Not long after the 2024 election, the Pioneer Press published a commentary piece by Mendota Heights resident Mary Riley entitled “The left, in which I was born and raised, has gone off the rails.” I found this piece to be brave, serious, and thought-provoking. In it, Ms. Riley, a retired schoolteacher, identifies that most of her family and friends were horrified that Donald Trump won the election, and were equally horrified that she voted for him. The piece lays out numerous examples of what she views as excesses of the left which drove her to vote for a man she acknowledges has “a myriad of faults.”
I am a Democrat who would under no circumstances have voted for Donald Trump. However, I agree with many of Ms. Riley’s points regarding the excesses of the left, and I commend her for writing this important piece.
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This past election was obviously a disaster for Democrats. Moving forward, Democrats have two potential responses to someone like Ms. Riley: a) they can tune her out as an ignorant MAGA dupe, or b) they can take her seriously and try to understand her perspective. I think the latter is the far more liberal-minded and constructive path.
Consider the example of President Biden’s proposed student loan forgiveness program. This program was championed as a way for college graduates, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, to free themselves from debt burdens and help them get ahead economically and otherwise. The program as initially proposed would have required the federal government to write off approximately $400 billion in lost loan payments.
This proposed program incensed the right and frustrated a good many centrists (like me). Why should those who did not go to college and those who have dutifully paid off their student loans subsidize people who took the loans knowing the requirements yet have not met their obligations? Progressives (the extreme wing of the left) talk at great length about “accountability,” but how did the proposed program speak to accountability?
Progressives and other Democrats could cluck their tongues at those opposing the student loan forgiveness program as being opposed to social justice. Or they could make an honest effort to understand the sentiments behind this opposition. I think the results of the election indicate that the balance of electoral power has shifted such that Democrats need to do a much better job of understanding the “other side,” even if full agreement is not reached.
There is a distinction between political statements that make one “feel good” vs. good-faith efforts to advance constructive discourse. The following example could be considered trivial, but I believe it helps illustrate my point.
In the runup to the election, a fairly common lawn sign in my Macalester Groveland neighborhood included three lines: first line – Harris,; second line – Walz; third line – Obviously. For me personally, the obvious choice was indeed Harris/Walz. However, I would never put out a lawn sign which publicly implies that anyone considering voting for Trump is a moron. What is to be gained by this type of statement/tone? Maybe it makes the household feel good and perhaps even clever. However, to others (e.g., blue-collar workers doing projects in the neighborhood) it could well be insulting and galvanizing in the opposite direction of the sign’s message.
I believe this lawn sign example is a microcosm of a type of condescending arrogance on the left that is self-defeating. I believe we Democrats need to be more truly liberal (open to other ways of thinking by people of differing backgrounds) if we are to avoid future disastrous electoral outcomes. We need to take people like Ms. Riley seriously and engage with them.
Peter Langworthy worked for 30 years as a transportation/environmental planner for civil engineering firms in the Twin Cities; most of his work involved airport and surface transportation projects. He is retired and lives in St. Paul.
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