Hard to toughen up when falling down on the floor could kill the average congressional democrat.
Same party where obviously senile Joe Biden couldn't step aside before his health got worse because it was "finally his turn"
Same party where 70 something year old Jerry Connolly with cancer was given an important position because it was "his turn" instead of the party voting for AOC to get that position despite loyalty to biden and being young and popular.
Same party that caved on the government shutdown after saying they'd fight.
The problem with obama and most democrats over the age of 40 is that they think life is like an episode of the west wing. They think a speech is as effective as legislation designed to directly address the imbalance of power and dramatic improvement in the material needs of the working class. That hashtags and interviews are as effective as strikes and direct action. These politicians are not activists, they are not concerned with the pain of the poor and working class. They're concerned with optics, messaging, procedure and popularity.
There are two types of democrats
1. The one who cares what your boss thinks and wants to make him or her happy.
2. The one who cares what you think and wants to give you what you need to survive in 21st century America.
Obama rose to power using the language and rhetoric of the #2 but ultimately failed to take power back from finance, actually empowered big tech, and refused to redirect military funding to social programs. He was the same kind of democrat people had seen for years, but the difference is he was a superior speaker and more charismatic than all of them since Kennedy. Kennedy himself was the reason for the Vietnam War and bad relations with Cuba. When he tried to turn the page they clipped him.
There is a very basic formula that you need:
1. Correctly identify the material conditions of people and their needs. People don't "feel" like life is more expensive. It's not a "vibe" that their rent got raised or grocery prices went up. It's real.
2. Correctly identify who is responsible. Inflation isn't a force of nature like a tornado, it's companies choosing to set a price because they have that power. Wage stagnation isn't an unpredictable force of nature like an earthquake, it's bosses choosing to lay off staff and give bonuses to managers despite record profits.
3. Provide a plan for how the people responsible for the decline in living standards will be punished and made to change their behavior. You know, with laws. The thing a government is supposed to propose and enforce.
4. Give people a vision of the future in which these problems have been lessened, and energize them with that vision. An America where medical debt isn't a thing. An America where a company can't poison your water supply and get a tap on the wrist. An America where every person who wants to go to college can afford it. An America where everyone makes enough money to travel outside of the country at least once a year. An America where young people don't ask "how will I afford them?" And instead asks "should we have two or three?" When it comes to children. An america where a phone call to the police means that theyll actually arrive on time and do something helpful instead of escalating the situation.
These are the things the democrats failed to do. Rather than continuously focusing on a bright vision of the future that gives people hope, they focus on trying to motivate through fear and saying "this is what Republicans will take from you!" That kind of messaging only works on black people, non white women, and sexual minorities. That kind of messaging does not work on white people (who you need to win) because the vast majority of them would be fine in a regressive society that prioritizes their identity over everyone else's. These are peope with parents and grandparents who grew up at a time when black people were only allowed to be servants or entertainers, immigration meant white people coming in from western and southern Europe, and women's only job was to go shopping, cook, and keep the home neat.
An overworked white woman won't care about being forced back into the kitchen. A jobless cac male won't care that Mexicans are gone because he thinks it means more job opportunities for him. A middle class white couple won't care if black people lose rights because that means maybe they get a nanny for their kids just like their grandparents used to have. An alphabet white who is closeted won't care because now he doesn't have to live with the fear of coming out and being disowned by his community because now NO alphabet person is free to be who they are. The messaging democrats have been using doesn't work on white people in meaningful enough numbers.
What does is focusing on the reality of lifestyle decline and lack of economic opportunity. It's impossible to be taken credibly as someone who wants to resolve that issue if you consistently shyt on progressives in your own party because you're a p*ssy who's scared of being called "soft on crime" or "radical left" by people who would call you that even if you personally executed 15 death row prisoners and brought back child labor.