More Sandwiches, Less Kale Foam

Democrats have been captured by the political equivalent of molecular gastronomy.

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Dear Reader (including those of you who were excited to learn that Jewish space lasers are real),

Years ago, I watched a documentary called Sandwiches You Will Like. It was about the pursuit of cold fusion technology.

No wait. That’s not right. It was about sandwiches you would like to eat (in fact, I was sure the full title of the documentary was Sandwiches You Will Like To Eat until I googled it just now). It was a good title and a pretty good documentary. If you’re scrolling through the channel guide and you’re the kind of person who likes to watch TV shows about sandwiches, you’re unlikely to skip past it because the title tells you what the show is about. If they called it Regional Sources of Sustenance: 1910-1980 or Fred, you might keep scrolling until you saw that Roadhouse was on again.

Anyway, I bring this up because I’ve been thinking a bit about the plight of the Democrats and the controversy over David Shor and what has come to be known as “popularism.”

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  1. Avatar photo
    Mike Kupfer

    Are those buildings "pretty because they're old", or are they old because they're pretty, so there wasn't much interest in replacing them?

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  2. Michael C. O'Neil

    I've made myself watch the Joy Reid show when I'm at the gym and she is a great example of this line of thought. The other day, as the war was continuing to rage on in the Ukraine, she spent the first 20 minutes talking about an obscure proposition in Tennessee which would take away a statute which codified the age of marriage (I think that's what it was about). 20 minutes are you kidding me. The CITIZENS of the Ukraine are fighting and dying to remain a free and democratic nation. I read the other day her viewership is so poor it's just a matter of time before they can replace her. The typical lead subjects of her show are the events of January 6th (all should be procecuted to the full extent) CRT and how racism is responsible for just about everything bad about this country. It should be obvious racism still exists and effects millions of people in there day today life day life. These are not issues probably 80 percent of people know about. Food on the table is a bit more important. Front and center, the price of gas, etc...

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  3. British Americanophile

    V late to this so probably talking into a vacuum but the key point for me is if your whole political philosophy is based on the idea that human nature needs to be changed in order to reach the sunlit uplands, it seems axiomatic that you must say things which the masses don’t initially agree with. It’s the false consciousness of everyone else that is the problem for the left elite. If you say things that the masses agree with, you undermine your elite status as the progressive priestly caste who will lead people out of their ignorance. That makes for a major problem for the left in a democracy. It works much better with totalitarianism. It’s much easier to tell people what to think than to persuade them.

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  4. Mary Stine

    As a Democrat in the very red and small state of Kansas, I have to defend Mr. Goldberg's assertions here. Most Kansas (and many Missouri) Democrats I know are pragmatic souls like me. But our pleas for the most basic help (printed banners, fact sheets, advertising) are generally ignored or too late coming from the DNC and the elite coastal Democrats who think flyover country is not worth their time. The alarming trend toward alienating the grass roots voters who are mostly working class and urban or rural has been going on for my entire lifetime, from both parties. The fact that Democrats are doing a better job of alienating right now should be no comfort to Republicans: they too will have to deal with the voters that feel alienated.

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  5. Terry Henkel

    “The hoi polloi” = the the hoi polloi.

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  6. Avatar photo
    cheerio

    I think you went too far afield with your metaphor. Consider the concept of cars. Trying to sell Americans compact cars that run on electricity when the data shows that Americans want to buy pick-up trucks and 3 row SUVs.... that have all wheel or 4 wheel drive. If they have to pay over $40K for a vehicle, they want lots of room inside, they want to fit half their kid's hockey team w/gear or tow their camper and they want a decent highway gas mileage. If it is an EV or hybrid vehicle, there needs a subsidy to make up for the battery life and the power, space and super charge station availability.

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  7. Bruce G

    One point of contention...I always thought it odd that while people generally want the latest style, be it in clothes, cars, furniture, etc., they have preferred nothing of the sort when it came to housing and buildings. Of late, modern architecture in housing seems to be on the rise, and I, for one, applaud the trend.

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  8. Avatar photo
    J.Seravalli

    I am not sure who this column is supposed to help; -the Dispatch is a right-wing media enterprise, the progressive elites just won't read it.
    Maybe the problem the Democrats are having now is similar to the one Republicans had in 2009, except that the Tea Party gave the Rs indications of what the vox-populi aspirations were. Since progressive elites effectively own the D party it is hard to see how change would happen from within. This is where a multi party system is superior to the way national politics is done here.

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  9. Trixie

    Only Jonah can write an article about sandwiches, architecture, and the Democratic Party, and tie it altogether so that it actually makes sense.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Seastack

    What kind of culinary metaphor is it that the GOP is cooking up for us?

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