Dems want to spend $20 million to learn how to talk to men. Have they tried mansplaining?
The national Democratic Party has decided to spend $20 million to figure out a way to talk to men.
Let me know if they find out anything that dating sites haven't yet.
On Wednesday night, the San Francisco Democratic Party weighed in, endorsing the idea as well. The resolution noted that Donald Trump got 56% of the votes of men aged 18-29, and that 'addressing the challenge experienced by boys and men is not only a moral imperative, but is essential to fostering a more inclusive and responsive political movement that truly speaks to the needs of all individuals, and countering the resultant rise polarization and disinformation.'
This Match.com-ish effort is intriguing to be sure. Polling after the 2024 presidential election showed former Vice President Kamala Harris coming up short with men as well.
According to Navigator Research, men voted for Trump, 54-43 against Harris, a four-point improvement from 2020, when the Democratic nominee, former President Joe Biden, came closer: Trump only won by two points. Women voted for Harris 51-46 in 2024, but Biden carried women by 10 points in 2020.
Let's factor in age. According to the Navigator polling 'Men under the age of 45 voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election by an 8-point margin (44% Harris, 52% Trump), a 16-point shift from 2020, where the group voted for Biden by an 8-point margin.'
If you break the numbers down by race, Harris got 82% of the black male vote. Not bad, and close to the 86% Joe Biden got in 2020. What about Latino men? Here's where it gets more interesting.
'Trump made gains across the board. Of particular note, Trump won 47% of votes among Latino men, according to AP projections. He also produced double-digit gains in majority-Hispanic counties along the Mexico border in Texas and in Southern Florida.
According to a survey by Edison Research, 'In 2020, Joe Biden won among Latino men by 23 percentage points: 59%-36%. Our latest estimate for the 2024 vote among Latino men is Trump winning by 10 points, 54% to 44%. This change of 33 points on the margin is a rather extraordinary shift in four years' time.'
Rather.
What's the problem? Democratic support for trans youth in sports? Naw, not really. Democratic support for basic social service programs? Nope. Democratic support for a robust U.S. foreign policy? Unlikely.
It may be this simple: as unfair and irrational as it is, men like voting for men for president.
This country has never had a woman president, and now looks even further away from that goal based on the 2024 results.
The question is, how do the Democrats spend that $20 million?
The New York Times reported last week that the plan 'is code-named SAM — short for 'Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan' — and promises investment to 'study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these spaces.' It recommends buying advertisements in video games, among other things.
'Above all, we must shift from a moralizing tone,' it urges.
Well. God knows what those video game ads are going to look like. No moralizing in video games, I guess.
Fundamentally, according to the data, younger voters, be they men, women, Black or Latino, voted on the economy.
So, it's the economy, stupid, again. Younger voters have a particularly bleak worldview on the economy. Talk to any young person, and they don't really have IRAs, own homes, or have a lot of disposable income while they're working two or three jobs. The Biden economy worked well for some, and very poorly for others.
My guess is that Trump's performance on the economy will make Biden look like FDR, his hero.
The big, beautiful tariffs are already contributing to stock market uncertainty, likely inflation — or even stagflation, where prices rise while the economy stays flat. Oh, and interest rates are going to stay high for the time being, which doesn't help.
I was talking to two men the other day about Trump. One voted for Harris, reluctantly, because he thinks Trump is erratic. If the GOP had nominated a good ol' 25 years ago Republican, he'd probably have voted for that candidate. He never said anything about Harris being a woman.
'Oh, he's (bleeping) crazy.'
Well, that's the partial right answer.
But do the Democrats have a response to them? The next GOP presidential nominee (if there is one) will not be Trump, and then the world looks a bit different, and by that I mean, maybe the country is just shifting right organically, Trump or no Trump.
It happens. The country that elected JFK, Clinton and Obama also elected Nixon, Reagan and, gulp, Trump. Again.
Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. wrote about a 30-year reset cycle in America that's been rather consistent: reaction begets over-reaction.
Bring on the video game ads, the outreach to men (without the 'moralizing tone,' whatever that means), the appearances on Joe Rogan, all of it. Can't hurt.
Maybe the Democrats need to mansplain to men.
After all, it worked for Trump.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
28 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
JGBs Mixed; Trade, Geopolitical Tensions May Support
0014 GMT — JGBs are mixed in price terms in the early Tokyo session, but may be supported by trade and geopolitical tensions that typically enhance the safe-haven appeal of sovereign debt. U.S. President Trump said on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to 50% from current 25%, effective June 4. Meanwhile, Ukraine launched drone attacks on four military airports inside Russia, destroying more than 40 warplanes. Five-year JGB yield is unchanged at 1.015%; 30-year yield is down 1.5 bps at 2.950%. (
29 minutes ago
GOP budget battle over ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
Republicans are squabbling over whether President Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' will boost the economy, or add trillions to the nation's debt. ABC News' Selina Wang reports.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Small businesses struggle under Trump's tariff whiplash: ‘I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me'
For some small businesses, the last week brought even more twists and turns to the past two months of President Donald Trump's chaotic tariffs. The situation was already confusing, with stops and starts of tariffs at different levels. Then on Wednesday, a US court said Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of those import levies – only for an appeals court on Thursday to pause the previous court's ruling. The confusion has made it challenging for some small companies to plan, business owners told CNN. In certain cases, they have had to consider changing their product strategy, looking into shifting their supply chains, reducing staff hours or delaying products. 'My fear is, if this continues, there's going to be like the mass extinction of small businesses,' Julie Robbins, CEO of Ohio-based guitar pedal maker EarthQuaker Devices, told CNN. Trump announced blanket tariffs across the globe on April 2, and since then, his plans have changed on a regular basis. In early April, he issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs almost everywhere except China. Then, after ratcheting up total tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, he declared smartphones and certain other electronics would be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. The US and China agreed in May to roll back reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. And in late May, he threatened smartphone makers like Apple with 25% tariffs if they don't make their phones in the US. He also agreed to push back levies on imports from the European Union until July 9. Those are only some of his changes, which can come at any time of day via the White House, social media posts or other avenues. The whiplash has been hard for companies to keep up with. Even major brands like apparel giant Gap are feeling the impact of tariffs, but small companies with far fewer resources are in an even tougher spot. The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index fell by 1.6 points in April, dipping below the 51-year average for the second consecutive month. The organization's chief economist, Bill Dunkelberg, cited uncertainty as a 'major impediment' for small business owners in a press release. 'It's the sort of more smaller, kind of more niche… brands that are going to really, really get hit by this,' Jack Leathem, an analyst at market research firm Canalys, told CNN in April. Some small business owners have had to make difficult decisions as they've grappled with the impact of tariffs. EveAnna Manley, whose company Manley Labs makes high-end electronics for recording studios, has had to cut her employees' hours by 25%. The reciprocal tariffs that China imposed on the US have been particularly challenging, she says, since China has become a major market for her business. Manley says it took 'decades' for her to 'get the best Chinese importers.' Overall, Manley Labs' sales are down more than 19% compared to last year, she told CNN, which has frozen the company's product development efforts. 'It's just a freaking mess right now,' she said in late May, before this past week's court rulings on Trump's tariffs. 'And I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me.' The best thing small businesses can do right now is to be flexible and diversify their sourcing and procurement strategies, says Tala Akhavan, chief operating officer of Pietra, a platform that helps brands with sourcing, production and logistics among other services. That's what Intuition Robotics, which makes a home robot designed to be a companion for older adults, is doing, according to chief strategy officer Assaf Gad. The company also makes money off its digital subscription accounts, according to Gad, giving it the flexibility to look into a 'plan B' outside of China for producing the company's hardware. Sudden changes in tariff policies haven't really impacted the company's decisions because it's planning for the next nine to 12 months rather than the short term, he said in mid-May. Trump's tariffs have encouraged Gad to think about expanding Intuition Robotics into international markets. 'Maybe this is also a good time to say, 'Let's not put all the eggs in one basket,'' he said, 'and, you know, start looking on other kind of territories that will reduce the risk for us going forward.' But for some companies, finding a plan B isn't so easy. That's the case for Sarah O'Leary, CEO of Willow, which makes wearable breast pumps and accessories. As a medical device company, Willow can't simply just move its manufacturing, O'Leary told CNN. The company had to pause exporting one product it produces in China for postpartum recovery at one point because it became too expensive. The ruling on Wednesday aiming to block many tariffs brought some relief, O'Leary said in an emailed statement on Thursday evening. But she acknowledged that there's still 'so much uncertainty,' adding that 'the chaos will persist.' Any tariffs, even low ones, would be difficult for a small company like hers to absorb, she said in mid-May. 'We don't build our products with that much margin,' she said. 'And so, unfortunately, we are in a position where we have to evaluate what we can do to survive in those contexts.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
