‘Broken’: Democrats reflect on state of their party

This is a very special America speaks right here on straight arrow news. We’ve got 15 Democrats from across the country, and I’m going to ask you all to analyze where you are, why you got here, and where you’re headed. So let’s get right to it. Give me a word actually, give me a sense to describe the Democratic party today, a sense and just a sense. Marie, you’re a first frustrating
Yesenia,
I am disappointed.
Ashley, air week.
Phillip,
we’re confused at this point. Stephanie, disorganized and not on the same page. Tim,
angry and distressed. Chris lost. Debbie, looking for direction. Melissa, identity crisis. Iman divided. Colton waiting for leadership. April broken. Justin disconnected. CJ lost. Deborah, disappointed. What the hell happened?
This Democratic Party was in charge of the country in 2021
this Democratic Party had the White House, had a majority in the Senate, majority in the House. What the hell happened? Anybody? Go ahead,
Marie, they underestimated Biden. Biden did not, um, deliver, and he waited too long to back out
somebody else. Tim, I agree with that, and I think they waited too long to move to younger leadership. I think they have a lot of good leaders behind President Biden. He did a great job, but I think they needed to move on to younger leadership. Melissa, what happened?
Same as what everybody else is saying, but they didn’t put forth a strong enough candidate early enough April. Can you explain the situation that Democrats are in? We’re always picking middle of the road candidates, and we’re not supporting our progressive candidates.
Will the Democrats be better off by picking middle of the road candidates or better off picking progressive candidates? Raise your hands if you say middle of the road.
I see one hand up, two, three, hands up, four. Okay. CJ, why middle of the road?
Because I feel like too progressive. We’ve shown that it kind of gives us more roadblocks. The middle of the road.
Carlton, why middle of the road?
Kamala didn’t lose because she was seen as too centrist. She she lost essentially because, not only the shortened time frame, the 100 day of the election, because she took very relative to the center of the country, she took very progressive policy positions in 2020, especially, and that connotation never left her. Okay, Can y’all can someone disagree with that? I know that the vast majority of you want the candidates to be more progressive. Deborah, why more progressive? Oh, I don’t believe Kamala lost because of her policies. I think she lost because people were disillusioned and disenfranchise and didn’t vote.
Because I think people are looking for something different. They’re not looking for the same old, you know, old white guy, at least the Democrats aren’t, I mean, I mean, Bernie Sanders had a lot of momentum underneath him. He’s an old white guy, but he had a lot of momentum underneath him, but yet they went with what they wanted to not what the people wanted. And that’s what was so frustrating about the since in that that decade, and now we’re now. We’re now. There’s the consequences of that, of going that way, of always middle of the road instead of we want something different. I think it’s quite obvious that we want something different, but nobody’s listening to us,
April and then Marie, because you’re both nodding your heads. Why is Deborah Correct? Well, I don’t think Kamala Harris was progressive at all in her policies. I think that the people didn’t get the chance to vote and Biden policies on Palestine are a big reason why a lot of voters did not vote for her
Marie. Why do we need more progressive candidates from the Democrats? Because right now we don’t have any like we.
We are. We’re at a loss like I want Pete Buttigieg,
we need change, not thoughts and prayers.
Somebody else.
Think the problem is messaging more than anything, not not so much. Whether they’re progressive or middle of the road, I think the Democrats are all for the same kinds of policies, but the Republican seize on the messaging, and they win with it every time, because they tap into something in Americans that the Democrats have never been able to do, and that’s why, you know, I think people are very frustrated.
The Republicans that were always running away with the message we can never get across what we stand for and what Biden really accomplished during his four years. Chris, I saw you trying to get in. Go ahead. Yeah, no problem. I think one of the big problems was not so much the messaging, but the focus. There was no focus. We needed to be a lot stronger, and we, as opposed to, I think, just going on the attack against the Republican Party, which totally failed. So I mean, the candidates were calling out everything that was bad. Unfortunately, the people, the American people, saw that as kind of more the same, as opposed to talking about some of the things that really mattered, right? So unemployment and the economy and health care and education and that didn’t come out. I think the messaging was, hey, let’s just try to expose the fraud and other things. And guess what? The American people didn’t give a crap about the fraud that was going on, the lies that were being told. They didn’t care. Tim, there’s no backbone trying to get in. Tim, go ahead, yeah. I mean, I agree with a lot of what’s been said. I think the Democrats have to keep their values around progressivity and and the things that have been mentioned. But if you look at the results of this election, where they lost, it was among young men, you know, white men and Latinos, and I think sort of the though, they lost key parts of their base, and I think those groups are parts of their base that’s looking backward and that wants you to look ahead. What does the Democratic Party need to do right now to recapture the hearts and minds of the voters and put up the best challenge to President Trump. CJ, I’m gonna start with you, and then Stephanie, you’re up next. I think we gotta have a backbone. We’ve been too weak. We’ve been consumed by what Chris said, trying to find the flaws and the flaws of the Republican Party, and not focusing on what we need to do as a party and as a country to move forward, so they get a backbone. We can do that backbone. Stephanie, what’s the most important thing Democrats can do right now? I agree with CJ, but I think we also need to have a unified message. The Democrats need to come together, decide who they are, what they stand for, and how they’re the better alternative to Trump, and then present that very clearly and stand up to what Trump is doing.
Okay, I’m going to go broader again, and I want to use your hands. I don’t have to call on everyone here. What should the democratic strategy be in dealing with Donald Trump, some people think that the priority should be resistance. And I use that word deliberately because that’s the word that the governor of California uses most often. Some people believe that the goal should be cooperation, so that some of the Democratic priorities can get through.
Some people believe that the Democrats simply should offer a complete alternative. What should the Democrats do in challenging, in disagreeing? How should they handle Donald Trump, Chris, I’m going to go to you first and then Stephanie. It absolutely has to be resistance. We have to find ways of getting people involved, citizens involved in the fight. I don’t think this kind of offering a green leaf or that’s not going to work. It’s too late. The course has been set. We’ve got to invoke the kind of the rights of Americans to to actually fight and voice their dissatisfaction in town halls marches on Washington. That’s the only thing that’s going to bring people together. Tim, is it resistance? Absolutely resistance. I totally agree with Chris. I mean, they cannot. This is like a totally different Congress and political environment than I’ve seen in my entire lifetime. And if you acquiesce at all, you’re acquiescing to an agenda that the Democrats don’t agree with. Fight them all the way until the midterms, and then with the midterms, Stephanie, you agree with Tim
resistance? Yeah, I think resistance is important. And.
And you know, I would love to see Democratic governor say we’re not paying taxes to the federal government because we have no representation. I’ve even heard the idea floated of having a shadow government run by the Democrats, saying that what’s happening in Washington now there’s is such gross incompetence that if the Democrats can band together and form the shadow government and show, look, we’re tackling these issues while Doge dismantles Social Security and all the other programs that you rely on. I think people may respond to that positively. Deborah,
well, resist and persist.
Don’t hold back. Just keep resisting and keep persisting in that.
Carlton, I Colton, you have to resist at this point. And I think that my advice to Jeffrey, he’s doing this Jeffries and Schumer would be, what would Harry Reid do?
And why do you use Harry Reid?
Not everyone loved his methods, but I think what Harry Reid knew is that even if you’re going to lose the fight, sometimes the party wants you to pick that fight. Schumer has only so many points of leverage. He may not, he probably won’t win most of fights. They don’t have the votes, as someone said, but I think the party wants to see the spirit of Harry Reid go out there, and he was a boxer, throw a few punches. Marie, what should be the Democratic strategy against Trump?
Resist. It’s the only way that we’re going to get ahead and fight as hard as possible.
Philip, you’re up.
It’s a combination of two things, resist, and as AOC does or do, an alternative to whatever ridiculous thing that someone on the Republican side is saying to you,
Melissa, how’d you answer that question? How should the Democrats treat Donald Trump? They need to resist. They need to fight, and they need to offer other alternatives and not cower to him.
April, you’re nodding your head absolutely resist. We cannot submit anything to Donald Trump. We need to grow a backbone and take a stand.
Justin. How do you answer that question? Yeah, I mean, definitely resist is important. But I think even bigger than, uh, looking for more forward thinking than that, is like looking past Trump, um, delivering tangible results solutions to the American people.
CJ, I think we need to come together, first and foremost, to be able to resist and also cover ground.
I mean, the longer that we’re divided as a party, we’re going to just keep falling to the wayside. So we have to come together first and foremost, and then go at him a headstrong like a bull, like we can’t be afraid of him.
Anyone else on this question.
Also, besides resisting, we need to keep messaging that we’re doing it, because I still hear people saying that no one nothing’s being done. Things are being done. It’s just that no one knows about it. In the one thing I would throw in is people have cited AOC and Bernie, what they’re doing resist, but also organize the public, because in their fantastic job of like the I think the public, and especially Democrats and progressives are upset right now. And you know, when you get 15, 20,000 people showing up, that’s like mind boggling. Get them organized around an issue, and you know, and then that’ll help the people in Washington who seem lost at this point.
Y’all keep talking about messaging.
It’s been the word used more than resistance, more than fight, that seems to be your biggest complaint.
Why are the Democrats messaging so badly, and what would you tell them to do to fix it? Remember, this will be shown the senators, congressmen on both sides.
You’re clearly upset with how the Democrats talk. What are you upset about? And what would you change? Chris, you’re up first, and then Tim, I’m upset that I don’t see enough of them,
or I don’t see a united front. I’ve never seen a grouping you’ll see in hearings, one person being very vocal, but I just don’t get the impression that they are organized, that they’re all on the same page, and that’s what they need to get across to the American people. We need to see that. We need to see 50, you know, Congress people together. You know, just like they have the Congressional Black Caucus, then we need something. We need a congressional Democratic caucus. To be honest with you, we need to see them all on the same page. Tim, what is so?
About the messaging. I don’t think they’re listening to the people and the people. You know, you can just see it in the EOC Bernie rallies, that they’re the people are at a different place than the people in Washington. They’re just upset about the economy, about affordability, about health care, a whole lot of issues, and that energy is just not in Washington. So get that energy from the people and bring it to Washington. April, what is it about the messaging that bothers you so much? I think they’re so out of touch. A lot of the people in Congress are doing basically insider trading. They all are lining their pocketbooks with whatever you know with the stock market, and then they’re not listening to what the needs of the American people. They’re completely out of touch with what the average American needs.
Melissa is an issue than being out of touch or them using the wrong words and the wrong messaging.
Um, I think it’s the wrong messaging. I think that they need to stop taking the bait on every little thing that comes out of Trump’s mouth and the White House and it we all know it’s insane, it’s crazy, but they focus more on that, and they need to really ignore that as it’s hard to but they need to ignore that as best as possible and speak to their constituents and listen to them get on the ground.
So many of you use the word terrified,
and I’m a language person, and that means something to me. How many of you are terrified by the Trump administration. Raise your hands.
That is almost, almost all of you. Okay, explain to me what terrifies you. And again, I’m using that word deliberately and carefully.
April, what terrifies you.
It feels more and more like this is not a presidency, it’s a dictatorship, and he has blatant disregard for the laws, and instead of dealing with it in courts, he wants to impeach the judges that I want to, I want to
you’re saying dictatorship. You really mean that language. I do. I actually have a fellow teacher from Latvia, and she said, she said to me, she said, All this reminds me of when the Communist Party started to take over. This was exactly what happened. The media was censored. Prices became too unaffordable for people. It’s, it’s terrifying, it’s, there’s no
so let me ask you all again, by show of hands, how many of you believe that we’re on our way to a dictatorship?
Okay, I need to understand this now. Melissa, it’s a very strong word. Why?
Because he’s a threat to our to all of our values, freedom of speech, the rule of law, just democracy. I mean, every single thing he does terrifies me and it it affects every thing that I just mentioned, Philip, you raised your hand to the word dictatorship, right? Explain why? Very simple. If this lasts more than four years, that’s my biggest fear, okay, that he rules are going to be changed or then again, who cares about rules? Because he basically does whatever he wants. And I noticed nobody’s fighting back in regards to that, but more than four years of this bullshit, yeah, that terrifies me, Chris, you raised your hand to the word dictatorship. Explain why there are absolutely no checks and balances, and he is doing things in direct contradiction to the Constitution, that which defines us, and he’s going unchecked. I think there’s only one or two Republicans who have spoken out because they’re scared. They’ve got the billionaire Elon Musk, who’s basically said, You know what, if you don’t tow the rope, you’re out, and they’re just all running scared so he could do whatever he wants to do.
Tim, again, I’m focused on that word dictatorship. Do you think that’s a proper word to describe the current situation? We’re getting darned close to it, and I agree with what was just said, because he’s bullying everybody, and they all are kowtowing onto them. We used to have checks and balances in the Congress and in the judicial branch and also bring up universities. He’s getting universities to shut up, and he’s taking money away from them. And you know, when the justice system shuts down and when the media shuts down, there’s going to be no resistance.
Is left
Deborah, the word dictatorship. Is it appropriate?
Well, he’s taking, he’s making, he’s performing executive orders without getting any approval. Well, he’s just doing straight up executive orders. He’s closing down federal institutions such as the School of Education, I mean, the Education Department, which needs the approval of Congress, but he’s closing it down anyways. He has an individual that’s coming in and cleaning up all of our defined departments that have been established through the Constitution,
and, oh, and he’s taking he’s the fifth the fifth, Fifth Estate has been
compromised, and then he insults it,
and
we seem to have no say in anything that we do, even the things that we voted for, we have no say over. So yeah, is the word dictatorship? Is that an appropriate word to use to describe the current situation? Yes, it’s very accurate, and we’re going down that road and somebody needs to stop in.
Does anyone want to challenge that word? We have 15 Democrats from 14 different states. Anyone want to challenge that word to describe the President and the administration.
Colton, go ahead. I don’t want to challenge it per se. I just don’t think we’re quite there yet. I would describe it as creeping fascism, creeping authoritarianism, as in, we’ve taken steps down the road toward it, I perhaps have this naive believe in that America is more like stronger than a lot of people think. But we’re on that road, and if we do nothing, if no one does anything, was continue going down that road. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but I think we’re farther down that road than we have been in this country in a long time, just in that phrase creeping fascism that Colton just used. That’s really strong language. Do you agree?
Yeah. I mean, I think if things continue to continue down the path they’re on, then that’s definitely the trend that’s in the works for us, which is, you know, I think that’s, that’s where a lot of the fear, concern worries, those strong words,
it come from
Debbie. Your reaction? Yeah, they the capitulation of the law firms and the fact that
he’s had some other law firms refused to to
represent people that that wanted that we’re going to go up against him. Uh, that’s never happened before, and so that’s kind of a worrisome sign.
And so yeah, I agree it meant not dictatorship at the moment, but definitely headed that way. CJ, your reaction? Yeah. I mean, I agree with what everyone said. I do not think we’re there yet, but we are creeping in that direction.
Luckily, I think there’s already been a little bit of pushback in his administration from other Republicans. We’ve seen just recently that JD Vance and
Elon Musk got into it. So there’s definitely been pushback, but it is a little worrisome.
Let’s say House Democrats who are only a couple seats away from the majority. We’re listening to you right now, all of them,
if you could give them words of wisdom, what would you tell them?
Melissa, you’re up first,
resist and fight
in any way possible. I mean,
most ways, because
we can’t kowtow, and we can’t capitulate to to Trump, and we can’t just say that this is crazy. We need to act on it.
Stephanie, what would you tell House Democrats, unite and fight back. Don’t accept this as normal.
You know, build the country that that we want, not just Democrats, but everyone that’s fair, and just
Chris,
they’ve got to get out of Washington and start showing up in some of these grassroots areas in the states and then the cities, rallying the troops and getting people, not just Democrats, but all people who right now are just, they just feel disenfranchised and are just unhappy with the current state of Washington, DC.
Tim, if you if House Democrats are listening, what would you tell them to do? Unite and fight and fight for democratic principles and.
Remember, you only lost by a few percentage points, and as you pointed out, you’re only a seat or two away from the control the House, and so that means you have power in those numbers, and don’t give in. Ashley,
I would, I would second what others have said, but I would also say that if given the opportunity, you need to execute on your ability to stand up and fight. You can’t continue to just be baited into every small sort of you know, squabble of words. You need to actually act on behalf of the people. Philip as a group, all of you within that house, go out to these town halls and have them, especially now that you’ve got red states that are packing holes with you, even though you really represent blue. So get everybody out, because they’re just as mad as everybody else.
April, listen to the people get mad. I don’t concede to any of Trump’s nonsense.
Maureen,
we’re only in month three of his presidency, and look at the damage he’s done. It’s just gonna get worse.
Deborah.
I mean, I’m probably in the reddest state of all of us here, and
I would just say,
listen to each other, unite. Come together and go on a mission. And be on a mission. Be on a mission to save democracy. Come together, listen to each other and
and be honest with us, with your constituents and with people in general,
because I know I live in a, you know, a blue speck in a very red state, and I know, and I’m part of the democratic party here, and we’re on fire. We’re on fire.
Amon, they focused on core principles like equity, justice and opportunity.
Debbie,
get your message together. Get together fight.
There are some people who say that the Democratic Party is out of touch with America culturally and socially
on everything from transgender
to dei
to some of the cultural divisions. Some people even say immigration is not just an economic issue, it’s also a cultural issue.
Are the Democrats out of touch with social and cultural issues? Yes or no.
Who says yes? Raise your hands.
12345,
okay. Ashley, why do you think the Democrats are out of touch on cultural issues. To me, it feels like
they’re picking things that don’t relate or necessarily feel applicable to a large majority of folks, and so it’s difficult for anyone to sort of align if all they’re ever hearing about is a very, very, very small minority of folks, and that that’s maybe what it feels sometimes like the Democrat, Democratic Party only stands for
Iman. Why the Democrats out of touch on cultural issues?
Question, it’s
because maybe now we want to, they were focusing more on like equity hires versus people that can actually do do the jobs. What I don’t, what people rather people that are more qualified to do the jobs than people that are having an agenda for certain traditions to get the job based off what they believe in
Carlton,
I wouldn’t, I would preface by saying I don’t think we’re incredibly out of touch. I think we all out of touch.
But I would also say that, going to Ashley’s point, that with how polarized we become the parties by education, there are certain social and cultural issues that I think matter more to Democratic base and matter a lot less to, you know the electorate as a whole.
So how do the Democrats win in 2028
final question, how did the Democrats win in 2028 Marie, I’m going to go to you first stand up to Donald Trump and keep fighting until.
2028
Yesenia, how did the Democrats win in 2028
I would say to definitely speak up. Find your voice and stick to your guns.
Deborah,
I’d say
get together on your messaging. Find a leader, find find one person to to relay that messaging. Focus on that one person. Gather together and push them forward. CJ, how did the Democrats win in 2028
did their ducks in a row and actually focus on real, genuine issues that is plaguing this country. April,
stand up to Donald Trump and have clear plans, a clear vision for the United States. Don’t be so wishy washy on the topics. Don’t change from one day to the next. Have a clear focus of what we need, even if it doesn’t, if not everybody likes it, pick a side.
Chris.
They need a plan, an equitable plan for improving the economy, dealing with immigration and improving or providing health care. I think those three things, how did the Democrats win in 2028
they end up for the core principles that the party’s been fighting for for a long time, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, those pro those programs are like majority of the countries supports those programs, and if you paid the Republicans is trying to dismantle those programs, they will win. Stephanie, I think, do what Bernie Sanders and AOC are doing right now, which is to get out there, go to red states, get in front of as many people as possible and show that they understand they identify with their problems, and that Donald Trump is the cause and They are the solution. Philip, listen and collectively implement.
Melissa,
fight harm against Trump and focus on what the majority of Americans want, and listen to them and get out and speak to them.
So I hear two words in this conversation, listen and fight, and what we’re going to see is whether or not the Democrats can do them both at the same time. This has been a fascinating conversation I particularly enjoy because we got a chance to hear the democratic perspective without interruption.
On behalf of all the people at straight aero News, I’m Doctor Frank Luntz. I thank you for listening. I encourage you to fight on, and we’ll be back with another segment of America speaks. Thank you for listening. Thank you Good night, everyone.