Patronizing attitude of Democrats

Recently a pattern has emerged, in public statements, social-media posts, and advertising by Democrats, of an insultingly patronizing attitude. This goes beyond “thinking the American people are stupid.” Democrats seem to think most people could never manage the challenges of life on their own. People had forgotten the Barack Obama White House’ “Life of Julia” cartoon, illustrating the government’s agency for every stage of a person’s (especially a woman’s) life. That cartoon is tame in comparison to the kind of “vibe” the Democrats are putting out today.

Examples of the patronizing attitude

Kamala Harris is, by all odds, the worst. She affects a different accent for every ethnic identity group she addresses, all of them cheesy and inauthentic. She did it again yesterday at a black church (Koinonia Christian Center) in Greenville, North Carolina. “Joy cometh in the mornin’” she said – and also lapsed into yet more word salad.

What we see is so hard to see that we lose faith or a vision of those things we cannot see but must know.

The day before, she’d been in Raleigh, joining a work detail packing “CARE packages” for victims of Hurricane Helene. That’s one broken fence she must mend, after the administration of which she is still a part, held up aid and threatened at least one volunteer rescue pilot for arrest. So she appeared at the Pit Authentic Barbecue restaurant in Raleigh, where the volunteers assigned her to fold diapers for packing in those boxes. “Put me to work,” she said, at least trying to affect a cheerful attitude. It didn’t look good, as this reaction shows.

She did worse when trying to suggest that Trump had a word-salad problem similar to hers – or Biden’s.

I invite the public to watch Trump’s rallies and be the decision-maker on his acuity.

“Excuse us?’ said several X users:

They all made the same point. This same Kamala Harris hid the extent of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline until no one could ignore it any longer. Then they replaced Joe Biden faster than anyone could say the name of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson.

The TelePrompTer incident

Arguably Harris’ worse embarrassment to date happened at a “town hall” she gave on the all-Spanish cable station, Univisión. Maria Herrera Mellado, writing for Gateway Hispanic covered that episode. Apparently the director had the bad sense to station a camera directly behind Harris as she addressed an in-studio crowd. And she was using a TelePrompTer. As that rear camera “went live,” viewers could see the TelePrompTer. In the middle of the “pan,” that device went blank – but not before one could read text on its screen.

Moderator Enrique Acevedo tried to insist those prompts were for his benefit, not hers. Had that been the only problem with the telecast, Harris and Univisión might have skated on that. But it was not all, because Harris couldn’t give a straight answer to the simplest questions about how the worsening economy is affecting real people. “I’m never going to forget where I came from” will not satisfy, even if one can believe it. Nor has she ever given a satisfactory answer to how she stepped into a nomination without receiving a single vote.

Other Democrats just as patronizing

Kamala Harris is the most patronizing Democrat, but not the only one. Barack Obama, in Pittsburgh Thursday to campaign for Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.), scolded black men for not being willing to support Democrats.

You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable.

That’s wrong on three levels: it’s a lie, it’s an accusation of sexism, and – it’s patronizing. This is worse:

[P]art of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly … that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.

Mister – er – President, your editor grew up knowing strong women who led their countries in times of crisis. Specifically, he remembers Baroness Margaret Thatcher – and Golda Meir, who famously put Henry Kissinger in his place. No one but the enemies of their countries questioned their leadership, because they did lead, and well.Kamala Harris is neither of these. That aside, it shows more of the patronizing attitude that was infuriating when Obama did hold the office of President. The next day, several black men let Obama know they didn’t appreciate it.

For him to want to come down from his mansion in Martha’s Vineyard and tell black men how we should vote … Really? You don’t even live in Chicago anymore. You left your black community, Barack Obama. You want to tell us how to vote? We’re not having that, and we’re not voting for Kamala Harris. Fmr. State Rep. Vernon Jones (R-Ga.)

Barack Obama … believes that black men should set aside our disagreements, set aside our grievances and just “take one for the team.” Barack, we’ve been “taking one for the team,” when it comes to supporting the Democrat Party, for decades. And what do we have to show for it? Our inner cities are destroyed, violent crime is up, we are living in poverty in far too many communities across this country. That is the reality of progressive policies in this country and all across America. C. J. Pearson

Sorry, Obama, I’m a black man, and I’m voting for Donald Trump for president, and there’s no amount of lecturing, or bullying or shaming that you can do, that is going to make me change that decision. You may be the surrogate black dad for a lot of fatherless black boys that are running around this country, but I’ve got a dad, I know who he is, and it ain’t you. Rob Smith

Of the soft-core porn video and travesty of Holy Communion by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), the less repeated the better. But that puts the patronizing attitude into more stark relief – along with some voters willing to accept it.

In campaign advertising

This patronizing attitude also shows up in Democratic campaign advertising – up- and down-ticket. The Richmond, Virginia television market attracts some of the worst examples. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is facing off against Capt. Hung Cao USN (retired). (Note: the website Hung for Virginia gives clues showing that the retired Special Ops officer uses English name order.) In one ad, Kaine’s campaign accuses Capt. Cao of wanting to “defund federal law enforcement.” Says Kaine, “That will threaten the security of Virginia!” In fact Cao was referring to the kind of Orwellian thought police the FBI has now become.

The Virginia Seventh District race between Eugene Vindman (yes, Alexander Vindman’s brother) and Derrick Anderson is even hotter. Vindman accuses Anderson of posing with a “fake family,” after Anderson staged a photo shoot with a friend’s family. He also accuses Anderson of supporting cuts to Social Security and Medicare – which have never been “on the table.”

Both these Virginia Democrats accuse their opponents of supporting a federal ban on abortion (which Donald Trump will not support). Furthermore, they each assert that the ban their respective opponents have in mind would make no exception for rape, incest, or even the mother’s life. (Yes, they say “life,” not “health.”) As ever, Democrats portray a world in which pregnancy can strike a woman like lightning. (Or perhaps a country overrun with rapists – but Democrats should talk, after letting such criminals into the country.)

Summary

This kind of patronizing attitude has been a staple of Democratic Party politics at least since Woodrow Wilson, the first “Progressive” President. Arguably it goes back to Abraham Lincoln’s opponents in the Election of 1860, and perhaps even to Martin Van Buren. It has found expression under several Democratic Presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and James Earl Carter, Jr. But it has found its worst expression in President Barack Obama, and 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton.

Now the country is seeing it again It is also also seeing the reaction of many voters asking the Democrats, in so many words:

1. Who they think they are, and
2. Whether they think Americans are stupid.

Perhaps that’s what Donald Trump and every down-ticket ally each need to ask his or her respective Democratic opponent.