Because apparently the rich and beautiful of Hollywood need a reminder, Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016. In fact, Donald Trump won 30 out of the 50 states which make up America.
Now, he didn’t win because people thought he would appoint career bureaucrats to his cabinet. And he certainly didn’t win because of sky high approval ratings. He won because people were sick and tired of the weakness in the White House and the same political games and talking points that politicians have been forcing down their throats for years.
{mosads}He won because he is viewed as a strong leader, who will surround himself with smart and tough negotiators, and together they will shake up Washington.
Someone should tell that to Meryl Streep and her cabal of Hollywood heroes, Congressional Democrats, and liberal activists. That is, if the messenger can gain entry into the locked anti-Trump panic room into which they have all seemed to retreat.
Since the election, every move that they have made has been done with the effect, if not the intent, of speaking only to each other and further pushing ambivalent or lukewarm Trump supporters more fully into his corner.
It started with the “excuse phase” — it was James Comey, it was the Electoral College, it was Russia.
When that didn’t work it was a laughable attempt to overturn the results of the election via faithless electors. Now we have an anti-Trump Hollywood speech labeled by the media as “heroic,” non-stop negative coverage of President-elect Trump, and an effort by Congressional Democrats to paint his cabinet nominees as demons emerging from hell to join Vladimir Putin in kidnapping all of our children.
This kind of collective behavior probably generates lots of chortles and chuckles at the Golden Globes, Manhattan cocktail parties, and on Twitter, but it is doing nothing to help Democrats emerge from the wilderness they have created for themselves. In fact, it is pushing them further into that wilderness.
It will certainly take a lot for Democrats to regain power and relevance in America, but here are a few very basic principles that they and their allies should recognize — for starters:
1. The only people that care what Meryl Streep, Lena Dunham, or Martin Sheen have to say are people already voting for Democrats. If you want to look more out of touch from average working families, keep trotting these people out there. If not, find some new people to vouch for you.
2. Pro-life does not mean anti-woman; pro-border security does not mean anti-immigrant; reforming entitlements does not mean anti-senior; and being pro-police does not mean racist. By accusing Republicans of these things, you are also alienating millions of Americans that believe the same thing.
3. Delaying and obstructing President-elect Trump’s cabinet selections or his judicial nominees is not a winning strategy. Republicans didn’t merely win the White House — they won majorities in both chambers of Congress. In fact, it is a situation similar to what occurred to the benefit of Democrats in 2008.
At that time, many of the very same lawmakers protesting President-elect Trump’s nominees were adamant that then President-elect Obama’s picks should breeze through the confirmation process. Changing their tune now that the shoe is on the other foot looks like the pathetic actions of a spoiled child.
The bottom line is that people wanted change in Washington and Donald Trump is that.
If Democrats want to become relevant again, they would be well served by talking less to impress each other and their allies with how clever and heroic they are, and thinking more on how they can also change so as to regain the trust of Americans who have come to see Democrats as elitist, out-of-touch partisans who only care about the people that agree with them 100 percent.
Ian Prior is the communications director and spokesperson for American Crossroads, an independent Super PAC dedicated to helping elect conservative leaders, and the Senate Leadership Fund, which is committed to maintaining the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. Previously, he was national press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Prior frequently appears on Fox News to provide analysis and before his career in politics worked as a trial and appellate lawyer.
The views expressed by Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.