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David Axelrod Warns Democrats: Party Risks Losing Its Working-Class Roots, Becoming a ‘Suburban Smarty-Pants Club'”
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a thought-provoking analysis following Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the 2024 election, prominent Democratic strategist David Axelrod, once a chief adviser to President Barack Obama, sounded a stark warning for the Democratic Party. The New York Post reported that according to Axelrod, who shared his insights on CNN’s program with Anderson Cooper, the Democrats’ recent electoral performance indicates a troubling disconnect between the party and America’s working-class voters, suggesting it is increasingly viewed as a “smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated party.”
Axelrod’s comments came in the wake of Donald Trump’s landslide victory, which included pivotal reversals in states that were crucial in 2020, such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Axelrod told CNN that the results laid bare a widening chasm between the Democratic Party and working-class voters across racial and ethnic lines, as was reported by The Post. This election, he noted, had demonstrated a concerning trend: the Democratic Party’s voter base is increasingly dominated by highly educated, affluent suburbanites, a shift that he believes threatens the Democrats’ longstanding identity as the party of the working class.
“The only group that Democrats gained within the election on Tuesday was white college graduates, and among working-class voters, there was a significant decline,” Axelrod told Cooper, as per The Post report. He further highlighted that Democrats’ sole electoral gains came from those making over $100,000 a year, signaling an almost complete loss of working-class support, which had once formed the foundation of the party’s base.
According to Axelrod, while President Biden implemented policies aimed at helping working people, this had not translated to meaningful support among those communities, particularly in rural and economically struggling areas. “President Biden has done some good things for working people,” he noted, but lamented that the Democratic Party “has increasingly become a smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated party,” fueling a perception that Democrats are out of touch with working-class concerns, The Post report said. This perception, he warned, could lead to increased backlash and resentment among those who feel left behind by the current political and economic structures.
The Post report explained that Axelrod’s assessment aligns with criticisms from other progressive voices within the Democratic ecosystem. Just a day earlier, Senator Bernie Sanders, an influential figure in the party’s left wing, delivered a blistering critique of the Democratic Party. Sanders argued that the party’s focus on maintaining the status quo has alienated working-class voters of all racial backgrounds. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disapproval, arguing that the Democratic Party’s leadership had failed to prioritize the needs of struggling Americans.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders stated, as was indicated in The Post report. Sanders, a longtime advocate for policies that challenge economic inequality, emphasized that this shift away from the working class had not only impacted white workers but had extended to Black and Latino communities as well. In his view, the Democratic Party’s reluctance to address pressing economic and social issues had fueled growing discontent.
The shift in electoral support was perhaps most evident in crucial battleground states that saw Trump’s base rallying with record numbers. His 2024 campaign made significant inroads among traditionally Democratic ethnic minority groups, while continuing to dominate with white, rural, and working-class voters. According to The Post, Trump’s success in states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin illustrated the effectiveness of his appeal to Americans who felt increasingly distanced from Democratic policies and priorities.
Axelrod’s remarks imply that Democrats need to reassess their messaging, as a strategy solely reliant on appealing to suburban college-educated voters is unlikely to secure future electoral success. He emphasized that for a party which historically championed the working class, the current trajectory was troubling.
“You can’t win national elections that way — and it certainly shouldn’t be that way for a party that fashions itself as the party of working people,” Axelrod noted, as was detailed in The Post report.
Axelrod’s and Sanders’ critiques highlight a larger ideological debate within the Democratic Party about the core mission and values it should uphold. The Post also reported that as the party becomes more identified with progressive social values and issues important to the affluent, urban, and suburban middle class, it risks overlooking the economic and social anxieties affecting working-class communities.
The criticism by these influential Democrats also suggests that the party may need a profound transformation to restore its connection with these communities. For many in the working class, the party’s perceived distance from their struggles has fueled disenfranchisement and ultimately pushed them towards a candidate like Trump, who has effectively cast himself as their voice against an unresponsive establishment.
The sentiments expressed by Axelrod and Sanders underline an urgent call for Democrats to re-engage with a base they have historically championed but now seem increasingly at risk of losing. As Axelrod put it, according to The Post report, the party must confront the “backlash” that its image as a “smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated” organization has created. The Democratic Party faces the task of balancing its commitment to social progress with an equally strong commitment to economic policies that resonate with the everyday lives of the working class, irrespective of race or background.
