Tennessee WordSmith: A Liberal Dose, November 21, 2024 "What Democrats Need to Learn How to Do"

A Liberal Dose

November 21, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“What Democrats Need to Learn How to Do”

Last week I said I would talk about what the Democrats could have done differently, and why things may have turned out the way they did. The short answer, of course, is that a majority of voters preferred Trump and the vision of the future that he offered. How can we reach those voters next time?

A lot of pundits and talking heads are asking this question. I will tell you a couple of things that I believe were factors, and one thing a lot of pundits and Democratic leaders are saying which I think is wrong- and, at the end, what I think is the biggest change Democrats must make.

First, the biggest thing. Inflation. Yes, numbers show our economy is booming, but working class people are not feeling it- because, during Covid, prices skyrocketed and never came back down. Yes, they did stop going UP as fast, which is good, but they did not come DOWN. And working people feel that, hard. Fact is, whoever was in power was going to take the blame for that, deserved or not, and was probably not going to win the election because of it. It could have been addressed, better, though, and that will come into my final part in a few paragraphs.

Second, the White House support -physical, financial, logistical support -for Netanyahu’s actions in Palestine, which have become genocidal, lost Biden and Harris a lot of support on the left. It may not have been enough to have decided the election, but it was significant. Harris should have separated herself from Biden’s policy on the matter. They lost a lot of votes in swing states over that.

Now for the part pundits are saying that I don’t agree with. I’ve seen a lot of progressive-leaning commentators and even Democratic politicians saying “woke is broke.” That liberals have spent too much time preaching about things the average American doesn’t care about, or is opposed to, like trans rights and Black Lives Matter, and drove swing voters away. Well, I’ll agree that drove some people away -but I do not agree it was wrong to do, nor that it was the real problem. Our movement must never become one that is willing to throw the civil rights and safety of vulnerable or minority groups under the bus. Or to throw basic decency under the bus.

I am going to take a moment to say that Trump was very effective in using these issues. He was able to be openly racist against people of color and still get the votes of many of them, by appealing to their prejudices against other groups. This was especially effective in getting the support of young men of color by taking advantage of the misogyny some of them had. He was able to get the support of women by appealing to their fears and prejudices against various groups. He and his followers have done all of that, and anyone who points it out is labeled by them as the divisive one. It is by no means a new tactic, it is centuries old in this country.

But here is what I think Democrats are bad at, and need to get better at. Dealing with working class and working poor Americans. And, in fact, rural America and the South in general. Liberals need to stop being condescending to such folks, and painting them all with the same broad brush, and insulting them en masse. This is not something new from me -if you’ve followed this column, or followed me on social media, you’ll know I’ve been saying it for years. Some of you may have witnessed the fury that pours from me when liberal people who agree with what I’m saying talk about stupid, uneducated hillbillies. And many of those who are not outright insulting just don’t know how to talk to regular people. That needs to change, and change fast.

What we really need is an economic populist from the left to pull working class people together across racial and regional divides -someone disruptive like Bernie Sanders, but younger. Someone not afraid to offend the one-percenters who are benefiting from all of this chaos. Which brings me back to inflation -all those prices didn’t HAVE to go up and stay up. Whole industries took advantage of the opportunity to stick it to the working man and woman and line their own pockets even more. They need to be taxed to pay their fair share, and regulated to prevent their price-gouging. Working class people need someone to step up, to join in with unions, who will inspire them to stand up for their own rights and not be controlled by fat cats on golden (bathroom) thrones who are making a fortune off their sweat, and dividing us all to keep us compliant.

There needs to be Power to the People. And to get that, you have to actually engage the People, and speak to them in a language they understand, without being high-and-mighty.

Folks, when we get that figured out -and we will -there is going to be a real wave of change in this country.

Courage.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE