The Elephant in the Spin Room

Andrew Thomas blogs at Dark Angel Politics

Timothy Philen   . . . " As was any navel-gazing about the “soul of the Democratic party” until, that is, “Hardball” host Chris Matthews pointed out the electoral “elephant” in the middle of the spin room.  It’s a problem bigger than the merits of the messengers. It’s about the tone-deaf aspects of the progressive message itself.

"Matthews bemoaned the fact that today’s Democrats “always miss the cultural piece,” meaning that they are quick to minimize -- and even demonize, as Clinton did -- the patriotic feelings and genuine apprehensions of a large swath of the American electorate -- one that goes far beyond the Left’s caricature of the uneducated angry white racist working-class male and his enabling wife “clinging to their guns and religion,” as President Obama painted them in a moment of candor.

"That swath extends, in reality, to millions of college-educated middle-class Americans of all colors who have heartfelt and conscience-bound concerns about such issues as abortion, the redefinition of marriage and gender, and the free exercise of their religion guaranteed by the Constitution."    . . .

Timothy Philen is an opinion writer, award-winning advertising creative director and author of Harper&Row/Lippincott’s You CAN Run Away From It!, a satirical indictment of American pop psychology.