Republicans understand Dems are ignoring men, so why aren't Dems doing anything about it?
Democrats have avoided messaging directly to male voters.
This week, we saw media figures on the left and right acknowledge that men, of all demographics, are leaving the Democratic Party. Why won’t the party address this directly? I call it the Democratic Disconnect, and to be honest, having followed it extremely closely for the last year, it’s actually worse than I thought. There seems to be some sort of rule that the Democrats just can’t speak of supporting men or even boys as a group, regardless of how poor their social outcomes are becoming, or how low their numbers are getting.
Latest Polling
Let’s review some recent polling data. In the March 10-12 The Economist/YouGov poll1, Biden is -2% vs. Trump overall: -10% with men, and only +7% with women. And while we all know polls aren’t perfect (there’s always a margin of error), these are clearly losing numbers for Biden. We also know numbers tend to change, as undecideds and 3rd Party voters pick one of the two major candidates closer to November. Nonetheless, Biden is getting crushed with male voters right now. I’m surprised he hasn’t addressed us directly. Winning numbers for Biden should look something like -6% for men, and +13% for women, which would likely be a fairly narrow victory. He’s got a lot of work to do.
Gutfeld Calls Out Dems’ Silence on Men
Hat tip to Tom Golden of
as well as a couple of others who shared a clip of a Fox News comedy show hosted by Greg Gutfeld. While I don’t agree with everything he said on the show, he had a couple of points that I believe he nailed.Talking about Democrats and men he said:
The Dems aren’t losing the Black and Hispanic vote, right? They’re losing Black and Hispanic men.
Later:
I would just like to know, what has Joe Biden, what has the Democratic Party ever said about men?
And later:
It’s the party that’s inhospitable to the Y chromosome. If you’re a man, why stick around?
And in reviewing important texts such as the 2024 State of the Union and the 2020 Democratic Party Platform, Biden and the Democrats didn’t say much about men. Men, and boys for that matter, are rarely directly addressed. This has been my constant criticism. Adding to the frustration is that there are some things that the Democrats do to support men, but the messaging just isn’t there.
As I mentioned in a previous post, JFK surrounded himself with those holding differing views, as referenced in this article from the University of Virginia’s Miller Center:
In forming his administration, Kennedy surrounded himself with liberal intellectuals and, in light of the close popular vote, moderate conservatives espousing strong executive governance, rational planning, and a belief in the virtues of social science.
I am concerned that Biden is following Hillary Clinton’s pattern — appealing too much to the far left, and ignoring many in the center, particularly male voters. He could win California by 40% and lose Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and lose the election. If he had someone who argued against his lack of messaging for men, for instance a White House Council on Men and Boys, I believe he might be doing better.
Speaking of the Kennedys, RFK Jr. will be announcing his choice for VP across the Bay from me in Oakland on March 26, so I plan to attend that. We don’t have as many national events in the San Francisco area as say Washington, D.C., so it’s interesting that this one is here. Politicians typically come here to fundraise among the deep pockets of Silicon Valley.
THE BOOK: Progress continues on the book, including a new title :) Updates to come.
See “16. Trial Heat - Biden v Trump.”