Serious qestion: I feel like I'm being gaslit. Where does the perception of "Democratic elitism" come from?

[In It to Win It]

I'm genuinely curious.

Aside Republicans who have tag us with the "coastal elites" and "privileged college-educated people", I'm seeing prominent left-leaning figures repeating it as the reason we lost.

Since the election, I've read tons of articles, op-eds, and discussions here on DU about how Democrats need to stop talking down to people; how Democrats tell working people that "you're too transphobic", too sexist, too stupid to understand, or whatever else... and "that's the reason Democrats lost."

I see articles like that and I think "you've been scrolling through Twitter too much. Who did that? Is it a bunch of liberals and left wing academics online that have no power and no one voted for?"

It wasn't Joe Biden. It wasn't Kamala Harris. I didn't see any House and Senate Dems run on identity issues. I saw a bunch of cost of living ads, border and immigration ads, inflation ads and so on. The few times I watched town halls and debates, I didn't hear candidates talk about "culture war" or "identity" issues. I didn't see any "woke" stuff.

Where is the identity policy? Did I miss it?

Over the last 4 years, I've seen little "identity politics" from Democratic politicians. I've seen very little "talking down to regular people" by Democratic politicians. Yet, all I've heard for last week and a half is that the Democrats are the "smarty pants" party; the "college educated party"; the "talk down to working people" party.... but, WHERE?

Is there a part of Democratic politics that I'm missing? I honestly feel like I'm being gaslit.

[msongs]

1. if you support people I hate due to my religious beliefs you are elitist nt

[jimfields33]

10. From Atlantic to Pacific Ocean, we won 4 states.

The coasts we definitely have our majority.

[Skittles]

2. they know blue states subsidize red states

drives them nuts

[jimfields33]

12. And now that 32 states are red. The blue states won't be

Bd able to lift all 32 states.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. It was invisible. It was sold through churches and MAGA voting lists.

Our problems were inflation and trans sex changes at school. I think the eating dogs was a canard to distract us from what they were really selling. They were very devious.

I can also be said we sought to win swing states in big city suburbs - white suburbs. Trump went after that idea not by confronting it, but by stirring fear of crime and low income housing in your back yard.

I think we should have hung signs that said "34 Felonies, Putin's puppet". That's all they needed to know.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. From the Republican elites that are running the propaganda firehose?

Bannon. Miller, et al?

[In It to Win It]

9. Completely agree. But why are left-leaning people who know better are also saying it?

That's the question I can't wrap my head around. Why are people who are on our side also saying it?

[OAITW r.2.0]

19. Those that can't see, want to be blind.

I know the truth, you do to. Continue to operate under this knowledge.

[Duncan Grant]

5. Rooted in anti-intellectualism, imho.

Although I never cite Wikipedia for source material, today I’ll make an exception.

Link

Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, history, and science as impractical, politically motivated, and even contemptible human pursuits.[1] Anti-intellectuals may present themselves and be perceived as champions of common folk—populists against political and academic elitism—and tend to see educated people as a status class that dominates political discourse and higher education while being detached from the concerns of ordinary people.[1]

[allegorical oracle]

23. That's the best explanation I've seen/heard. Have also wondered about elitism when it's

Dems who work so hard for causes that benefit all people, not just the wealthy.

[soldierant]

74. Or, to put it a little more crudely,

"If you read or listen to or look at things I don't understand, you must thing you know more and better than I do, so you must be looking down on me."

You know, the word "condesending" originally had a favorable meaning. Someone who had no need to do so being kind enough to be gracious to everyone, without regard to privilege. Now it's more like a poster child for anti-intellectualism. Sad. Well, it's far from the only word to go down in teh world and impoverish our entire language.

[electric_blue68]

131. Interesting original meaning.

[boston bean]

6. Because they play the dumb card and we call them on it.

And then the dumb get insulted. How dare they.

It’s a fucking strategy.

[Tadpole Raisin]

7. Elitist used to mean someone (rich) who lived a life so far

removed from the average person that they had no understanding or concern for the plight of the common man.

Now it means anything they resent. Parents used to dream of their kids going to college. Now that’s elitist. Having a profession? Elitist. Eating certain food? Elitist.

In part I think it is from the relentless republicans propaganda where they speak in short blunt terms about the ‘leftists’ and dems talk about things in lengthy paragraphs none of which get the 10 seconds reporters are willing to give them to respond to attacks from the right.

Elitism is as bad as being woke. Unfortunately although they supposedly know it when they see it they still can’t tell you what it is.

Republicans are just as good as Hitler was in convincing people who to hate. Dems can’t counter that, it is such a powerful weapon.

[tulipsandroses]

118. I completely agree. Republicans now reject science, medicine, education.

In some places, teachers are subject to losing their teaching license or jailed. Same for librarians.
Healthcare providers are being threatened because of Covid vaccines or because they care for LGBTQ folks.
Businesses that support equality are being threatened. Sometimes literally threatened with violence.

But somehow I'm supposed to think, its Democrats that are the problem?

[haele]

8. Started with Woodrow Wilson. And honestly, before the southern strategy got the parties to flip,

The North Eastern and West Cost university types who tended to pull from old wealthy families. Noblese Oblige and all that.
The Republicans had always called themselves Working Class representatives, and they clung to that even after they turned into the party of New Money and Mobsters
They have just been better at buying good Carnival style PR.

Haele

[uponit7771]

11. If you know who the speaker of the house is and what this position does you're in the top 20% of governmental knowledge

The rest of the electorate is very depoliticized until they're pissed about something

[travelingthrulife]

13. People smarter than Republicans are.

[JohnSJ]

14. It is bullshit, spread by some of the MSM talking iidiots. The most elitist is the sociopath, and his hench men.

[In It to Win It]

15. I would agree. What confuses me is people who are on our side also saying it...

When people who are also Democrats say the Democratic Party shouts down to the working class, that makes me question “what the fuck am I not seeing?”

[JohnSJ]

20. Are they really on "our" side? That statement is lie. The Democratic Party is NOT shouting "down" to anybody. It is a

large tent that includes people who don't agree on everything, and the only one's that push that MYTH are those who believe everyone should think as they do.

[TBF]

27. people "on our side" -

you keep saying this without defining it.

Give us some concrete examples - I want names. And if it is the press you know the answer to that.

[In It to Win It]

35. David Axelrod, Chris Murphy, a few here on DU post that Democrats do this

Chris Murphy said "We don’t listen enough; we tell people what’s good for them"

David Axelrod says we're the "smarty pants" party.


This post here on DU: We need to stop this incessant "You're just stupid because you're poor, racist, sexist fuckwits" drumbeat

Link to tweet

[TBF]

37. That is 2 well known people and one low count poster -

I feel like it is gas-lighting too but originating from republicans.

As far as "high-income base" - we may have some high-income folks who donate, but nothing compared to the Trump (who inherited hundreds of millions of dollars) and his side-kick from the South African emerald mines. They really have some nerve painting the democratic party that way. Any high income dems are also voting against their own economic interest in order to build a safer (and I would argue saner) society. Donald, on the other hand, will show you with his tax cuts who he favors, and I promise you it is not the working class.

[In It to Win It]

41. Ok, I think we're on the same page. Just making sure I wasn't crazy.

[Meowmee]

16. I think that idea has been there for many years

As I understood it, it used to mean the elitist blue states which are coastal, but that’s probably changed. Which are or used to be more prosperous and tend to have people who are more successful and often college educated and who largely support liberal values. But if you look at the R elected officials, many of them have gone to the same schools. The so-called elite schools, many are wealthy by whatever means and so on, however they are very good at projecting an image that they are somehow at the same level as the common working class people and are more concerned with their needs than D are.

I think it has also come to mean as someone mentioned here anything that they resent.

[In It to Win It]

17. Yeah, I've been saying that too about the so-called liberal elite schools

For such liberal schools, they sure spit out a bunch of Republican assholes, like the governor of my state Ron DeSantis who went to Harvard and that man they just re-elected President.

[allegorical oracle]

25. The ivy league schools are more like legacy media -- simply have been around a long time. They

were tagged "elitist" because they were exclusive to the wealthy due to legacy admissions or families that could afford them. They've always been festering with extreme conservatives like William F. Buckley. That's why conservatives hate affirmative action programs.

[TBF]

38. They've not only been around a long time,

but folks don't realize that "Ivy League" initially referred to the athletic conference they were in. They get a lot of attention in rankings, but a big part of that is the huge endowments they've built up that have been growing for so long.

[MaryMagdaline]

18. Coastal elites, limousine liberals, celebrity endorsements

EDUCATED people. Majority of people with college degrees vote Democratic.

I also think this is an anti-female thing. Women make money in office jobs. Our blue collar jobs are teaching and nursing. When I was growing up, some men would say, “My wife doesn’t work, she teaches school.” Some blue collar men look at nursing, teaching and (yes) even waitressing as soft jobs.

When the service industries (“soft jobs”) took over manufacturing, millions of jobs went to women. During the 90s a lot of ordinary people started investing in the stock market. These Democrats with 401Ks are viewed as elitist or soft, pro-Wall Street.

Mostly, it’s because we’re the educated class. Everyone brags about their kid who goes to college; no one brags about their kid who is a plumber. Since I cannot build or fix anything. I have a high degree of respect for trades, and since I can’t stand on my feet for 8 to 10 hours, I have a high respect for restaurant work. I don’t know if we, as a party, convey that respect.

It’s hard to beat up on my party too much when Ohio elects venture capitalists over two blue collar advocates.

[questionseverything]

109. Half the country has less than $400. For an emergency

Those people would be very proud of a plumber son…. They make good money 💰

[MaryMagdaline]

114. They make good money and are highly skilled.

Yet no one is going into the trades. There are plumbers in the Midwest who cannot retire because there is no one to take their place. The world is upside down

[S/V Loner]

21. Elitism is the new term for...

critical thinking.

[usonian]

22. DON'T OVERTHINK IT. JEWS! ANTI-SEMITISM.

Magat dictionary has three entries. For simple minds.

• RACISM
• ANTI-SEMITISM
• MISOGYNY

Minorities, Jews, Women oppress them, as they project their failures, sins, ignorance and crimes on them.

Think "Soros"

[Sympthsical]

24. You're asking this question in the wrong space

You're just going to get a lot of, "The problem is, we're too awesome" responses.

Go find some independents or at least non-partisan types if you're interested in that discussion. Because they will have . . . things to say that will clarify things rather quickly.

[Hekate]

32. So where is it you hang out when you're not here? Is that where you're recommending the OP go?

Don’t keep it a secret.

[Sympthsical]

39. I read everywhere

Left, Right, and Center.

But I also keep a diverse social circle in my life. I don't mean simple identity - although the vast majority of people in my life are non-white and lots of LGBT - but ideologically and intellectually diverse. They don't all think the same. Some Democrats, some Republicans, some super Leftists, some libertarians, some religious, some atheist, etc. I grew up in a large Irish Catholic blue collar family, but I'm an entirely over-educated affluent suburbanite adult. It's great, because I can pull from lots of different viewpoints and synthesize them to shape my view of the world.

I'm a Democrat because I like our policies. I think they're far and away better than anything Republicans are offering. However, I do not necessarily share the civic or cultural religion around the political identity.

You gotta talk to everyone. And, more importantly, to be effective, you gotta get along with most people. Emphasis on most - not all. Some people you just can't, and that's fine. But we just seem geared to constantly look for heretics to kick out of the treehouse for being insufficiently devout. How's that going?

Asking a bubble why people outside the bubble don't like them isn't where I'd start sourcing out honest answers. If this election is teaching us anything in its aftermath, it's that self-reflection is not easily countenanced in the bubble. Everyone who's not me is just a bad person. The end.

I. don't. get. it.

How can anyone not see the behavior patterns that repeat again and again and again? It's textbook religious thinking, and the self-awareness just isn't there.

And to be honest, I'm tired, boss. I've been repeating this stuff for years, watching screw up after screw up. I'm close just throwing my hands in the air. "No, you're perfect. Keep doing what you're doing." And just walking away. I'll be totally fine.

A lot of people won't be, tho. Which I guess is why I just want to shake people in the bubble, clap in their face, and shout "Wake. The Fuck. Up." But that's the problem with a bubble. It's a space where people of like mind can assure and reinforce in one another that sleeping is best. And when you do try to wake people, they're awfully cranky about the whole affair . . .

[RobinA]

68. It's A Line

that just keeps being repeated whether it makes sense or not. I don't discuss politics with Trumpers, because it's a no win situation. They can't make a fact-based argument. I don't want to call them stupid because it isn't nice so I don't. But in my head I'm thinking, If you don't want to be called stupid, stop being stupid. Stop calling Biden a socialist, stop blaming him for a hurricane, stop talking about sex change operations in school, stop accusing Haitians of eating pets, stop using slurs against anybody and anything who isn't a white male, stop saying people are killing full term babies, etc., etc., etc., etc. As for Democrats calling MAGAs stupid, I think we're well into If the shoe fits...territory.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

130. I know two people who voted Trump and they give up when I try to talk politics with them.

They don’t have any facts or figures to back up their b.s. they either get mad, hang up the phone or say “never mind” “oh forget it.” One Facebook friend that I have has at least given up on posting his stupid Republican b.s. stuff in Facebook. Ironically they both went to the same “crap” college that takes people with crappy grades. I think you can get in with a 2.0 and below and it’s known for being a “party school.”

[dpibel]

86. If you were, like, supercool

you'd not need to ask this question....

[Abolishinist]

90. As a 'coastal elite',

I get it.

[Abolishinist]

40. Forget it, Jake. It's DUtown.

[In It to Win It]

55. But I have talked with people who leaned toward Trump. Regular ass everyday folks

A lot of them throughout the election season.

Outside of people on TV, and hyper partisans on Twitter who were never going to vote for Kamala Harris anyway, I’ve never heard a regular person say anything like “the Democrats are for the elites” or “the Democrats talk down to the working class” or “the Democrats are for college educated people.” I’ve never heard a real life person they that. Even if you see interviews on TV with actual voters, the voters themselves that the pundits talk to never actually say this.

Then, I see people who are supposedly political left (also in the media and Twitter and DU) repeating that sentiment. Then that makes me “who the fuck is saying Democrats are the now of snobs now? What voters are they getting this from? What part of the Democratic Party am I missing there they talk down to working people?”

[Sympthsical]

119. I'll give you one major example that I've heard a lot of

Not just during the election, but just over the past let's say four years. And I heard this from both Democrats and Republicans, white and non-white.

Racism. There is an assumption that anyone who is not with us politically is probably racist. In my experience, most people aren't. Read DU. Everyone who's not me is a racist. The end. No discussion. And you know what's devastating? White progressives think racism is a bigger problem than actual non-white people. How did we position ourselves as champions of a cause in ways the actual people concerned aren't asking for? Our rhetoric makes it sound like there are roving bands of millions of Klan members wandering the country, but if you poll racial minorities, you find they're just trying to get on with their lives and that they generally get along with those around them.

And if you talk to people, they're extremely sympathetic to, say, the effects of police brutality and holding them accountable. You can find a lot of support there for reforms, for progression. But then it gets lost in all the tangential ideological bullshit.

And because of a hyper-fixation on racial issues in all things, what happened? Here's one. People started having HR presentations given to them. And some of them are wild. I worked in HR for a few years. I gave some of these presentations. And a lot of it was "You're racist, even if you don't think you are. Not only that, your "whiteness" (which is a word that needs to be consigned to a bonfire somewhere) is problematic." At the end of the day, you have all these systems, cultural, corporate, and media that have nonstop telling white people what's wrong with them while telling racial minorities they are perpetual victims always and forever in all things even if they don't know it. Don't worry. White Savior Progressive is here to do what's best for you.

The shit. doesn't. play.

And it came from academia. Entire sociology and liberal arts departments are just riddled with these obsessions. I've taken courses in the past two years where it's "You're white? Yeah, you're fundamentally bad. You just are. Deal with it." Whiteness took the place of Original Sin in belief systems. Then you have students of this stuff graduate, go into positions of management, media, and culture, and spit that out at average people.

When Republicans grabbed onto Critical Race Theory, it resonated. It didn't matter that people had no idea what it actually was. What it did was give voice to what people were encountering in their lives. It put a word (no matter how inapplicable) to the shit that was being nonstop slung in their direction from the upper levels of society, from media and culture and corporate.

People just don't live their lives that way. White people don't like it. Nonwhite people don't like. People who spent a lot of time around colleges and then graduated into professions with shared ideological sensibilities love the shit.

It's out of touch. And it's forced from the top-down.

Elite isn't necessarily a class thing or a regional thing or an educational thing. I have multiple degrees. I promise, paying for a piece of paper is not evidence of intelligence. It's a cultural sensibility. When people say "the elites" what they're really saying is, "People who are completely out of touch with how I live my life trying to impose their ideologies and values on me." It's a posture and positioning that those with power will force foreign values on their lives, their families, their children, and their jobs.

Voters don't like this stuff. We love this stuff. Look at the reaction to the election. People can't figure out what's wrong because they can't conceive that something could be wrong with how they view the world.

Intelligent people should be able to do a deep rethink about how ideology has become a cultural divide and how the ideologies coming out of elite institutions are not where people are living. And if you tell enough of them they have to live the way you dictate or else there will be consequences, they'll eventually rebel.

[Scrivener7]

26. You ARE being gaslit. That's the point. The message comes from republicans who

know how to work us. And then we amplify it ourselves, as you can see on DU these days, by twisting ourselves in knots over their gaslight accusations.

They can message. We could too, but instead, we wallow in unearned guilt.

[TBF]

28. This. nt

[Hekate]

29. It comes from MAGAGOP. About the time I slogged my way thru a graduate degree, I realized...

…that the GOP, party of Rockefeller and Bush and all the trust fund babies, had labeled me an “elite” because of my education, not my status or wealth (of which there is none)

The realization was like a cold blast from my old schooldays, when I was called “goggles” because of my glasses and was mocked for having my nose in a book all the time. Nice.

Work hard, get an education, get sneered at for being an “elite”

[appmanga]

30. "Elites" is yet another euphemism...

...that someone like Frank Luntz advised using as a wedge. Being educated is being "elite" since educated people often learn how to spell well, utilize critical thinking, and have the ability to get better paying jobs. Applying this term to such people robs the ability for it to be used to (correctly) describe the super-rich who are able to spend multi-millions of dollars to buy politicians and use them to formulate legislation that makes them richer. Politicians learned a long time ago there will always be a lesser number of intellectually gifted people than others. Anyone who's ever been the smartest kid in class knows about the resentment that comes with that. Most people never outgrow that resentment and the fear that comes with someone being able to know things you don't, or that you'll never be able to understand.

Trump, Musk, and the right-wing media outlets that act as propaganda arms know how to speak to these people, just as you do if you're interested in exploiting them through lies, conspiracy theories, and base fears. In the past, the thinking was our education system, the one that allowed this country to win the race of innovation and invention in the 20th Century, would be the thing that would allow us the win the 21st. We're now being told we need the ability to overcome the numerous spigots of disinformation to explain to folks who want easy answers how to make good political choices to manage a complex world.

How do you talk to the person who believes the Earth is flat? Who doesn't know who pays a tariff? Who thinks JFK Jr. is coming back from the dead?

[Hekate]

34. Sounds about right. "Critical thinking" is a baaaad thing.

[LAS14]

45. Good point. Get rid of the word "elite," and concentrate on the divide between...

... educated and un-educated and scrub our public rhetoric of implications that you need to be educated to live a full life. Education is good, don't get me wrong. But higher education isn't in the cards for some people, either because of inclination or plain old brain power. (Yes, Virginia, some people have more brain power than others.) Education shouldn't be a required feature of the well-lived life.

[intheflow]

46. I'd agree except undereducated people

are the majority of Trump voters. Public schools should be teaching information literacy and critical thinking starting in kindergarten, but that kind of education is mostly found in private schools and colleges. So, while I agree the trades aren’t to be demonized or ignored, I’d like to imagine a world in which trade schools integrate some basic higher ed courses into the curriculum to encourage critical thinking and information literacy. Why might they do that? So their members don’t continue to fall for the lies that other countries will pay for walls and tariffs.

[MichMan]

54. Why isn't it taught in K-12 public schools?

"Public schools should be teaching information literacy and critical thinking starting in kindergarten, but that kind of education is mostly found in private schools and colleges".

[intheflow]

61. Mostly Because we teach to standardized tests.

But also because over the last 40-50 years conservatives have fought to get things like civics out of the schools because they didn’t like the unifying message being taught. Of course, civics courses themselves were a bit myopic in pushing the melting pot theme of America when of course many people did not come here willingly and the melting pot mentality valued assimilation to American identity as assimilating to white America, which obviously can’t work for other people; Black Americans can be as white as possible in speech and manner and politics and they still won’t be accepted as “real” Americans by about half the US population. So a few reasons, but mostly conservative fuckery.

[MichMan]

62. Are you referring exclusively to red states?

I don't know how conservatives would have that level of control over the curriculum in blue states.

[intheflow]

63. No, it's been national form for some time.

I’m in Massachusetts. I was taught civics in the ‘70s in public school but my son wasn’t taught the same in the 1990s. We’re the most liberal state in the country but here we are.

[Seeking Serenity]

82. But then, and this cannot be denied, you have a not insignificant number of educators, administrators, and/or curricula

That essentially reduce civics and American history to being little more than a sum of its pathologies. As a former teacher, I watched it either a) happen or b) successfully kept from happening (depending on the state or school district I was in).

So it's not always and only or even always mostly conservative fuckery at play.

[intheflow]

113. A big problem also, tho,

was the Republican rush to cut school funding. Less money, less teachers, less time to plan curriculum and implement it with enthusiasm. So I’m still going primarily with conservative fuckery.

But I know the state of teachers isn’t good. Thank you so much for what you do!

[Seeking Serenity]

116. Aww, thank you.

I suppose teaching is like the Marine Corps -- once a teacher, always a teacher.

Thank you.

[LAS14]

69. I totally agree. Education at every level must be the best that it can be.

From pre-school to post-doc. And the lack of attention to critical thinking, media literacy and civics has come home to roost, for sure!! I like your idea of integrating humanities into tech school curriculum.

But whenever we talk about training our children for the information age, we'd better make clear that our vision for the information age includes good paying jobs for ALL citizens. Support unions, including food and service workers. Be sure the minimum wage is always enough to support a family. We need a ton more creative thinking on what that future will look like.

[electric_blue68]

95. Hmmmm... respectfully...

from intheflow

"So, while I agree the trades aren’t to be demonized or ignored"

Idk... that sounds somewhat condescending to me.

Why can't The Trades be celebrated? I mean they know things, and can do things I can't do!
They're part of the different types of human intelligences that has been a more expansive view of Humanity since, idk when this thinking started, in psychological and sociological circles.

[intheflow]

111. Never said they shouldn't be celebrated.

I was speaking to the general disdain many college educated people have for the trades. I don’t share that disdain.

[wryter2000]

85. Biden has argued multiple times

That he wants to create good jobs that don’t require a college degree. Name me a Republican who’s talked about jobs that pay a living wage without a degree.

Yet, Drumpf is supposedly the man of the people.

[W_HAMILTON]

31. Because with our current media, it's easier for them to call Ds elitist than Rs racist.

[EdmondDantes_]

33. Think about the difference between GDP and income

GDP has gone up, but income down for a lot of people because of inflation. Telling people that the economy is great because the stock market is going up or GDP is increasing but largely not talking meaningfully about income inequality much less trying to fix it. And no, even the Democrats in office aren't doing nearly enough on that front in my opinion. Obviously Republicans are worse, but they are paying lip service. It doesn't help that largely Big Tech and education has been Democratic as a rule. It will be interesting seeing how the libertarian bent of many tech leaders will impact this.

Or how reducing student loan debt leaves out the people who didn't go to college. Or policies encouraging going to college and how that might be off-putting to people who didn't go.

[Hekate]

36. Student loans were never supposed to leave you staggering under debt that would make a loan-shark blush

The loans got sold. People end up paying their loans several times over, and never getting out from under.

So if anyone feels deprived because they are not experiencing Joe Biden’s mercy, I invite them to try the student loan debt lifestyle for kicks and giggles.

[EdmondDantes_]

70. I don't disagree, but then again I had 20,000 forgiven

But it's easy to see how writing off debt for those who are more likely to make more money would be seen as unequal. And yes a lot of the forgiveness went to people who didn't graduate college who went into debt and didn't even get the diploma benefit. But was that how it was sold to the public?

That said, writing off the debt doesn't even solve the problem of college being expensive. If we better funded it ahead of time (like we used to) rather than loan forgiveness, it might make college more accessible and have the side benefit of not being as easy for Republicans to sell as a giveaway to the wealthy who made the choice to go to college while the person who never went is working a job that statistically isn't likely to make as much isn't getting an "equal" benefit.

[Hekate]

72. Are the goalposts being moved in this discussion? There's a *lot* to be said about lack of college funding...

But where you started was resentment against anyone that attempts to move up and out. You’ve ever seen crabs in a bucket? They pull back anyone that tries to climb out, thus ensuring that they all get boiled for dinner.

I remember when the loan program was started and this was not how it was supposed to end up. Nonetheless it has gone bad. AFAIAC Biden has done exactly the right thing, since the Legislature refused to do their part and reform the program. I think the man deserves a medal.

[alarimer]

125. Higher education used to be nearly free

But states have bankrupted their colleges. There are too many administrator and fucking FOOTBALL coaches make millions. So the burden falls on the students.

We need to subsidize higher ed so that there are no student loans at all and so no one is left out.

Then there isn't the resentment. While I think all student loans should just be eliminated, I also want college to be free, or nearly so. (Of course I also hate college sports, so...dream on I suppose).

[Self Esteem]

42. It's just a variation of limousine liberal that was used out of the 1970s and 80s...

Just to attack Democrats as being out of touch.

[LAS14]

43. "I've seen very little "talking down to regular people" by Democratic politicians."

I class myself as one of the intellectual elite. I went to a good school. I love hearing really smart people talk.

But I'm also made uneasy by public discourse that makes assumptions about other people being part of that educated class. Some people don't want to, and some people can't enter the realms of higher education.

Here are some things we unthinkingly do or say that erect barriers

We focus on the past (requiring education) to try to bring equality to all groups (reparations). It would be better to focus on the here and now that everyone understands (make sure all schools have equal resources).

We focus on language (call females women, not girls). That makes people walk on eggs, not being sure what the right term is. Focus instead on what everyone understands, equal pay for equal work.

Don't claim that a liberal arts education is necessary for a full life (posted in a thread here on a similar topic.)

[electric_blue68]

132. Well, how about focusing on the present, and adding some historical background

[kelly1mm]

44. One example where the Rs have a point. The term Latinx was mostly pushed by Anglo progressives including

here on DU. I don't recall the Latino community seeking assistance in de gendering their language. In fact, my understanding that it was perceived as 'colonialist patronizing' by many Latinos.

[yardwork]

49. Literally nobody outside academe uses that term.

It's a non-issue.

[kelly1mm]

56. Not any more. Look at DU posts from 2021-2023. You can use the search function above. Is DU

academe now?

Additionally, do you understand the term 'literally'? If I can find ONE SINGLE instance of someone outside of an academic context using the term that would be an incorrect statement, correct?

" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended using the word “Latinx” to describe Hispanic men and women over the weekend and slammed her Democratic colleagues who she said “rail against” it — despite polling data indicating most Hispanics don’t use the term or virulently object to it.

“In the spirit of pride, I wanted to have a note on gender inclusivity in the Spanish language,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said in a video posted to her Instagram Story. “People sometimes like to make a lot of drama over the term ‘Latinx.’ But even before ‘Latinx,’ people were trying to do this, like, use an at [@ symbol] to have the ‘A’ and the ‘O’ [in ‘Latino’ and ‘Latina’] together.”

Here is a link from ET (formerly Entertainement Tonight - not exactly the academe, no?) that uses the term:

https://www.etonline.com/11-latinx-actors-who-made-history-in-film-and-television-134058

Google is your friend on things like this. Before you post disinformation/misinformation you should check it.

[yardwork]

57. I feel properly shamed and abashed.

I definitely feel more included by my fellow Democrats, as a result of your blasting me. /sarcasm

[kelly1mm]

58. Misinformation/disinformation needs to be called out. Plus words mean things like 'literally'.

There are dozens of articles describing the pushback from the Latino community against the term 'Latinx' and you come along and imply 'nothing to see here, move along, move along'. That is unproductive.

[MichMan]

60. You might want to tell Sen. Warren

She is selling T shirts "Latinix with Warren" on her website

https://shop.elizabethwarren.com/products/elizabeth-warren-latinx-with-warren-unisex-t-shirt

[Ping Tung]

47. It's nothing new. VP Agnew referred to 'An effete core of impudent snobs'

that opposed the war in Vietnam.

That was before he was forced to resign because of his trial for income tax evasion.

[yardwork]

48. You are being gaslit and it comes from Republican propaganda.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

50. Agree! Well there is the whole divide and conquer strategy the opposition has been

doing on us for some time now, but I have to say it's the ones supposedly on our side who have bought into this that are particularly irksome. In the days after election I had to turn off progressive talk because so much of it was beating ourselves up about our supposed lack of understanding of the working class.... w hile totally oblivious to the fact that SO MANY OF US who vote blue come from working class or farmer folk, have family and roots in "red" areas but still vote blue or have moved to "blue" areas for jobs, education, arts/music/culture.... AND because WE LIKE DIVERSITY. .
Im sure Im not the only one posting here with only a tech school certificate and who'se never made more than $20 an hour in my life. I wish the people throwing the "elite" epithet around would hold up a mirror and look at their own selves and ask if maybe they are the ones who are "elitist" by not seeing us, the people who come from different class/educational level than they do.
And I have to wonder - did they not see any Harris/Walz ads, or see any speeches, debates, interviews????? Our candidate was fine, our message was fine. The problem was it could not be heard over the din of the other side's disinformation, chaos and escalating verbal abuse.

[kirby]

51. Probably from Frank Luntz...

Some focused group insult that did well with non college educated people. It encapsulates an us vs them mentality.

[ThePartyThatListens]

52. At one point I wondered this too, however...

I realized that it's the way the media that's considered on the left talks.

It's very high-minded and lofty.

Think idiots like Donnie Deutsch, who are really rich Establishment pricks.

It's very pro-corporate, which is not different from any run-of-the-mill Republican.

And the things they choose to talk about.

They really don't talk like regular every day people.

At least not the main starts/pundits/etc.

Then it's the things they choose to talk about, not always in line w/"regular Americans."

The entire tactic needs to change.

I know some people here seem to hate Bernie, but there's a reason why he almost toppled Hillary back in 2016 were it not for the entire Establishment joining in on piling on him, but we're now in an age of populism folks.

Time to snap and adapt, or suffer the consequences.

Sadly we're experiencing the latter at the moment.

Note: I have a college education as well, but I'm able to see both sides.

[electric_blue68]

96. Could you be more specific about (i quote you)

"And the things they choose to talk about.

They really don't talk like regular every day people"

The things you say they choose to talk about.
How do "regular people" talk.
👍
Ty

[ThePartyThatListens]

112. It's still on right now, so turn to Morning Joe

And you'll see EXACTLY what I mean.

Look at how they're talking, who they have on, and what they're talking about.

Then let me know if regular Americans talk that way and about those things.

[electric_blue68]

133. I'll see if I can find it bc I finally went to sleep

[Sneederbunk]

53. MAGAts

?si=rznbAJGIpQx03-iX

[republianmushroom]

59. From republican talking points and their upmanship.

[maxrandb]

64. White males must have no identity

because I never hear Retrumplicans accused of practicing "identity politics" when they appeal to this "group".

[DSandra]

65. Do you want an honest answer from someone who is in the bottom 80% and who has lived around them a lot?

Most of the powerful people in the Democratic Party seem to be from the professional class, Ivy League graduates, many of them lawyers, from the coastal states. Many others are other prestigious university graduates, professionals who are essentially overachievers, also come from well educated backgrounds. They get to live in nice neighborhoods, not too far from city centers, get to buy houses, etc...

They are not like the rest of society.

Most other people either have no degree, or a degree from a non-prestigious university (and despite that, only 50% of graduates manage to get a job that corresponds to the degree that they graduated with). They don't go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes (or even Costco) to buy groceries. They live in far less glamorous or decent looking neighborhoods, and often are stuck in not so nice cities or suburbs. They don't read the New York Times, they don't have time for politics, they are super busy with many of them having to work 2 jobs or more just to make ends meet (as well as do gig work.) Most other people also don't have the extensive connections needed to get good or even decent jobs. Their life is about work work, and more work, and when it's not about paid work it's about other necessary work to do, and entertainment when taking advantage of the little time to rest. Their life prospects are a lot more bleak. They have no chance of buying a house themselves as well, nevertheless even save for retirement. Life is essentially become wage slavery, even worse if they have a lot of debt. A lot of millennials are stuck in hopeless lives like this, and prospects for Gen Z also seem bleak.

Hope you get to see this post before it gets deleted since it might become too unpopular.

[In It to Win It]

67. That also applies to the Republican Party. The most powerful of them are the professional class... and so on.

How does that view not tag onto the Republican Party as well?

Most Democrats the overwhelming majority are working class people. They also don't shop at Whole Foods and whatever else.

Anecdotally, this applies to my entire family who are working class people and don't have time for politics. I've just never heard any working class voter describe Democrats as a party of "elite" people or educated people.

[electric_blue68]

97. Later in life I haven't had much money but I get a few special items from Trader's & Whole Foods

here, and there. Otherwise I shop in regular
supermarkets, and bodegas.

Not usually the more expensive items from the freezer, but some different cheeses, fun chocolate items, fancy crackers & special granola.

[DSandra]

134. I'm talking about the people who have power...

The movers and shakers, and the politicians, they are from affluent classes and sooo many of them have Ivy League degrees.

[In It to Win It]

136. I understand that, and that applies to the Republican Party as well.

The movers and shakers of that party are from the affluent classes, and many of them have Ivy League degrees. What am I missing? How does that view not tag onto the Republican Party as well?

Are you saying that people at the top of that party (the people who have power, the movers and shakers, and the politicians) aren't from the affluent classes?

[DemonGoddess]

103. As a lifelong Democrat

who, by the way, does not have a college degree. Nor am I in any kind of a high powered job. In fact, for many years was WORKING POOR before I finally worked my way into the middle class. I call bullshit.

Sorry, the big issue with these younger ones who vote with emotions and because "celebrity" are the fruits of our dumbing down the education available in public schools. For which we can thank Republicans.

Do you understand why I believe in my party? They LEGISLATE for things to bring good change, for EVERYONE.

This elitism thing is yet another dogwhistle.

[DSandra]

135. But much of the Democratic Party power is among the property owners, the people who are already affluent...

They have the time and energy to be involved in politics while other Democrats are too busy working to make ends meet to participate as much. Even I am privileged that I can spend time analyzing politics.

[Blue_Tires]

66. The media and Fox News...

[The Wandering Harper]

71. as the still-poor child of working class and poor people

there was very little at the Democratic convention for me.
There were moments that were downright nauseating to me.
I was very enthusiastic for Kamala before the convention,
and especially after she picked the running mate
that expanded free school lunch for all.

After the convention?
Well, I came out and voted

[dpibel]

78. What were these nauseating moments?

Since you've posted this in two different threads, it surely is important enough to you to share what those moments were that so affected you.

[The Wandering Harper]

79. the 3 big ones

Oprah
the billionaire governor
the uniformed police officer

and the overall tone came across to me like insubstantial glitz and hype

[dpibel]

83. Thanks

That is a fascinating list.

[electric_blue68]

93. The Convention had *plenty* of serious moments! And it's also a get together, nothing wrong with some glitz.

Hmmm...

What was the policeman about. I forgot.

[The Wandering Harper]

94. when contrasted with the growing wealth disparity,

gentrification, increasing numbers of homeless on the streets,
that I see whenever I leave the house,
the glitz is pretty freakin offensive to me

[electric_blue68]

98. Well, as someone who became poor, after being middle class for about half her life, and was/is concerned about issues..

of poverty, gentrification etc bc I am a Democrat, a Liberal and before I became poor- I'll still enjoy "glitz".

To each their own.

[The Wandering Harper]

99. you said you're concerned about these things because you're a Democrat

I was a Democrat because I've lived those things most of my life,
including - and most importantly - my formative years.
The Democratic party has slowly drifted rightward during my life,
yet I vote for them because they're better than the alternative.
But I am becoming increasingly frustrated with "better than the alternative."
The Democrats in my local politics have been unopposed and are acting like
what I'd expect from the older breed of Republicans

[electric_blue68]

102. Sorry to hear about your local Dems. Our Party can *always* use improvement...

Sometimes tiring to keep more liberal policies in place when some of the Party moves towards center close to right.

I'm probably quite older than you but waaaay bavkin the mid-late '60's there were in NYC/NYS genuine Liberal Republicans who may have fiscal Republican policies but maybe not the most conservative within their Party, but had more liberal social policies!

There were 2 before I could vote that I volunteered for bc the Democratic Candidates were too conservative on social issues.

However I never voted for any Republican.

[The Wandering Harper]

104. yep, born in '73

when I was younger I'd blame my parents for all the crap I've had to go through. When I got a bit older and wiser I forgave them and realized that tracing most of it back to Reagan was quite plausible. Locally, a friend of mine is one of the good ones on the city council and has recruited me to a protest next week regarding the underfunded schools (while the city's coffers have plenty)

[electric_blue68]

105. Ah, good luck w that. And...

Regarding Reagan, omg, what a hideous distaster he was for our Country.

I did the Washongton DC labor march after he busted the Air Traffic Union.

[The Wandering Harper]

107. thank you. My mother was about as terrrified on election night 1980

as many are now

[The Wandering Harper]

129. third times the charm I hope

I keep posting this reply to the wrong reply by accident:

Thank you.
My mother was about as terrrified on election night 1980
as many are now

[B.See]

73. "Is there a part of Democratic politics that I'm missing? I honestly feel like I'm being gaslit."

NO, there's nothing you're missing, and YES you (and imo, everyone else who drinks that particular brand of Koolaid) is being gaslit - by the usual MAGA, bullshit, smoke and mirror "alternate reality."

While Harris and Democrats campaigned on uplifting and helping people, including those on the right, while President Biden worked to provide relief to the American people, despite MAGA opposition and efforts to sabotage said relief,

Trump and his malevolent hoard denigrated people - Latino immigrants, women, members of the LGBTQ community... called Puerto Rico a "garbage island"... claimed every American city will be like Detroit... that Black people were only "smart" if they kowtowed to him.

In fact "talking down" woefully FAILS to capture the malicious nature of Trump and his MAGA party.

But as usual, they're DAMN good at projection. Too bad so many buy into it.

[LAS14]

75. For 10 or 20 years I've been made uncomfortable when...

... Dem policies seem to leave people who dig ditches in the dust (mud?) So I'm not surprised that a significant group of the electorate feel left out. We're great on policies that "prepare our youth for the new economy" except that the "new economy" doesn't seem to have a place for ditch diggers.

So, no. I don't think it's gas lighting.

[soandso]

88. Regarding ditch diggers

and others like them who get their hands dirty (and are uneducated cretins incapable critical thinking or enjoying anything intellectual, if you read some of the posts here), I'd say there is a perception that Democrats would admire someone like Mark Cuban while they would admire (and relate to) someone like Mike Rowe. Yes, both are rich and famous but one comes across as an elitist know-it-all and the other as a down to earth guy who appreciates and sees value in ditch diggers.

[LAS14]

120. I wish I were familiar with Mark Rowe. I'm only barely aware of Mark Cuban.

But I am curious about who might emerge as appealing to the ditch diggers in our midst. There's been some talk about that sort of person. Will watch and wait.

[B.See]

89. And since when

have Republican "trickle down" policies had a place for'ditch diggers'??

The party that cut assistance programs for the poor,

that fights against a livable federal minimum wage,

the party that fights student loan forgiveness but not corporate bailouts,

the party that refused Medicaid expansion in red states robbing millions of needed healthcare benefits,

the party that refused free summer lunch programs for kids,

the party opposed to unions and collective bargaining,

the party whose so-called tax cut benefited mostly the wealthy 1 percent,

the party that voted 60 plus times to kill Obamacare,

the party that sabotaged and hobbled a consumer protection agency that once safeguarded millions against junk bank fees and predatory lending practices,

the party trying to criminalize homelessness.

Since when have THEY become champions of the middle-class and working poor, in ANY way other than bullshit lip service?

[electric_blue68]

92. THIS ☝️

[LAS14]

121. No way are policies the problem. It's the messaging that's the problem. nt

[B.See]

123. Well that's a surprise, because I could've sworn you wrote

"For 10 or 20 years I've been made uncomfortable when Dem policies seem to leave people who dig ditches in the dust (mud?).... We're great on policies that "prepare our youth for the new economy" except that the "new economy" doesn't seem to have a place for ditch diggers. So, no. I don't think it's gas lighting."

[In It to Win It]

91. Flesh that out for me if you can, because I think this is the very opposite of Joe Biden's policies and agenda

Joe Biden's policies haven't been geared toward "[preparing] our youth for the new economy."

His policies have been geared toward strengthening unions, and policy designed to reindustrialize the USA for the "ditch diggers." His policies have spurred investments in manufacturing plants, processing plants, and mining operations. These aren't "new economy" kind of jobs.

The infrastructure bill is obviously for the rebuilding and repairing of our infrastructure, but it has a Buy America components where it requires these projects to use manufactured products, steel, iron and so on to be made in America. The goal here wasn't to support "new economy" kind of jobs.

Also, Joe Biden signed a bill to save pensions for union members. Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

I look at Joe Biden's policy as being beneficial for those places that were actually left behind when companies shipped their jobs overseas.

Help me understand where you come from about the "prepare our youth for the new economy."

Given Joe Biden's policies, it feels like gaslighting to me because Joe Biden's policies aren't targeted toward the "elite" "educated" people.

[LAS14]

122. It's not the policies that are the problem when compared with the GOP. It's the messaging. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

76. Ask Adlai Stevenson.

Being called an "egg head" by Nixon translated into democratic elitism and gave both elections to Ike.

https://www.uuworld.org/articles/adlai-stevenson-original-egghead

[Freethinker65]

77. Ever heard getting Democrats to agree on anything is like herding cats?

Democrats have been demonized by Republicans as out of touch with the heartland of America because many Democrats are well educated, believe in science and medicine over superstition, and feel superior to undereducated non-critical thinking Republican voters that vote against their own best interests.

It is hard for some Democrats to take someone seriously that screams things like "keep the government out of my Medicare!", or complains about supporting urban cities when their tax dollars go for supporting services and infrastructure of smaller scattered communities, or is anti-immigrant but relies on immigrant workers.

Since Democrats believe in equal and equitable justice for ALL, it is easy for Republicans to instill fear that some sub groups voters have been indoctrinated to have a visceral hatred towards that they have had little to no contact with, are also entitled to government protections and resources. The fear is that there will be less for them, if the government helps others.

The truth is not all Democrats are over educated non-believers. I would dare say over educated non-believers make up a minority of the party.

Democrats are not as good at getting their message out. Democrats have allowed Republicans to falsely define Democrats.

If you ask about policy issues, most voters align with Democrats. Too bad voters did not vote based on policies.

[Charmin One]

80. Projection

The Republican party is, by definition, elitist

[elleng]

81. RobertReich, for one.

It may be real.

By R. Reich, FB, Nov. 17, '24:

Friends,
So many of you have asked me how one of the most loathsome people in America was just reelected president that I thought you might find it helpful if I shared with you some personal history. This may also suggest how to root out Trumpism.
In the fall of 2015, I visited Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, and North Carolina while doing research on the changing nature of work in America.
I spoke with many of the people I had first met when I was secretary of labor in the 1990s. Several brought their friends and grown children to my informal meetings, which became a kind of free-floating focus group spread across states that had once been economic powerhouses but were now economic basket cases.
With the 2016 political primaries looming, I asked my “focus groups” which candidates they found most attractive. At that time, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were the likely Democratic and Republican candidates, respectively.
Yet almost no one I spoke with mentioned either Clinton or Bush. They talked about Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, oftentimes both, as candidates they’d support for president.
When I asked why, they said Sanders or Trump would “shake things up,” “make the system work again,” “stop the corruption,” or “end the rigging.”
In the 1990s, many of these people (or their parents) had expressed frustration that they weren’t doing better. By 2015, that frustration had morphed into raw anger.
The people I met were furious with their employers, the federal government, and Wall Street. They were irate that they hadn’t been able to save for their retirements, upset that they had no job security, indignant that their children weren’t doing any better than they had at their children’s age, and outraged that houses were unaffordable, schools second-rate, and everything far more expensive.
Several people I talked with had lost jobs, savings, or homes in the financial crisis of 2008 or the Great Recession that followed it. Now most were back in jobs, but the jobs paid no more than they had two decades before in terms of purchasing power.
I heard the term “rigged system” so often that I began asking people what they meant by it. They spoke about the bailout of Wall Street, political payoffs, insider deals, CEO pay, and “crony capitalism.”
These complaints came from people who identified themselves as Republicans, Democrats, and independents. A few had joined the Tea Party; some had briefly been involved in the Occupy movement. Yet most of them didn’t consider themselves political.
They were white, Black, and Latino, from union households and non-union. The only characteristic they had in common was their position on the income ladder: middle class or below. All were struggling.
Many of the conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers I met condemned big corporations getting sweetheart deals from the government because of lobbying and campaign contributions.
A group of farmers in Missouri were livid about the emergence of “factory farms” — owned and run by big corporations — that abused land and cattle, damaged the environment, and ultimately harmed consumers. They claimed that giant food processors were using their monopoly power to squeeze the farmers dry, and the government was doing squat about it because of Big Agriculture’s money and influence.
In Cincinnati, I met with Republican small-business owners who were still hurting from the bursting of the housing bubble and the bailout of Wall Street. “Why didn’t underwater homeowners get any help?” one of them asked rhetorically. She answered her own question: “Because Wall Street has all the power.” Others nodded in agreement.
Whenever I suggested in a public appearance that big Wall Street banks be busted up — “any bank that’s too big to fail is too big, period” — I got loud applause.'>>>

[SomedayKindaLove]

84. I'll take George Bush

Dressed like a cow boy and raking tumbleweed over Kerry wind sailing. Every time.

Both could be considered East Coast elitists. But Bush played it like he was Reagan’s long lost cowboy deputy roaming the Texas dry lands. The BS, like the tumbleweed, never stopped.

The fairytale now is that Trump is a working man’s, fry-slinging, garbage man billionaire, like some Ray Kroc and Wayne Huizenga love child. His elitist wealth is forgiven/forgotten/praised because he thinks and sounds like them. Looks like the tipping point on that in the country is going to be about 1.5%. Clearly that is not insurmountable, although Idiocracy has to start somewhere…

Nearly the entirety of the country shifted red. Could mostly be the effect of the economy, Biden’s approval ratings are about what Trump’s were when he lost in 2020. With the traditional Dem bases shifting right in 2024 elections, Dems are going to need to expand the base. They are going to have to get some Trump voters to switch. Which means they are going to have to appeal to Trump voters.

[Tweedy]

87. I don't think you missed it

You cannot miss a thing that did not happen.

This is instead the Republican frame. The frame is wildly inconsistent, too. In that frame, democrats are too woke and not progressive in the same breath. This incoherent attack is breathtakingly lacking in any common sense; so of course, we hear it everywhere, even from our allies. Perhaps the last comes from a place of sadness. I don’t know. It really is absurd.

[eShirl]

100. from the race/religion elitists

[DemonGoddess]

101. It's because you are being gaslit

I feel the same way.

[Tommy Carcetti]

108. I think it means...

…the more talented and successful celebrities support Democratic candidates, whereas all the hack celebrities support the Republican ones?

[FBaggins]

110. Democratic politicians generally aren't stupid

They can read a poll as well as anyone else can.

Don’t confuse electing to avoid damaging issues with the issues not existing.

Case in point - though not really a “woke” issue. Harris did everything possible to avoid “the wall” issue. Even going so far as becoming almost hawkish on building more border wall.

But it would be ridiculous to claim that the immigration issue was manufactured by a bunch of RW adds because you didn’t see anyone running on “open borders”

You didn’t see anyone run on it because they knew they were losing on the issue - but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an issue… just that we wish it wasn’t.

[In It to Win It]

115. Re the border issue

I did see Democratic ads on the border. I saw a few Dems run ads about how they would strengthen or protect the border. Obviously, Dems don't poll well on the border so they went on offense.

The whole party shifted on the border and went on offense since they were willing to do the Lankford border bill.

I don't think anyone doubts the border issue. It was bad.

IMO, that's not comparable to the perception that Dems are the party for "elite" and "educated" people that talk down to the working class. That seems genuinely manufactured considering that Joe Biden has gone out of his way to implement policy designed to benefit working class people.

[tulipsandroses]

117. You are being gaslit - Elite is everything they don't like about democrats

It has nothing to do with education. It's the same as they don't like anyone that is " woke".
My MAGA Adjacent friend called me elite last week. He's known me for over 20 years. He knows my background. Knows my family. We both grew up in the same working class neighborhood. He just consumes a lot of RW bullshit.
It is disheartening that some democrats seem to be adapting this foolishness. As if many of the millions of people that voted for Kamala are not working class folks. How come they don't feel" they are being looked down on or made fun of?"
My parents are retired, my dad was a plumber and maintenance man before he retired, my mom was a nanny and housekeeper. Both democrats.

And let's be clear, who they are referring to when they are talking about " working class" and democrats looking down on working class.
When I went to the Kamala rally in ATL. They had shuttle buses from the designated parking lots to the rally location. The driver that brought us back was someone I recognized from many years ago, when I first moved to GA and did not have a car. He is a bus driver, he picked up the rally gig on the weekend to earn extra money to help pay for his daughter's tuition. Black guy, they are not talking about that guy.
See that guy, like many people, just trying to make a living and doing right by his family.
He is not concerned about " losing his place" or being replaced.

It is democrats that push for legislation to help working and poor folks. It is the republicans that consistently try to block things that would help working class. While being backed by a bunch of billionaires. The world's richest man is now supposedly in charge of " cutting costs " and had the audacity to say " we have to live within our means, and cuts will be painful". He won't be feeling any pain. Meanwhile, profiting immensely from the government. That guy and the other guy that shits on a golden toilet are supposedly " men of the people". You are being gaslit.

Republicans have been better at messaging their BS. They have their propaganda networks and all the BS and lies on social media to help. Alas, it seems to be infecting some democrats. As well as too many people don't care, they don't bother to vote to counteract the people that swallow the BS.

I cannot listen to news right now. Too many seem to have lost their minds playing the blame game. The only person I can stomach is Lawrence O' Donnell.

[alarimer]

124. Many Dem politicians are incredibly rich

And they get richer while in office. Now, they are not as rich as Elon Musk, but this kind of money does put them out of touch.

The problem is also that their staff tend to be young and Ivy League and not, say, from some community college in the Midwest.

I do think it's a problem, even if it's not as bad as it once was. We have AOC and others. Sen. Fetterman, whom I disagree a LOT with, is kind of what is needed. Less Ivy League, more bowling league.

That said, though, Republicans are even more elite and rich, especially Trump (maybe), Musk and Peter Thiel.

[Irish_Dem]

126. Because we have at least high normal IQ's

and can pass high school classes easily.

[rich7862]

127. Why Kamala are you not asking for a recount. When you know Musk and Trump were planing to steal the election. All they h

[wryter2000]

128. Remember limousine liberals?

It goes back a long way.