The national Democratic Party might still be licking its wounds after being soundly defeated in the presidential race. Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who may have higher political aspirations one day, is weighing in on the conversation. He told Missourinet affiliate KCMO Radio in Kansas City that Democrats need to talk to people in a way that does not vilify them.
“Kamala Harris saying, ‘actually things are great, you just may not know, and we’ve done this, this, and this, and Congress screwed it up,’ and all of that,” he explained. “Then, all of a sudden, you’re stuck saying, ‘wait, what’s going on?’ So, I think it was a messaging failure. I think it was a connection failure. I think that it was a bit of a trusting too much of consulting classes and experts.”
Lucas’ key takeaway from the election is that Trump talked about issues that affect voters every day.
“Trump did those sorts of things,” said Lucas. “We saw him at McDonald’s. We saw him in the garbage truck. We saw him in big football games. And, frankly, he did things that all of us do. I’ve stopped at McDonald’s. I go to football games, right? I’m not a Trump voter. That’s the sort of things that’s relatable, as compared to playing Twitch.”
Lucas said that he hoped to give Minnesota Governor Tim Walz some national exposure by inviting him to a Chiefs football game, but his campaign people rejected the idea.
He said that the Democrats need to “meet people where they are, rather than telling them where they need to be.”
“I know I say some progressive things and do progressive things, but generally my chat with everyone, frankly, whether they live in Kansas City or not or no matter their background, is that people talk to me and say, ‘yeah, new airport’s cool,’” Lucas said. “Or ‘I want to feel safer if I’m going out for a late night in Westport, what are you going to do about it?’”
Mayor Lucas said that the party catered to the wishes of New York and California Democrats, while ignoring the needs of middle America. He said Trump’s campaign addressed key issues facing Americans such as the economy and safer cities.
He called it a “major branding problem” that the Democratic Party is wrestling with. Mayor Lucas said that the inauthenticity of key races really shot Democrats in the foot.
“Let me tell you what’s not authentic, Lucas Kunce’s campaign, where basically he ended up getting the same poll numbers that generic Democrat, we could have found Bob Miller off the street, and he would have done as well as Lucas Kunce and saved everybody $15 million to $20 million,” Lucas said. “The issue is you’ve got to be authentic.”
President-elect Trump walked away with 312 electoral college votes compared to Harris’ 226, taking every single swing state with him in the process.
Click here to listen to the interview.
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