'Exactly Why We're Not Winning': Dem Strategist Nails 1 Of Party's Biggest Problems
Appearing on MSNBC, Smikle was asked about a New York Times report that party insiders were spending millions on meetings in luxury hotels and programs on how to reach young men, including studying the 'syntax, language and content' of viral media.
'I really have no understanding what that is because honestly, if somebody needed to come talk to me, just come talk to me. Actually go find me and come and talk to me. Don't do it in a hotel. Don't study me like this is some academic exercise,' he said. 'That is exactly why we're not winning: because we Democrats have been accused of looking and sounding too elitist. That's a problem.'
MSNBC's Chris Jansing said focus groups show many voters souring on Trump ― but those same voters don't like anything about the Democrats, either.
Smikle said the party's current fixation on former President Joe Biden and his reported declining health during his term in office are a perfect case in point of why they aren't connecting with those voters.
'There's been a lot of conversation about what people knew about Joe Biden and when did they know,' he said. 'If you actually go into communities and talk to voters, they're not asking about Joe Biden. They're asking what do we do now. And if Democrats don't have an answer for that question, they're going to continue to lose support.'
He urged Democratic insiders to get out of the hotels and into the communities instead.
See more of his conversation with Jansing and Meghan Hays, a former special assistant to Biden, below:
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