Today’s quote comes to us from long time Democrat strategist/Obama confidante David Axelrod.
Mr. Axelrod is a rarity in politics. He is partisan operative who, nonetheless, has managed to keep a sense of honesty and perspective.
Here is his take on the disastrous (what would you call it) performance of Democrats, from the top of the party down in last Tuesday’s election; most specifically on how significantly Democrats have lost the votes of so-called “working people”:
“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 were people who make more than $100,000 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.”
“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.
“I think that Biden had done, programatically, some good things for working people. But 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.”
I don’t agree with everything Mr. Axelrod said. I don’t see the benefits for working people that he claims Biden provided, and – though tacitly suggested – he did not point out that the party has lurched so far left of center that it has left working people in the dust.
But the rest of that commentary rings true to me. And it is the kind of honest introspection you don’t often see in political operatives…which is why David Axelrod wins Quote Of The Day honors.
I hope for the party’s sake, and for our sake since I want two viable political parties to choose from, that Democrats listen and learn from his wisdom.
