Democrats, especially when they’re feeling on the ropes as they surely are now, often get into these games of 20-dimensional chess with themselves about which issues are most important, which people care about, which can be used to gain political traction in a now uncertain and often bewildering political and electoral environment. What we too often forget is that certainty and consistency of belief are messages in themselves. Especially in a cacophonous and cluttered media environment. It’s worth considering the message it sends when a party loses a close and hard-fought election and then spends time debating what it should be for the next time.
Josh puts into words something that’s been rattling around in my head ever since the election. This very public self-autopsy in which Democrats have been flagellating themselves over their failure is another failure. It’s always worth considering what you could have done better. But the idea that the message about democracy and freedom and autonomy was a mistake because nobody cares when the price of eggs is so high is just wrong.
Sure they could have talked more about “kitchen table issues” and pretended that their economic program was an abject failure but publicly rejecting your sincerely held values is an act of self-immolation. No one can respect that. In fact, it makes you appear to have no values and all you’re left with is the price of eggs. Sorry, that’s not a winning issue either.