Liberal think tank Third Way is calling on Democrats to avoid using woke jargon that it warns could alienate voters.
Third Way released a memo on Thursday outlining 45 words and phrases they want Democrats to refrain from using because “no ordinary person would ever dream of” saying them, as Politico first reported. Third Way claimed in the memo that some of the language Democrats use makes the party sound like “extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory enforcers of wokeness.”
“In reality, most Democrats do not run or govern on wildly out-of-touch social positions,” Third Way’s memo said. “But voters would be excused to believe we do because of the words that come out of our mouths—words which sound like we are hiding behind unfamiliar phrases to mask extreme intent.”
One category of language Third Way wants Democrats to stay away from using includes what they refer to as “Therapy-Speak,” which mentions words and phrases including “privilege,” “environmental violence,” “dialoguing,” “othering,” “triggering” and “microaggression.” The think tank suggests that these types of words sound like Democrats are telling voters “I’m more empathetic than you, and you are callous to hurting other’s feelings.”
Additionally, Third Way wrote in the memo that Democrats should not use “Gender/Orientation Correctness” terminology, which includes words such as “birthing person,” “cisgender,” “deadnaming,” “heteronormative,” “patriarchy” and “LGBTQIA+.” Third Way asserted that the use of these types of words suggests Democrats are implying that others’ “views on traditional genders and gender roles are at best quaint.”
The report comes as the Democratic Party has been attempting to rebrand in time for the midterms amid plummeting approval ratings following its decisive losses on Election Day 2024. Additionally, some Democrats have recently claimed that party members have begun to “speak like professors.”
“We are doing our best to get Democrats to talk like normal people and stop talking like they’re leading a seminar at Antioch,” Matt Bennett, Third Way’s executive vice president of public affairs, told Politico. “We think language is one of the central problems we face with normie voters, signaling that we are out of touch with how they live, think and talk. In recent weeks, this has become a bit of a thing, with comedians like Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman highlighting how insane Dems can sometimes sound. Also, elected officials like [Delaware Rep.] Sarah McBride and [Kentucky Gov.] Andy Beshear are begging their colleagues to just be normal again.”
McBride, a biological male who identifies as a female, told Politico in an Aug. 1 interview that “voters feel like Democrats have sort of been assholes to them.”
Similarly, Lanae Erickson, Third Way’s senior vice president, told Politico she thinks that the Democratic Party has become too focused on never making “anyone upset about anything.”
“People can’t relate to something unless it has some edge about it,” Erickson told the outlet. “And we had shaved off all of our edges in an attempt to never make anyone upset about anything.”
Moreover, a New York Times analysis of voter registration data released Wednesday showed that the Democratic Party saw a decline of roughly 2.1 million registered voters between the 2020 and 2024 elections, while Republicans added 2.4 million registered voters during the same period of time.
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