live to see that but we got there) and he helped to push the civil rights movement (again, it was fulfilled by Lyndon Johnson who was actually willing to “lose the South”–meaning racists–in order to help people who’d been marginalized, and worse, for decades, even centuries). Jimmy Carter tried to push for renewable energy and energy independence (but was largely thwarted by his “fellow” Democrats who loathed the “peanut farmer” more than the GOP) and he tried to put a sense of morality into US foreign policy (but a certain agency did its best to keep on propping up ruthless dictators and regimes that “supported” America and interfering with countries that worked against US interests); in the years since he lost the election (mainly through some GOP interference in persuading the Iranian hostage takers to refuse to talk with the Administration; it was obviously just a coincidence that Reagan was able to brag about the hostages being on their way home as he was making his inaugural address), Carter has become a veritable saint, showing the REAL meaning of being a Christian (and even earning the admiration from atheists and agnostics for actually living his faith rather than using it to promote bigotry). Even Bill Clinton managed to be inspirational, largely because of the GOP’s constant attacks on him; Clinton was investigated for a land deal that happened long before his presidency and faced impeachment for it and that investigation led to other “crimes” that the GOP just felt NEEDED to be investigated (funny how Paula Jones was able to pursue legal action against the “sitting president” for actions that predated his presidency with full GOP support but 2 decades later, the GOP felt that Trump’s pre-presidential actions should be given a complete pass). And then, Obama. Mr “Hope and change” and “Yes, we can” himself. Managed to get the “bros” on his side (of all stripes and many who acted like a woman’s place was in the kitchen–a behavior and mentality that Obama never criticized his supporters for acting on) and got a lot of white folks to support him (mainly so they could avoid being tagged as racists–oddly, there was a LOT of implied “White people who don’t vote for Obama are racists” and, again, Obama never put a stop to it). Now that I’ve written that, maybe I understand where Axelrod is coming from–as long as a Democrat appeals to the “bros” (I do recall a number of Obama’s male supporters even using the “bros before hos” line) and wins them over, who cares about the women and the LGBTQ+ people? Who are they going to vote for? A Republican? (Incidentally, the main reason that *I* refused to support Obama is that, during his little “tour” of Black Evangelicals in late 2007, he invited the anti-gay minister and singer, Donnie McClurkin, to perform and speak on the “tour” and then actually had the gall to say he knew nothing about McClurkin’s views even though they were well-known at the time in the gay community. But, while there were a lot of gays who “didn’t care,” there were a lot more who were incensed. And Obama’s “well, he wasn’t as vetted as he should’ve been” apology was beyond insulting; the man appeared at the 2004 REPUBLICAN Convention and he made no bones about “supporting traditional lifestyles” and claiming to be “ex-gay.” But, no one on the Obama team was able to find out this little bit before inviting the man? To me, that was a clear indication that he wasn’t as ready for the “big time” as everyone thought. I also thought his “anti-Iraq War” stance was completely meaningless as he wasn’t in a position to vote ON the war authorization resolution–being in the Illinois legislature at the time–and he even went so far as to PUBLICLY support Bush by effectively saying, “We’re there so we need to finish the job.” But the “progressives” were in love and couldn’t be swayed to see reality.)
After 12 years in the South, I think.Axelrod is ignoring the huge role of toxic religion in our defeat. Everything liberals care about (LGBTQ educated women ‘s rights to equal pay, abortion, education, freedom.of religion for non-evangelicals_ civil rights) is utterly opposed by white Conservative evangelical Christianity. I don’t know how to get around that. I don’t know if we CAN get around that. I had to tuck my pentacle inside my clothes for 12 years to avoid being harassed,,and my sweet non political, Catholic Mom got Chick tracts on her doorstep.
How do you combat carefully marketed and nicely targeted lies?
Then, truth doesn’t work on it’s own, it becomes just another narrative, swamped by all the other ‘competing narratives’, (i.e. lies).
We need the same or a better way of communicating the truth, which IS our method of coping with our world.
I have spent time listening to Trump voters, I’ve heard that they voted for him because Biden banned abortion, and because the economy is so bad and because immigrants are over-running the country. And they voted for Trump because he was the best candidate, what with him being a billionaire business genius who ALWAYS has success in dealing with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that are aimed his way, and despite being unfairly targeted by almost the entire world, has overcome that to save the USA and them from the numerous enemies ranged against him. Oh, and the last time he was in, the world was a nirvana of low prices, endless opportunities and huge, shared riches, all due entirely to his sheer genius at management informed by a lifetime of stunning business success, despite him starting from poverty. They KNOW that last sentence is true because they’ve seen it on TV for the last thirty years in ‘Reality’ TV programs which, you know, show reality.
That’s why they voted for him, they’ve been fed a story, a narrative, about how good he is, how bad things are, including what ARE the worst things, and how bad and wrong their opposition is.
They believe the lies which have been fed to them in their self-reinforcing information bubbles and because like all governments dealing in reality, Biden’s Democrats haven’t had complete success dealing with troubles. Housing is too expensive, jobs are underpaid, and inflation has increased prices ARE big problems for most people.
But immigrants aren’t over-running the country, and although expensive housing and a bout of inflation are economic issues, so is excess monopoly power, tax avoidance by wealthy people, and the lack of unbiased sources of information. And ironically for them, the biggest real problems are caused by Trump’s backers, price gouging by crooked capitalists who used the post-covid inflation to over increase prices, hedge funds flush with cash from the misguided bail-outs years ago buying up all the houses and then colluding through clever apps to raise rents and house prices country-wide, and smashing the ability of ordinary people to unite in unions against predatory management practices.
They rail against the very symptoms of an economy rigged by the rich by voting for the rich because they’ve been lied to by the rich.
We’re not the condescending elite. We are right, we tell the truth because we are honest and it matters to us. They are wrong, they like to think they are right but they’ve been lied to by people profiting enormously by lying to them.
We just have to ‘market’ the truth as well as their assiduous lies.
And of course, these points are moot if the worst of Op 2025 comes in.
“We’re not the condescending elite. We are right, we tell the truth because we are honest and it matters to us”
That’s “our” view from inside “our” bubble. The perception from the other side of the bubble is that we ARE condescending and even arrogant, and as was pointed out to me at a management seminar 30 or so years ago, PERCEPTIONS ARE FACTS!
I have a neighbor who revealed to my wife that he was dissatisfied with both Trump and Harris – he wound up voting for Traitor Tot. He doesn’t fit our notion of Trump voters being poorly educated, underachieving, misogynistic, or racist, yet, somehow, the Harris campaign didn’t convince him. It’ll be a while before I get to where I can ask him specifically why he chose to vote that way, but now that I’ve read the several articles on this subject brought to me by my Opera Browser news feed over the last day or two, I have a feeling about how he’ll answer that question.
Related, but tangential: The lady who succeeded in flipping my district’s House seat from red to blue after losing in 2022 by a little more than 2300 STOPPED riding the abortion issue for all it was worth midway through her campaign and saturated the airwaves with an ad touting her willingness to work across the aisle to resolve the immigration issue. This change in focus likely resonated with local voters and made it easier to win her race against a former NYPD officer whose service record was claimed to have numerous issues, including a lie under oath that cost the city more than a half-million to settle the case. That these blemishes on his record weren’t brought up the 2022 campaign is probably related to the NY Democratic Party’s inept handling of the races that made the “Red Stain” a reality.
“That’s “our” view from inside “our” bubble. The perception from the other side of the bubble is that we ARE condescending and even arrogant, and as was pointed out to me at a management seminar 30 or so years ago, PERCEPTIONS ARE FACTS!”
So the actual real factual truth is just one narrative among many other non-truths.
Is Trump a twice impeached, 32 times convicted felon, multiple times bankrupt despite being born into immense wealth, a fraudster, traitorous insurrectionist, and proven serial liar, adjudicated sex offender who currently owes over half a billion dollars in damages awarded against him, and whose mindless incompetence led directly to the deaths of over one million of his fellow citizens;
Or is he a business genius who can do no wrong, built his huge fortune up despite being born into penury, and led the country into the best governance it ever had? Let’s go with THAT ‘perception’ shall we?
One of those ‘narratives’ is true, one isn’t. Why should we have to humor people who’ve been lied to by a marketing campaign led by assorted billionaires who want to further enrich themselves at OUR expense? Because they framed the right ‘perception’ for us?
And the Harris campaign had solid policies, desired by most people, and a proven record of competence including clearing up Trump’s last mess, WHICH IS WHY HE WAS VOTED OUT.
But the price of eggs remained too high, so lets give the guy awaiting sentencing for numerous crimes another go – he’s not really going to dismantle democracy despite promising to do so, and his last time, I’m sure that was a learning experience, he’ll be much better now. Besides we never noticed all the good things Biden did ’cause he never kept telling us about them so we forgot. We had a ‘perception’ he hadn’t done anything?
We have to ‘sell’ the truth as cleverly as their lies so our ‘perception’ wins over theirs?
Is that about enough of MY condescension? Maybe not all the stupid people ARE Trump voters.
You ask if we have to “sell” the truth as effectively as they sell their lies so our perception wins instead of theirs. The ugly answer is right there in the vote count; the votes of the poorly educated and misinformed count just as much as the highly educated and clear-headed. That is the basic principle of a pure democracy – one person, one vote; there is no further discrimination. If we deviate from that, we espouse policy like Beggar Vance’s suggestion of assigning weight to individuals’ votes according to the quantity of their children. If we’re ready to assign classes to votes on any criteria at all, aren’t we guilty of authoritarianism?
Many of us are old enough to have seen much of the “dumbing down” of America. I first overheard the vocal opposition to what was then called “progressive education” during grade school (the 1950s).
As time passed, marketing became the prime mover of our society as well as our economy. Marketing excited the public’s desire to buy things they didn’t know they “needed”; remember how people felt they had to trade in their 5-year old car for a new on, even though the new model was mechanically identical to those in their garages? Once the movers and shakers witnessed that they focused their efforts on bending public opinion to their will.
The idea that solutions to our problems would be found and their effects would kick in instantly took hold: “Got a pain? Here take this pill!” My mother’s maiden aunt had a load of half-finished prescription drugs on hand because she stopped taking each one once she didn’t feel better in a few days.
And that’s where we are now. Taking the long view? Forget it! Once promoted ro a line manager in the late 80s, I was sent to the company’s “Quality Institute”, where a needed culture change was to be implemented. We were told of a survey of Japanese corporate execs revealed the difference in philosophy between their management and ours: “WE plan for 15 years in the future, while American business plans 15 minutes.”
How do we recover? A difficult question. This decline began about a century ag, and it might just take another century for things to get to where they should be. Remember, the iceberg was 30 minutes ahead when the Titanic’s lookout first saw it, yet the ship could not be turned from its collision path.
Sobering.
You are right, fixing this is going to take some time, but what is the alternative?
Not fixing it?
This has been a fifty year program by the well funded right, we need to take the same long view.
The silver lining in all this is that experience shows their policies fail. We must make them own that.
AMEN to making the neocons own their failures.
AMEN to understanding that not adapting to the situation confronting us is not an option.
Basically, we adapt, or we continue to lose, and the USA truly becomes a third world country.