We Don't Need No Stinking Voters!

As I listened to Kamala Harris's concession speech, the word "hypocrite" repeatedly came to mind. All her talk of "freedom" belied the reality of her party's antipathy to individuals' speech, religion, gun, and other rights. Beyond that, though, was the fixation on "democracy" and the assertion of fealty to the Constitution. Again, both belie reality.

The rest was basically a screed about abortion rights and a bunch of plagiarized metaphors.

In discussing her spectacular defeat with a friend, it occurred to me that party-insider Democrats have long engaged in the sort of doublethink that allows them to speak of freedom and democracy when they mean the opposite, and that we have plenty of evidence that these Best-and-Brightest believe that:

Democracy should not be left up to the voters.

Consider how, back in 2016, the party machine derailed Bernie Sanders' aspirations to the Democratic nomination via their "superdelegates" and other shenanigans that favored the anointment of Hillary Clinton.

Consider how the Democrats lied, fabricated, misdirected, prosecuted, and harassed Trump for having the temerity to defeat their anointed Presidential aspirant.

Consider how Biden lied to the voters about his plans in order to get elected. He pitched a return to normalcy, then ran from Day One hard-left. And, on top of that, he reneged on his "one term" pledge.

Consider how, just a few months ago, the party machine went along with Biden naming Harris as his successor rather than allowing a brokered convention or some other democratic selection process.

Consider how the stage was set for that coup by the systematic concealment of Biden's senescence from the voters during the Democratic primaries.

Consider the Harris election strategy: Hide from the voters, both personally and on policy, while having her minions lie about Trump's words and intentions, so as to scare voters into voting for her.

Consider how the talking heads are blaming people turning to “nontraditional sources” for information for Harris losing, and that these conduits of “disinformation” and lies are '“the chief culprit.”

All this and much more speaks of a belief that voters need to be managed rather than appealed to, that their preferences are subordinate to what the Best-and-Brightest know is good for them, and a rampant sense of entitlement to the keys and halls of power.

This is all evident in such unguarded gaffes as "deplorables," "bitter clingers," and "garbage." Theirs is not the way of public servants who remember who they serve, it's the way of managers and herders who oversee those deemed not smart or wise enough to make informed decisions and run their own lives.

It was also evident in Harris's concession speech, which reflected the narrow messaging of her campaign. Nothing about the long list of grievances the citizens have voiced across Biden's term. Nothing about the economy or inflation or migrants or spending or censorship or collusion or lawfare or dirty tricks or disdain for the people. Her whole campaign was "women's freedom" on one singular front and nowhere else, and about how she and the Democratss respect the rule of law whereas Trump does not. Self-awareness remained virtually nonexistent.

The same theme was on display on the 'trail of tears' that was the collection of leftist meltdowns. The smug harridans on The View made sure we all knew that they respected the outcome of the election, in as preening and self-aggrandizing a fashion as one can imagine. The dimwitted dynamic duo on Morning Joe informed us that Harris's loss was born of male sexism and misogyny, as if voting for Trump was tantamount to desiring a return to 'barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen' days. No matter that Trump is on record as not only being content to leave the abortion matter to the states, but that he believes Florida's six-week limit is too short.

As I wrote toward the end of my post-election recap, "the Left will learn nothing." Their conclusion, quickly accreted and coalesced, is that the American people were “wrong” in their voting for Trump. They will retain their condescending self-righteousness. They will remain certain that they are right, and that everyone who voted for Trump was wrong, is wrong, and will continue to be wrong.

They won’t change one whit.

Whether the Democrats' brain trust does is a different matter. It's safe to conclude that pitching progressivism to the public has been exposed as a losing strategy, that woke is in decline, that DEI is fading from the landscape, and that cancel culture has lost its power. Whether the party machine recalibrates depends a lot on how the next two years go, and which policies that Trump pursues resonate with the public. A savvy strategist would pull a page from the Bill Clinton playbook, and seek to co-opt the most popular GOP policy planks and claim them for the Dems.

One thing they need to do is actually listen to the voters and what they think, rather than telling the voters what they should think. Do they have enough self-awareness to pull that off? Time will tell.