We don’t win when we are seen as the elite

1 day ago 4

When I wrote “Yes, progressive buzzwords are killing us,” I expected to get nuked. I pictured myself donning a metaphorical hazmat suit before readers blasted me to kingdom come. And yes, some people took their shots.

But surprisingly, the response was productive, with more than 1,000 comments—and counting. Most practical progressives instinctively understand that language matters in politics. And we suck at it.

The data confirms what our ears are already telling us: We’ve become the party of the elite, and the 2024 exit polls make that clear. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won wealthier voters who make $100,000 and above by 51-47%, but lost those earning less than that by the exact same margin. She won college grads 56-42%, but lost non-college-educated voters 56-43%. And of course, income and education are tightly correlated.

Being the elite, we speak like elites—using abstract language, lofty ideas, and big words that don’t land outside our bubble.

Historically, civilizations have created art, culture, and philosophy after they achieved safety, peace, and prosperity. No one paints oil portraits or writes treatises when they’re starving or dodging bullets.

Republicans understand this instinctively. That’s why Donald Trump ditched Ronald Reagan’s “shining city upon a hill” optimism and replaced it with doom and fear. Trump’s message: America is collapsing. Immigrants want to murder you. Liberals want to destroy your family. The world is cheating you. And trans people are endangering your kids.

Just look at Trump’s unhinged Memorial Day message: “JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN.”

Subtlety isn’t his thing.

Trump’s message is all about danger. You’re physically in danger—because Black and brown people are going to kill you. You’re economically in danger—because “globalists” (i.e. Jews) and immigrants are cheating you. You’re culturally in danger—because trans people are coming for your children.

Security isn’t a luxury: It’s as fundamental as food, water, and shelter. And Trump taps into that primal fear so effectively that he’s peeled off major parts of our traditional base: lower-income voters of color and the organized labor movement.

In an excellent comment on that last piece of mine, qazplm wrote:

Why are we wasting time trying to get people to learn new words?

For fucks sake, the average voter turns their attention span our way for an infinitesimal span of time, we don't have time to waste on acronyms or words that get activists excited but no one else.

And we also don't have time to waste on fringe issues that affect a percent of a percent of the population. How we got so associated with trans-athletes as some sort of critical part of our identity I have no idea.

We are so afraid to offend, or in the slightest way signal negatively to so many disparate groups that we stopped being the party of the poor and middle class in the minds of voters.

Talk about the economy, and ONLY the economy going forward. Hispanics voters, Black voters, LGBTQ voters, women, young people, they ALREADY know we are better on those various social issues.

We need to keep redirecting the conversation to jobs, wages, healthcare, housing, all the things that cut across every demographic.

Trump’s most effective ad during the 2024 presidential race was simple: It showed Harris talking about access to gender-affirming surgery for prison inmates.

Yet the ad wasn’t effective because of transphobia, as polling shows that Americans are generally supportive of the trans community. A 2022 Pew poll found that 64% of those surveyed supported protecting trans people from discrimination, with just 10% opposing.

The problem with the ad was the perception it created—real or not—that Democrats care more about niche issues than the average American’s economic situation.

Donald Trump peeled voters away with promises to lower grocery prices.

While inflation crushed voters and grocery prices spiked, Republicans painted Harris as someone more concerned about trans prisoners than working families. When Harris affirmed her support, voters didn’t hear nuance. They heard: “Democrats want to use your tax dollars for sex-change operations for criminals—and you can’t even afford eggs.”

And the damage wasn’t just electoral. Instead of having a champion in the White House, trans Americans are now grappling with a dangerously hostile second Trump presidency.

According to the exit polls, Trump won those who said that inflation had caused them “severe hardship” by a whopping 76-23% margin. He also won those suffering “moderate hardship” 52-46%. Being the party of the elite, Harris won those suffering “no hardship” 78-21%. As former Daily Kos writer Kerry Eleveld once said during a podcast, “Democrats are the party of people who don’t have to look at grocery prices while shopping.”

That’s a branding problem.

More voters of color voted Republican in 2024 not because they’ve abandoned progressive values, but because they’re getting crushed economically—and Trump, speaking at a fourth-grade level, told them what they wanted to hear: “I’ll make stuff cheaper.” It was a lie. But it was simple, and they understood it. Meanwhile, our side was telling the truth in activist-speak.

It was the same with young voters, who went from 60-36% Democratic in 2020 to 54-43% in 2024. And can you blame them?

College is unaffordable. Student loans are suffocating. Owning a home is now an out-of-reach fantasy for most. According to Bankrate, you need to earn $117,000 to afford the average American home. Young people with lower earnings and no assets feel the weight of inflation more than anyone.

The most successful Democrats have always understood this dynamic—and distanced themselves from political silo issues.

President Bill Clinton had his “Sister Souljah moment.” Then-Illinois-state Sen. Barack Obama built his 2004 Democratic convention speech around unity with this memorable declaration: “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”

Beloved former first lady Michelle Obama carefully avoids culture war flashpoints. Former President Joe Biden built his brand on foreign policy and working-class relatability—not progressive campus discourse.

As a party, we need to stop running campaigns that win over the local Democratic committee potluck and start running campaigns that win a national electorate.

Because no one will care about our most important causes—whether it’s trans rights, climate change, racial justice, or reproductive freedom—if we can’t get into power in the first place.

Talk about lower prices. Talk about good jobs. Talk about housing, health care, and education. Talk about the economy working for everyone—not just a few billionaires.

And then say it in plain English.

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