Top Dem: Party’s political correctness killing appeal with working class – Washington Examiner

"From the state house down to the courthouse, it's just been unbelievable," said West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, reflecting on his party's electoral losses over the past decade.

In a Washington Post podcast published Tuesday morning, Manchin offered a grave assessment of the party's future.

"If you can't win in red states that used to be blue, something's wrong," he said. "You're never going to be in the majority again."

Manchin sought to put the losses in perspective for Democrats, looking forward to predict ominously, "If we continue to lose what we're losing, and the amount of seats that we've lost in the last six to eight years it's unbelievable."

Since Donald Trump swept West Virginia in the presidential election, Manchin's perspective has been in demand among politicos seeking to understand why Democrats are faltering with the working class voters who once comprised their base.

"The best explanation is what most of them told me," Manchin said, paraphrasing the answers his constituents provided when asked about their votes for Trump, "The party that we knew, that was always helping the working person, is now the party as we see it from Washington, that's preventing working people from working because they've become so politically correct."

According to Manchin, when it comes to the environment, social issues, or bathroom politics, people think, "[Democrats] are going to tell me how to do it - I can figure that out."

"The Washington Democrat philosophy has become an overreaching philosophy," the senator said.

One week ago, MSNBC host Chris Hayes hosted a town hall with Manchin's colleague Bernie Sanders in West Virginia coal country, finding support from Trump voters for Democratic policies on issues such as healthcare. Manchin's perspective is yet another reminder that struggling working class Americans care less about partisan loyalty than about finding solutions for their communities.

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Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

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Top Dem: Party's political correctness killing appeal with working class - Washington Examiner