I've covered this topic a lot lately but over the weekend the New York Times editorial board weighed in on the question of why Democrats lost the last election and how refusal to acknowledge that could hurt them moving forward.

Frankly, if you read my post about this last week (or this earlier one), there's nothing new here. Still, the fact that the NY Times is saying pretty much the same things is news in itself. There is clearly a right answer to this question about why Democrats lost the last election but many Democrats, including the new chair of the DNC, seem intent on getting this wrong.

In the aftermath of this comprehensive defeat, many party leaders have decided that they do not need to make significant changes to their policies or their message. They have instead settled on a convenient explanation for their plight.

That explanation starts with the notion that Democrats were merely the unlucky victims of postpandemic inflation and that their party is more popular than it seems: If Democrats could only communicate better, particularly on social media and podcasts, the party would be fine. “We’ve got the right message,” Ken Martin, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said while campaigning for the job. “What we need to do is connect it back with the voters.”

So if that's the wrong answer, what is the correct answer? People don't like what Democrats stand for.

Most voters did not like Mr. Trump. They did prefer him to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Polls make clear that inflation was not the only reason. Voters also trusted Republicans more than Democrats on immigration, crime, government spending, global trade and foreign policy. Among the few exceptions were abortion and health care. As the headline of a recent Times news article summarized, “Support for Trump’s Policies Exceeds Support for Trump.” Only 27 percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. It is the party’s lowest approval rating in decades.

The Times says Democrats need to do three things to come back from the wilderness. First, admit they lied to everyone about Joe Biden.

Already, many voters believe that Democrats refuse to admit uncomfortable truths on some subjects, including crime, illegal immigration, inflation and Covid lockdowns. Mr. Biden’s age became a glaring example.

Second, they need to admit they moved too far left for many voters. Listen as the NY Times sounds a lot like Bill Maher talking about woke extremism and cancel culture.

Even today, the party remains too focused on personal identity and on Americans’ differences — by race, gender, sexuality and religion — rather than our shared values. On these issues, progressives sometimes adopt a scolding, censorious posture. It is worth emphasizing that this posture has alienated growing numbers of Asian, Black and Latino voters.

Finally, the editorial board says Democrats need to offer some new ideas, i.e. something besides "orange man bad" to win voters back.

Almost as interesting as the editorial itself are some of the responses from readers. The top response is a post arguing that Bernie Sanders and AOC are the answer to the party's problems. 

The Democrats are just as susceptible to the influence of money in politics. They've abandoned the working class in order to maintain the status quo, despite the fact the status quo became worse and worse for the average Joe.  Bernie Sanders and AOC realize this and Sander in particular has been warning us for over a decade. We need an economic New Deal and the only way that can happen is if the rich get taxed. The donor class is not a fan of this however, and, well, money talks.

As I pointed out last week, moving toward Bernie is doubling down on stupid. People are already abandoning the party as too far left, so going even farther to the left is not smart. However, the Bernie posts seem to emphasize that while he's a socialist he's not a big proponent of wokeism. He remains focused on the traditional concerns of socialism, class warfare.

The #3 response from a frustrated Democrat is worth a read as it seems to confirm that wokeism is a turnoff, even for many "POC's."

I’ve been a registered democrat all my life. I am also a POC. I reluctantly agree with the sentiment that “Even today, the party remains too focused on personal identity and on Americans’ differences — by race, gender, sexuality and religion — rather than our shared values.” I feel that the Democratic Party has become a group of fringe issue votors who are losing sight of the main issues that plague Americans, of whatever gender, race, or ethnicity- access to health care, affordable housing, a decent wage, safe water and air, the right to choose, and access to affordable college education. We have to focus and get back to these fundamentals. I also read with regret University of Michigan’s decision to cancel the DEI program. At first I was outraged, then I saw that millions of dollars were wasted but diversity actually decreased! If instead of these cushy “diversity administrators and offices” we had simply provided scholarships to black youth, benefits would have been far higher. I think we democrats are wasting our time thinking about how to talk about things than actually doing anything useful to improve the lives of our citizens. We need a wake up call.

Another one like that:

The Trump campaign saw a golden opportunity in the Democrat's insane support of policies like puberty blockers and mastectomies for children and transgender competition in women's sports.  Promoting officials like Rachel Levine and the baggage thief Sam Brinton looked like providing "representation" rather than hiring for merit.  That was a culture war on biology, the mainstream of normies, and the basis of society and family.

What I don't see in the comments is anyone defending Joe Biden or the current leadership of the party. It suggests the Democrats in denial are mostly the elected ones at the top while the people who make up the party (at least most of the ones reading the NY Times) are already convinced something needs to change.