Dr. Eddie Glaude points out that Democrats lose when they act like scorned lovers as they neglect parts of their base for others.
Dr. Eddie Glaude makes a necessary observation
While discussing the draconian Texas abortion law, Nicolle Wallace noted that Democrats are, in fact, in lockstep with the values of most Americans. Dr. Eddie Glaude had a prescient answer.
“At the end of the day, Nicolle, Democrats have to turn their backs on that particular political actor that’s at the heart of their political imaginations, it seems to me,” Glaude said. “You know, Democrats act like that scorned lover, you know, trying desperately to get the Reagan Democrat to love them again. And so at the heart of their political choices, at the heart of their political decision-making, their strategizing, it’s always this white male heterosexual working-class person, you know, that’s always at the center of how they imagine their politics.”
And he is right. Too often, Democrats continue to look for that mythical center they believe the Reagan Democrats imagine they represent even as their prejudices are used against their common sense. Democrats must lean into who their base is, not who they were.
Glaude took Wallace aback with a statement that she agreed with but wanted him to expand on.
“Let me say this really quickly, Nicolle,” Glaude continued. “It’s also going to involve us to finally leave behind this melodramatic view of politics where the villains are clear, and the heroes are clear and the heroines are clear. Maybe we all are caught up in this mess and we need to figure out how to get through this together, it seems to me.”
“I need you to say more about that,” Wallace said after Glaude thought he was done with his statement.
“Oftentimes, we think of our politics as, you know, the bad people are over there. The bad people are the Republicans,” continued Glaude. “The bad person is Donald Trump. … All we need to do is banish them. Get them out of the way, and all things will be okay. Well, what we’re seeing in this political mess that is Washington DC is that the problem isn’t just simply Republicans. What we’re seeing in our country is that the problem isn’t just Donald Trump or power-hungry Republicans, It cuts across all of these different lines. And if we move beyond melodrama and kind of get at the heart of the tragedy that seems to me at the center of American politics and be honest with ourselves and grow the hell up, maybe we can get beyond this. But we seem to be content playing games.”
