Democrats keep winning on the issues. But this time, Donald Trump won on the message | Opinion
"People I know are worried about the government giving more to those who just crossed the border than folks back here," said one questioner. "How do we help people struggling every day?" queried another.
These questions came not from Donald Trump partisans, but from a mainly Black crowd at an Urban League event I attended weeks before the election in the swing state of Wisconsin as a surrogate for the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket.
Crowds were attending events for Democrats and the energy was real, but the narrative in Wisconsin and our country was defined entirely by Republican talking points. As our nation embarks on the all-too-familiar ritual of the left defining what comes next, the path back to success is less one of policy and more one of presence and narratives.
In my home state of Missouri, voters enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution, approved paid sick leave and increased minimum wages for our workers, while electing by wide margins right-wing men who opposed those very same views. And, in Missouri, like its former swing state brethren of Florida and Ohio, the presidential race was never competitive. Democrats' policies are good, say the voters, but our messages are not.
At its core, successful politicians answer what they will do for you, your family and your community. Democrats had much to work with. In Kansas City, Missouri, alone, Biden-Harris administration policies sent hundreds of millions of dollars to help build bridges we use to cross the rivers, sent funds that kept our cops and firefighters working with pay increases, and passed new laws that led directly to the prosecution of criminals who trafficked weapons that terrorized our community at the Super Bowl parade shooting that made news across the country.
The pitch leaving the Democratic convention, however, called for preservation of democracy and a halt to Project 2025. The goals were laudable, but the goal missed conversations of everyday Americans in exurban communities throughout middle America. The Republican ticket spoke to issues that are as universal as they are banal: strong borders, safer cities and a better economy. And importantly, Trump shared that narrative as a showman in a McDonald's drive-thru, dressed as a sanitation worker and dancing, without a hint of irony, to a Village People banger. His efforts were laughable, but unforgettable. A generation on, Trump — a character we've all known too long — adapted Bill Clinton's "I feel your pain" in a way modern Democrats never answered.
The future for Democrats not just in one election, but also in states like our own, first has to include competition in more places. Trump narrowed margins in rural areas, exurbs and boroughs of major cities. While not blind to race and gender in our society, we do not have the luxury to give up on yet another swing jurisdiction each cycle. Closer to home, messaging to our exurban communities has to be part of any winning strategy.
On messaging, Democrats need not adopt brand new apologies or worse yet, abandon core constituencies. We can't just condescend to others, either. A generation ago, Kansas City area native Thomas Frank's book "What's the Matter with Kansas" spoke of those in our region who voted against what he viewed as their own best interests. I detested that central premise, then and now, as the very type of elitism rejected last week. Twenty years of campaign consulting have proceeded too often on the theory that if we teach the voters our worldview, they'll see the light.
What's clear after Tuesday is that voters have never stopped telling us their issues, and vote for candidates who they perceive are listening. On a compare-and-contrast on the issues, Democrats can win. The key step is being in the places to share Democratic successes and true priorities for working people, without the noise of whatever groupthink governs the moment.
Voters weren't looking for Liz Cheney down the homestretch. They were looking for someone who has been where they have been and who has felt their pain.
Quinton Lucas is mayor of Kansas City, Missouri.
