The failure of modern democrats to convince blacks that white racism has been expunged from America and that white guilt has failed to save them

Mr. Obama and Mr. Fisher didn’t pretend that racism had been expunged from American life. America is a racist society, they wrote, and they can’t expect whites to make concessions to blacks over time. Demanding that white Americans grapple with four centuries of racial oppression might be a morally respectable position, but it was terrible politics. A strategy that depends on white guilt for its effectiveness has been adopted by blacks who most vociferously insist on the pervasiveness of white racism.

For all their love of creativity and innovation, however, there is a deadly lack of imagination in the way modern Democrats play the game. The leaders assumed for years that demographic change would lead to future majority, and that nothing was required of them. They thought that a group of democrats could be easily satisfied with noble rhetoric. The Republicans found a way to win them over.

A Conversation with Alberto O. Hirschman: The Challenges of Democracy, Politics, and Politics in the 21-Year Post-Wilf State

I received a comment from a professor in my senior year of college that would transform how I think and write, how I read books and what I read the world for. It is rare to have proof of an event.

Hirschmanian? When I was 20-years-old, I knew a lot about Albert O. Hirschman, but not his writings on economic growth, political change and ideological temptation. I have yet to come up for air almost a decade after his death. Hirschman imbued me with skepticism of all-encompassing worldviews, which he dismissed as “shortcuts to the understanding of multifarious reality.” He warned against experts peddling self serving agendas but also displayed a bias for hope as one of his books has it, cautioning against fatalism at the prospect of political renewal. The book gave us a summary of the arguments that are trying to engage in democracy, even as they threaten it.

The two Democrats who won gubernatorial races in swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania shared the same message with the national party on Sunday: They focused on kitchen table issues and secured their wins.

“I can tell you we stayed focused on the fundamentals, right, whether it’s fixing the damn roads or making sure our kids are back on track after an incredible disruption in their learning, or just simply solving problems and being honest with the people,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro told Bash in a separate interview on “State of the Union” that his campaign’s success came from connecting with voters in often forgotten areas across rural, suburban and urban parts of the commonwealth. He said his campaign “spoke to them about practical things that would make their lives better.”

In the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, CNN has projected that Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Shaprio, will defeat Republican Doug Mastriano.

Mastriano, along with many other deniers of the legitimacy of the 2020 election, have lost their races. Dixon in Michigan has also made false claims about the 2020 election.

The New Democratic Party: A Case Study in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and What It Means for a Voter’s View of the State of Michigan

Whitmer’s and Shapiro’s comments underscore the different approaches taken by Democrats during the final stretch of the election, when some members of the party, particularly those in key swing states, stressed that the party’s closing message should be focused on the economy and not on global issues or more esoteric themes, like saving democracy.

“A governor can’t fix global inflation. But what we can do is take actions to keep more money in people’s pockets, protect our right to make our own decisions about our bodies,” Whitmer said. “And all of this was squarely front-and-center for a lot of Michigan voters and I suspect that’s probably true for voters across the country.”

“We ignored the noise coming out of Washington, DC, and instead focused on the good people of Washington County, Pennsylvania,” he said, adding that “helping (voters) understand how you can actually build a bridge between the parties to kind of take down the temperature and get real things done” is key to Democrats making gains with voters in rural areas.

Democrats also secured a critical win in Pennsylvania with the election of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to flip the open US Senate seat of retiring Republican Pat Toomey.

That was the plan. And it succeeded. The New Democrats won the party’s war against the traditionalists. They were given many chances to rule. They looked for grand bargains. The future we live in is one in which Wall Street is regulated and college diplomas are seen as the answer to all problems. The Democrats decided to turn their backs on populism, so they didn’t take advantage of the financial crisis to remake the financial system. Instead, some of them came to identify with that system.

The combination of high net worth and high moral virtue that the Democrats offer is a richly satisfying blend for some voters, a perfect summary of how they see themselves. It has meant better for the party leaders because it compounds on Martha’s Vineyard and presidential libraries that are better than those of the Republicans. If perpetual stalemate is the price the country must pay for such things, maybe it’s a bargain.

Most Americans want traditional liberal measures like universal health care. Existing liberalism with its contempt for democratic ideals and top-down moralism, rubs this nation the wrong way.

liberalism can never figure out these things when viewed from a certain distance, but it is obvious when viewed. They keep expecting the right to die off, as if poisoned by its diet of wickedness, and yet the Republicans persist, dreaming up new culture wars against the “liberal elite,” radicalizing themselves continually along the way, refusing to succumb.

What do liberals do? We dig in. We always cheer for our side and we want everyone else to do the same. We react hysterically to bad news, we refuse any analysis that doesn’t begin by ascribing Satanism to the G.O.P., and we go on Twitter to scold those who don’t measure up to our standards in some way. This is not strategy. It is a topic of interest to people.