The Ongoing Dem Men Problem
Dems Clearly Have No Idea What Men Want, or How to Market to it.
Tim Walz is receiving his fair share of criticism for his listening tour, some of it isn’t warranted but a lot of it is. He’s as milquetoast as they come and not what most men would look up to as the ideal masculine role model, despite him being one of the better representatives of it in the Democratic Party. His strengths are not based on the fact that he is a man. He’s smart, casual, easy to talk with, has been through a lot, was a teacher, came from rural America and understands some of the disconnect between the current Dem caucus and most of middle America. He can talk with men on a level that does indeed strike that chord. He’s not going to be President, there are just others who are stronger, better candidates. However, he’s doing what Democrats should be doing and is only getting grief from the very Democrats he’s trying to help. Tells you a lot.
One thing that he is getting grief over was a rather benign statement that he could “code talk to white guys,” as if the problem is just that Democrats’ messaging is just being lost in translation. It’s not, everyone knows where Democrats’ messaging stands and what they advocate. That very sentence “code talk to white guys” smacks of someone on the outside wanting to get in; it doesn’t sound like someone who really understands them.
The old adage “Is he someone you can have a beer with?” on deciding whether to vote for someone doesn’t really apply here to Walz; the answer is invariably “Yes.”1 Will he fit in with “regular joes” at a bar or around town? Sure. There’s really no ill will I’ve ever heard directed at the guy, even by those who disagree with him. But if you were to ask, generally if random rural guy would vote for him, you’d get the a smirk and a sense that Walz is just plain “wimpy.”2
And there it is. The same moniker that did in George H.W. Bush back in 1992 is the problem Dems have today in 2025. Democrats, not just Walz, are just too darn soft and wimpy.
But it’s not just that. If a man isn’t that, that is if he isn’t the stereotypical Democratic Party personification of what a guy should be, he gets ridiculed as a “bro” or a “Trumper” or some other description that drives the self-fulfilling prophecy that guys don’t like Democrats. There’s this false playing to men talking about “football, fixing pick-up trucks and hunting” as if that’s what every man does or wants to do. All you need to listen to is what each party offers men.
Democrats: The opportunity to sit in a cubicle at a box factory talking about TPS reports, listening to your female boss whine about how the patriarchy keeps her down as everywhere men go they are denigrated for their privilege and how easy they’ve had it in life, many of whom worked their asses off to just get where they are.
Republicans: The opportunity to make something, be productive and stick it to all the others who make their lives hell.
Everyone dislikes that stupid trade war and the economic shambles it’s leaving the economy in, but if it opens up a lot of manual blue collar jobs in the US, that’s music to many men’s ears, particularly those that have been left behind. It’s certainly better than sitting that cubicle in the box factory creating TPS reports.
It really is no contest there. That’s what the McKinsey/Dem Political Consultant class keep tripping up on. While they spent every breath eschewing the virtues of inclusivity and giving others a chance, they exclude a large chunk of the electorate and pass over them not based on merit or ability, but on the very trivial gender and racial reasons they proclaim to be eradicating. There are an infinite number of organizations catering to “Women in…” whatever industry; there are very few catering to men, even in areas that are not traditionally male oriented like nursing or teaching. Worse yet, if someone were to create one, they’d be slammed as sexist or worse. No amount of patronizing to this group about NASCAR and beer drinking is going to fix that.
You want to know how bad this rot in the party is? This goes all the way down to the grassroots too. I’ve been to local Dem Party functions and the dismissiveness towards white men there is palpable. A lot of men are Democrats (particularly what would be old school labor Democrats), a lot of men want to contribute; the local chairs and groups seem to utterly disregard them at their peril, particularly those that are younger SJW types driven by anything else but functional organization building and winning elections.
And here’s the kicker; WOMEN don’t like wimpy guys EITHER. They prefer strong and assertive over passive and empathetic.3 Don’t believe me? During the election last year, polls saw a shift of WOMEN to Donald Trump. Think about that. This guy who personifies everything the typical woman hates saw an uptick in how many women voted for him in 2024 against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz vrs. 2020 and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris.
When you look at the bench of potential Democratic candidates, few stand out in that regard. First off, you can discard AOC, Gretchen Whitmer and a plethora of female candidates already; the principles that will inevitably be promoted, intentionally or not, by their potential campaigns are completely antithetical to this particular group Dems need to reach. People talk about Josh Shapiro; hmm, maybe?4 Fetterman? He can relate to the people Dems need but lacks the medical/mental health and intellect to succeed. Gavin Newsom? All flash, who makes liberals’ hearts go pitter-patter but is the exact kind of disingenuous person most blue collar men loathe. Amy Klobuchar has more balls than most the guys in the party. Seriously, I’ve racked my brains about this and the only one that stands out as even a possibility is Wes Moore, Governor of Maryland, due to his military background and history.5 The only other alternative comes from the same background, Adam Kinzinger; but he’s a Republican and as much as liberals like what he says about Trump and Republicans today, he lacks the connection to the Democratic Party and it’s base of voters.6
What I’m trying to get across is that Democrats have a problem not just for 2028, but for awhile so long as this is the best they can do with men. They used to be the party of the hard working union guy who provided for his family. Now Democrats look at that guy and say “Women don’t need you to provide for them” anymore and a two generations of men are growing up lost as a result. They perceive it as “Democrats don’t need you.” When you look at how those men voted, they shifted to Trump in a big way last election. So long as the rhetoric and focus remains on women and making shallow appeals to men, they’ll continue to lose. Asking for some depth of masculinity should not be hard for a party to show.
Alas, this is where we are today.
PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories
I was in the process of writing this when Liam Kerr over at The Welcome Party” published a fantastic piece about Tim Walz taking his listening tour around, talking about blue collar appeals….to the Harvard Kennedy School forum. It underscored the whole problem.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Today is Cinqo de Mayo. I know that’s not obscure, but it seemed like the only way I could fit it into today’s newsletter.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
Is it too much to ask the Democratic Party to grow some balls?
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Full disclosure. As someone who lives in Minnesota and has been and around Minnesota politics for some time, I have met Governor Walz, and at one particular mixer had a beer while talking with him. He’s a nice guy easy to socialize with, and takes his time talking with each person. I’ve been to a lot of those kinds of things in my life, and most politicians just work the crowd, gladhandling one person taking the picture and moving to the next. Walz took his time, talking casually with one group, and then slowly bouncing around the room. It’s to his credit he just didn’t work the crowd like kids in line to sit on Santa’s lap.
Again, this is just a perception. Walz actually served in the military and was a coach. He’s not wimpy at all.
There is a threshold of “strong and assertive” that passes over into “Complete asshole” when going too far. Nobody likes that. But the general rule holds true; women look to people at their social status and higher, not below themselves. They look up to people who project strength, and down on people who project weakness and passivity.
This is based entirely on the fact I know so little about him. Whenever there is a story about him though, the media always makes it a narrative point to say that he is Jewish; this is the least important thing I care about. I’d rather hear about his background, jobs before Governor and interests.
“The Other Wes Moore” is a great book. Pick it up and read it if you can.
If Dems want to succeed, they need to start looking to people with military backgrounds and bringing them into the party. Veterans demonstrate many of the virtues that Democrats want to convey, and do a great job of demonstrating organization, intelligence skills and strength.
I'm a fan of Richard Reeves, but it's important to stress that he does NOT say that the problems with young men right now are BECAUSE of women; he says that a lot of this continued focus on women when they are clearly achieving and succeeding can ALSO be applied to men--there's simply no reason to support one without also supporting the other. Men are in a worse spot today than women were when Title IX was passed; we need to shift the focus back on making our young men achieve and succeed too.
I’m also working on developing a bench of candidates—if for no other reason than to build a profile of who could actually lead a Democratic coalition grounded in execution. That means leaders who can earn the trust of the professional management class that now anchors much of the party, while also bringing in business-friendly Democrats, independents, and disaffected Republicans.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about finding the ones who can govern, build coalitions, and win.
Even a bruised figure like Rahm Emanuel reminds us what toughness and competence can look like in a Democrat. We need more of that—and fewer performances.