"He doesn't know what he's talking about."
That was Jamal Simmons, the CNN commentator and former Kamala Harris aide on today's CNN This Morning, telling his fellow Dems to ignore the comments of Republican Lance Stover on the direction the Democrats should take.
Stover had said that Dems are making a bad mistake by ignoring the warnings of people like Joe Manchin and John Fetterman that the party needs to move toward the center and away from being held hostage by the left.
Simmons and leftist CNN analyst and historian Leah Wright Rigueur proceeded to demonstrate the Dems' stubborn devotion to hard-left positions.
Simmons managed to keep a straight face while claiming that DEI is NOT a progressive policy, but that DEI is "really important" because "it's going to make America more competitive."
Right! Because nothing will make America more competitive than advancing people not on their merits, but on their membership in favored racial, gender, and sexual orientation groups!
Wright Rigueur made an unintentionally hilarious suggestion. On the one hand, she said that Dems need "a new generation of leadership." On the other, the two people Rigueur named as those Dems should look to for guidance were Stacey Abrams [a two-time loser in runs for Georgia governor] and . . . the 83-year-old socialist Bernie Sanders!
She said "Those are the two people who have been very consistent and very in touch with the American public that have been related to the Democratic party.
Stover had ended his comments by saying that he hopes Dems will ignore the advice of people like Manchin calling on them to moderate, because it will make life easier for Republicans. Judging by Simmons and Rigueur pushing a platform of DEI and Bernie Sanders, Stover could well get his wish!
CNN This Morning
12/27/24
6:36 am ETDANNY FREEMAN: Lance, I'll give it to you. Would you fear a Williamson DNC chair?
LANCE STOVER: I love when a Republican gets asked for, to tell Democrats what they should do for the next election.
Look, I hope Jamal's party continues down the road they've been on. They ignore the Joe Manchins of the world, they ignore the John Fettermans of the world, and continue leaning in on this left-woke ideology. Because that's where I see them going.
I mean, somebody said a while ago, in one of the earlier clips, that like, we've been held hostage by the left. Look who they nominated! Kamala Harris was IIthe most liberal senator when she served in the United States Senate. That's where the Democratic party has been and where they seemingly continue to want to go.
Joe Manchin's out there earlier this week and talking to Manu Raju saying, hey, look, we need to moderate on issues. But I'm not seeing that.
So, look, I hope they continue to ignore people like Joe Manchin because that's going to make my life a lot easier, and my Republican operative friends a lot easier for the next election.
FREEMAN: Jamal, your quick response there?
JAMAL SIMMONS: Yeah, for my Democratic friends, I just want to say, don't listen to Lance. He doesn't know what he's talking about.
This isn't about left versus right. He's a Republican trying to dance in the Democratic primary. We know he's not right.
This isn't about left versus right. This is about outsiders versus insiders. And some of these policies are going to make sense because they're going to make sense from the, they're going to be from the cultural left, right? About economic policy, getting people more money for, you know, wages and that [audio cuts out.] Which means we're not going to talk about some of the issues that have been hot buttons.
Like, I think DEI is really important. But the reason why DEI is important is because it's going to make America more competitive, and we're going to be able to go out into the world and win and keep our companies as competitive as possible.
That's not really a progressive argument, but it is an argument that includes every American, which is what Democrats stand for.
FREEMAN: Leah, I want to take a step back here. Do you think that whoever is the next leader of the DNC is really going to be the next leader of the Democratic party?
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR I don't necessarily know that they need to be the next leader of the Democratic party. What they need to do is lead essentially what is coming to terms with the infrastructure and the institution of the Democratic party. And from that, we'll begin to see real leadership emerge. So it's not necessarily about being hail to the chief or saying that this person that is in charge.
But instead, can you lay the groundwork for a new generation of leadership that is actually in touch with the American people, with Democratic voters. And then, with the kind of larger orbit of Democratic voters or independent voters, progressive voters, leveling voters, conservative Democrats that have made up the Democratic party and the Democratic party has really shied away from in the last couple of cycles.
I think the other thing here to keep in mind is that as you hear somebody like Marianne Williamson, who kind of emerges every four years to say these things, we have to remember that Marianne Williamson's biggest endorsers have been billionaires. And that's not actually very much in touch with where the Democratic base wants to be right now, as they said resoundingly in this last election cycle.
The person, the people actually that they should be listening to: Bernie Sanders and Stacey Abrams. Those are the two people who have been very consistent and very in touch with the American public that have been related to the Democratic party. Those are the people that are going to help pick the leadership of the Democratic party, or at the very least should be helping to pick the leadership of the Democratic party as we move forward into this next election cycle.
