No, they didnt I look at the policies Democrats enact and they support the average American. Biden passed tons of legislation which will greatly benefit avg ppl It's the perception, Democrats talk in wonky language and support social justice causes, which feel elitist to a lot of regular Americans
"Perception is reality" - Lee Atwater. I don't deny that the Democrats have done some good things, but they've failed to address the fundamental systemic issues of neoliberalism. And politics is about CHANGING those perceptions, which they failed to do.
True, Democrats biggest failure is their inability to communicate with regular folk. They need to learn how to talk regular folky folk talk! Republicans are masters at propaganda, and Americans fell for it. Republicans want to go pure neoliberalism
It's certainly one of their biggest problems, but I think it emerges from their abandonment of the left space. Trump is genuinely good at communicating with ordinary people. Much of American politics is showbusiness, and he's a showman.
I think a big part of the reason Dems have been too neoliberal is because the left doesn't give them the votes needed to accomplish social democratic goals Too many purist lefties sit out voting, so Democrats are always left trying to get the best they can in an evenly divided Congress.
That is a problem, I agree, but I think it arises from the centre-left's abandonment and denial of the left. The left have been exiled. In the UK, many have actually been thrown out of their own party.
Why would Democrats move to the left if the left refuses to vote for them? The lesson Democrats take is they need to move to the center to get votes
They need to move leftwards because that's the ideology with the policies that will turn things around. As Stiglitz has said, they need to abandon neoliberalism. It's not about getting left wing votes (though they would reclaim those) it's about getting the votes of ordinary people.
If moving left ward is the answer to getting the votes of ordinary people, why do so many ordinary people vote for Republicans?
I think voting for Trump and voting for Republicans are a different thing. Most elections in both the UK and US are decided by the changing votes of relatively small numbers of people. Also, there isn't really much political difference between the Democrats and Republicans.
By European standards, they're both right wing parties.