“Democratic candidates nationwide are struggling mightily to hire enough qualified people to run their campaigns, according to interviews with party political operatives, a staff shortage many of them say is the worst — and most frustrating — in recent memory,” the Miami Herald reports.

“In an election year when Democrats are already grappling with high inflation and an enthused Republican Party, the hiring troubles amount to a behind-the-scenes headache when the party can least afford it.”

The job listings are pouring in at Political Job Hunt.

Ed Luce: “As Ruy Teixeira, a veteran political scientist, says: the Democratic brand is ‘somewhere between uncompelling and toxic to wide swaths of American voters, who might potentially be their allies.’ The fact that Teixeira is saying this ought to make Democrats take notice. He was co-author of the seminal book, The Emerging Democratic Majority, which argued that racial trends would make Democratic rule inevitable. This remains an article of faith among election consultants. Yet Texieira has changed his mind. How could Democrats be alienating the people it needs to win?”

“A big part of the answer is that they have stopped listening to ordinary voters.
This would be less of a problem were the party’s leadership a cross-section of US society. But its upper echelons are dominated by a white college-educated activist class that is used to talking with itself. The days of knocking on the doors of potential new voters are largely over. Since Barack Obama’s time, Democrats have been wedded to a digital model that downplays old-fashioned engagement. This detaches the party from reality.”

Tara Palmeri: “Vice President Kamala Harris was slated to host the Democratic National Committee.’s major money-hauling event, the annual Women’s Leadership Forum, on May 25 and 26—a natural fit given that she’s the highest office-holding woman in American history. And when the invites were sent out on May 5, it was hyped as an incredible opportunity to mingle in-person after two years of virtual events and meetings.”

“But the event was rescheduled at the last minute for autumn, when the event is traditionally held, after the D.N.C. couldn’t sell enough tickets, I’m told.”

California Gavin Newsom (D) said he is frustrated with “what is going on with the Democratic Party” on a national level, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Vanity Fair runs an excerpt from Dan Pfeiffer’s new book, Battling the Big Lie.

“The Question comes in many forms, but it always boils down to some version of: Why do Democrats suck at messaging? The Question was usually, but not always, asked politely. Sometimes it came with a series of ideas. Politics is one of those endeavors where everyone thinks they are qualified to have an opinion. And the people successful enough to write checks big enough to attend these events are generally not the sort of people who experience self-doubt.”

Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Pfeiffer, Dan (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 324 Pages - 06/07/2022 (Publication Date) - Twelve (Publisher)

Check Price on Amazon

“The national Democratic Party has done a terrible job talking about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re fighting to accomplish. Nobody is more aggravated than I am with the national Democratic Party, that we didn’t fight harder to extend those child tax credits for working people in this state.”

— Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), quoted by Politico.

Elon Musk blasted Democrats on Twitter while doubling down on his vow to vote for Republicans in the next election.

Said Musk: “In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division and hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.”

He added: “Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold…”

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau responded: “Hey man, if you want to support a bunch of electric vehicle-hating climate deniers, that’s on you.”

Jonathan Chait: “The Democratic Party has a lot of problems right now. Many of these problems lie outside its control: A global wave of inflation and continuing waves of coronavirus infection have prevented the recovery Joe Biden imagined when he took office last year, and the party’s slender majority gives it very narrow room to maneuver legislation through Congress.”

“That said, Democrats still have some room to improve their situation. They retain their congressional majority until January, and Joe Manchin has expressed his willingness to negotiate a bill to raise taxes on the rich and fund at least some new programs, including support for green energy. And yet their main response to a looming political and policy catastrophe appears to be fatalistic acceptance.”

Walter Shapiro: “Democrats are ensnared in the campaign consultant trap. The president’s party is animated by the belief that some political phrasemaker will invent the magic five or six words that will transform the 2022 election.”

“Sorry, politics doesn’t work like that anymore, if it ever did…”

“We have long exaggerated the power of campaign consultants in both parties to cloud the minds of voters. In high-profile races, most TV ads cancel each other out. And it’s hard to think of any slogan in any off-year election in this century that made a difference.”

A new NBC poll found the Democratic Party with a net favorability rating of -19.

That’s lower than the Republican Party at -11, Vice-President Kamala Harris at -17, and Donald Trump at -16.