AMERICAN VOTERs: "Dems are out of touch" BUT "Republicans are out of their minds"

[kpete]

Tim Alberta: “For Republicans, a central charge against Democrats throughout 2022 has been that Biden and his party are out of touch with ordinary Americans. A distilled version of the argument went like this: Democrats, the party of social and cultural elites, can’t relate to the economic pain being felt by millions of working people. That message penetrated—to a point.”

“According to exit polls, 20 percent of voters said inflation has caused their families ‘severe hardship’ over the past year. Among those respondents, 71 percent supported Republicans, and 28 percent supported Democrats. This is broadly consistent with other findings in the exit polling, as well as public-opinion research we saw throughout the summer and fall, showing disapproval of Biden and his stewardship of the economy. This would seem damning for Democrats—that is, until you consider the numbers in reverse and ask the obvious question: Why did three in 10 people who said they’ve experienced ‘severe hardship’ decide to vote for the party that controls Congress and the White House?

“The simplest explanation is that although many of these voters think Democrats are out of touch, they also think Republicans are out of their minds. And it seems they prefer the former to the latter.”

https://politicalwire.com/2022/11/10/voters-prefer-out-of-touch-to-out-of-their-minds/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/11/republican-midterm-election-performance-2024-trump/672070/

[Cha]

1. NO, Dems are NOT "out of touch" but

Magats Are Bat Crazy.

[republianmushroom]

2. I like it

[BlueTsunami2018]

3. I don't understand people.

How are the Democrats “out of touch”? Like they’re not doing everything possible to give people relief while Republicans vote against every single thing that advances that goal?

How fucking stupid are these people? Or oblivious?

Why we weren’t running wall to wall ads showing the votes from Cspan and explaining what they were is beyond me. That was so easy. Show Ted Cruz and the other assholes celebrating their denial of veterans’ healthcare. Show the vote against baby formula. Show the vote against the IRA.

They put this stuff up on a tee for us and we don’t take advantage. Out of touch? Ridiculous.

[gratuitous]

4. Democrats are out of touch?

Are they out of touch with raising the minimum wage? Are they out of touch with treating women as full citizens, capable of making their own health care decisions? Maybe Democrats are out of touch with their full employment economic policies? Or is it their advocacy of a windfall profits tax on oil companies who have been reaping record quarterly profits while pump prices soar? Are Democrats responsible for worldwide inflation that follows from oil company gouging? If so, what Republican party policies or proposals are going to remedy that situation? Or maybe Democrats are out of touch in making it easier for workers to form unions and bargain collectively for higher wages and better benefits? Do American workers not want higher wages and better benefits?

The simplest explanation is that Tim Alberta sees only what he wants to see and disregards the rest.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. And Yet, I'm Told...

...right here on DU, that dems don't have a messaging/marketing problem.
Every single item you mentioned could be sold to typical Americans impacted by inflation, gas prices, and wage stagnation.
But, 7 in 10 of that sample thought the rotten ideas, inaction, and rights suppression were better?
We have good ideas & solid plans but we can't consistently 51% of Americans to vote for the folks with the better ideas.
Seems like a marketing issue to me.

[Keepthesoulalive]

6. It isn't about marketing

Its about hate and fear. Two very powerful motivators.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. We Disagree

[gratuitous]

7. And yet, everyone believes unspecified "exit polls"

President Biden talks up his accomplishments at practically every press availability, but somehow those remarks never seem to headline the story (if there even is a story). Watch the next jobs report, which in any other administration would be cause for celebration, and see how the media treat another month of record job growth.

The administration could have the best marketing team on the planet, but if the media aren't reporting on the administration's achievements, all the marketing efforts go by the wayside.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. A Marketing Plan Might Include...

...media coverage but it shouldn't depend upon it.
If it's the problem you address, that suggests dependence upon it.
That still seems like a marketing issue.

[betsuni]

15. +1

[DSandra]

11. As a California millennial...

Rent is insanely high here and the Democrats here are way behind in fixing the problem. And it does feel like even though the California constituency is majority Democrat, the voters here care much more about keeping their property values high (and growing) than helping the people who can't afford to live here unless they happen to be the cream of the crop of tech industry recruits.

[Act_of_Reparation]

16. No. But most voters are.

And like it or not, we rely on them to put our candidates in office. So we need to develop ways to get through to them.

[Caliman73]

10. Democrats are not out of touch. Constituents are more likely out of touch.

I am not saying this to defend some of the lack of movement that has frustrated me in the past. There is a reality to politics that I think people do not see or care about until it bites them in the ass.

Democrats have had a majority in the House. Just look at the amount of bills that have passed out of the House and if you read them, you see that Democrats have been working their asses off to try to make life better for Americans. Certainly you can find fault with some of the measures (maybe they don't go far enough, maybe too much deference to the wealthy, etc..) but overall, there is ONE party that actually tries to use the power of government to improve life. The other party simply wants power. They want to rule not govern, and their constituency is the wealthy. The other groups are just vehicles which they will use to win elections.

In the Senate, we have a 50/50 split, but with VP Harris, we have a one vote tie breaker. Because of the arcane rules in the Senate and because we have had 2 Democratic Senators who have not acted like Democrats, all of those bills coming from the House, just die and it seems like the Democrats, who have control of 2 branches of government, aren't doing anything.

The solution? Give power back to the assholes who always ruin the country economically. The ones who want to institute the social order of the 1950's or even the 1850's.

Look, if we gave the Democrats the House and a super majority in the Senate and they STILL didn't do anything meaningful (which I highly doubt), then we could say "to hell with them". We can't send people into battle with a butter knife and then complain when they do not win overwhelmingly.

The sad thing is that people are so apathetic or ignorant that they cannot see that it isn't even about being, "out of their mind". Conservatism is a TOP DOWN hierarchical system of thought. There are major value judgements within the ideology which lead to those at the top thinking that people NOT at the top deserve all the misery that they might have. Conservativism as a political ideology will Always favor those at the top, and survives by pitting various groups against each other to fight for resources while the majority of the actual resources concentrate at the top. It doesn't matter if Republicans oust Trump or DeSantis, or whoever. They will continue to advocate for those at the top, unless they stop being Conservatives.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

13. I hope someday people

may may begin to see through the bullshit
Control game that has always been conservatism.

Sometimes I only think things will change dramatically is when the older generations die off. Especially the ones that lived in the 50's and it is thier stupid sentimental attachment fantasy about that time(when they were young) they want back even though it will never come back,even if forced back by the godamn rich people and sociopath "conservatives". These fossils favor.


Someday people will stop letting the old resentful bullies of the young and the promise and potential and future the young represent dictate the future we all may be living in.

I'm 57 and see this happening obviously and hope it may bring. A future that will probably happen long after I'm dead. I think young people see the current crop of bully republican elders and the 45- 60 year old crowd "small business owners" using thier own interests and bad personalities as a cudgel holding us all back.

[betsuni]

17. +1

[Xoan]

12. So lets focus on the minority ...

and learn shit about the majority.

[ananda]

14. Actually, it's the ignorant who are out of touch.

The Democrats had nothing to do with inflation.

It was corporations upping prices wanting to game
the elections.

[fleabiscuit]

18. And now they are a bit trapped. We won't forget. nt

[treestar]

19. So they think Republicans are going to help them?

Sorry, that's stupid. The economy always has to be perfect? And the media has tried as hard as they can to give the impression it is more messed up than it is.

[Deminpenn]

20. Americans want government that is

effective, efficient, civic-minded and works in the interest of everyday Americans, not the richest of the rich and biggest of the big.

[kacekwl]

21. Sadly apparently half the country has no idea what they want.

The Republicans will tell them what they need then give them nothing unless they're rich and selfish. Thank goodness they can then own the Libs. Sorry these are ignorant people plain and simple.

[betsuni]

22. They only think Democrats are out of touch because it's been repeated over and over and over until

it seems true. Meanwhile, the last three Republicans presidents were from rich upper class families while the last three Democratic presidents were working/middle class.