Democrats are expressing disapproval of their own party’s attempts to regain men that voted Republican in the 2024 presidential election, The Hill reported Thursday.
Some Democrats told The Hill they believe that the Democratic Party needs to find better ways to reconnect with male voters. The report comes after The New York Times reported that some Democrats had unveiled “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan” (SAM), a widely panned $20 million effort co-founded by a prominent feminist aiming to study how the Democratic Party can regain young male voters that backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
“We have to refocus the party on what it once was and the reason I joined it 30 years ago, which was because it was the party of the working class and working families,” Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha told The Hill.
“When you’re not talking about the working family, you’re never going to get these men back,” Rocha told the outlet. “I see a lot of people flailing about, spending money on focus groups and polling, which is not going to fix the problem.”
An initial round of research from SAM — first reported by Politico on Wednesday — found that many young men view Democrats as “weak” while Republicans are seen as “strong.”
One anonymous top Democratic strategist told The Hill that the Republican Party “met male voters exactly where they were” in the 2024 election cycle, while the Democratic Party “had nothing comparable.”
“They kicked our asses all over the place with these guys,” one anonymous top Democratic strategist told The Hill. “They met male voters exactly where they were and we, on the other hand, had nothing comparable.”
Several recent surveys have shown Democrats receiving dismal approval ratings among voters. A Yale Youth Poll released in April found that many college-aged Americans now favor the Republican Party over the Democratic Party.
Moreover, Democratic strategist Eddie Vale told The Hill he thinks that Democrats are trying to “study” how to attract blue-collar voters “like they’re some exotic species.”
“One pretty simple and obvious answer: If you want blue-collar men — and women — to support you, go hang out with them and their unions,” Vale told the outlet. “The answer is so obvious that it could only be missed by a convening of Ph.D. political scientists and billionaires trying to study them like they’re some exotic species.”
Similarly, Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau told The Hill that Democrats need more “authenticity” to reconnect with young male voters.
“We need authenticity and you can’t manufacture it in a lab, a war room or a donor meeting,” Mollineau told the outlet. “We can’t figure this out in a week or two. It has to be part of an ongoing conversation, and we’re just not there yet.
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