Created Equal: What now for the Democratic Party?

Democrats were on the blunt end of a very strong message on election day, as Donald Trump flipped many parts of the country and some traditionally Democratic constituencies to win another term in the White House. What’s the lesson for the party going forward? Can it reclaim independents and male voters, who seemed to abandon the party in large numbers? How much is this about issues, and how much of it is about identity?

Debbie Dingell is a U.S. Representative for the 6th District of Michigan, and Jamal Simmons is a political strategist, CNN political commentator and former Communications Director for Vice President Kamala Harris. They joined Created Equal to discuss the future of the Democratic party. 

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dingell discussed that the Harris campaign was likely plagued by a lack of awareness of “kitchen table issues” and immigration issues that were affecting voters, as well as a general lack of compassion for the struggles of the average American. She also explained that the campaign was too focused on fundraising and targeting Republican areas as opposed to speaking directly to Democratic-leaning voters in unscripted environments. 

Simmons agreed that Democrats failed to speak to voters in multicultural and welcoming environments. He explained the importance for future Democratic campaigns to focus on change and be on the side of the disaffected rather than defending institutions, but it’s difficult to sell that image when they’ve been in charge of the government for a long time. 

He also discussed how the Democratic Party’s reliance on polling led to a lack of awareness in how rhetoric from the Trump campaign was affecting voters. 

“Maybe the poll or the focus groups say it’s not really having the impact that we thought, but all the real people say it is. So you have to balance it out,” Simmons said. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Guests: 

• Debbie Dingell is a U.S. Representative for the 6th District of Michigan 
• Jamal Simmons is a longtime political strategist, CNN political commentator and former Communications Director for VP Kamala Harris

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.