Hilarious, they are completely lost.
BALTIMORE — House Democrats are walking away from a soul-searching retreat in Baltimore without having answered the question that has loomed over them since the election: Whether the party should be content with changing its communication strategy or whether the party needs to undergo deeper changes.
“We lost, so either our programs need to be retooled or our communication needs to be retooled. Now which do you think is easier for us to focus on?” California Rep. Brad Sherman said. “I wish we could just print our message on a different color of paper and suddenly win, but I think it’s going to be harder than that.”
Democrats have historically said their economic platform should be able to bridge rural and progressive voters, but the last three elections have shown that they’re still struggling. The party hasn’t held control of the House in six years and since Nancy Pelosi gave up her gavel, they’ve lost the Senate and the White House as well. Once again, members are thinking about how they can communicate more effectively, but they’re coming up with few answers.
The question was at the top of many members’ minds as more than 130 House Democrats, roughly two-third of their membership, came to Baltimore for a three-day “issues conference” this week, the theme of which was “Fighting For All Americans.”But some Democrats say that while the party wants to fight for every American, they’re still not reaching a lot of them. Rural voters, in particular, are fleeing the party and tough losses in 2016 have some members urging the party to rethink its strategy.
“This is exactly why we lost,” one frustrated Democratic member told BuzzFeed News in a text message during a presentation at the retreat in which the member said people were clearly bored. “Trump thinks in visuals and what sells. We’re listening to an MIT prof give a dissertation with graphs on rumors that has no bearing in reality!”