Communication wasn’t Democrats’ problem

Guest Columnist | Jim Schlott

It’s been an interesting post-election period. The Democratic nominee was defeated by arguably the most divisive and disliked candidate in United States history. It was a coast-to-coast defeat. Democrats underperformed in practically every state with every demographic group. And in Iowa, unbelievably, Republicans added to their majority.

Predictably, regardless of which party loses, the same tired talking points keep coming up. “We didn’t communicate effectively. We have a great message, but we need to listen better.”

The Harris campaign alone spent over one billion dollars on the campaign. That doesn’t count the Democratic National Committee or all the PAC spending. With that kind of money, it’s hard to take the “didn’t communicate effectively” claim seriously.

The same can be said for the statement, “we have a great message, but we need to listen better.” If you’re convinced your policies are right, what’s the point of listening?

Truly, elections are about communication on a large scale. Candidates communicate their vision and priorities, and the public communicates if they agree or disagree with their vision. Great communication consists of not just expressing your ideas, but actively hearing what the other party wants to communicate.

After sifting through endless exit polls, here are a few things Iowans apparently would like the Democratic party to hear.

Iowans, and a huge majority of Americans in general, don’t want biological males playing sports with females, or sharing bathrooms, showers or locker rooms with them. It’s a hard no. And if you really want parents and grandparents to walk away from the Democratic Party forever, label them transphobic or homophobic for feeling this way.

Most Americans want secure borders. As does every other country on earth. Joe Biden proudly reversed the previous administration’s border security rules in the name of compassion and created one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the western hemisphere. Having secure borders isn’t anti-immigration or xenophobic. It’s what functional governments do.

“Defund the police” is great for anarchists, communists or other fringe groups. It should have no place in any serious American political party. There is a reason black males and Hispanics of all ages voted Republican in record numbers: they want safe neighborhoods and understand police are a critical component to that.

Forgiving college loans offends just about everyone. Two-thirds of Americans didn’t go to college. Of those who did, a majority spent a significant amount of their parents’ savings or worked summer jobs to pay for tuition. If they took out loans, they have paid them back. If loan forgiveness works, why not just pay off everyone’s car loan?

Democrats did not do so badly this election because they didn’t communicate effectively. The American public heard their message clearly for the last four years.

Their answer was, “we’d rather have Trump.” That should be a wake-up call.

Jim Schlott lives in North Liberty.