Democratic Operative Says Party Mistook Misogyny for Working Class Appeal in Plattner

What was said

"But to me, the thing that's the most offensive is they thought he was their ticket back to the working class and to men because he was like a raging misogynist and possibly a Nazi, because that is what they think the working class is because they are elites and don't know any working-class people. So they have this fantasy that they— the working class is a basket of deplorables. So they pick a deplorable elite and they're like, is this a— this surely will convince the working class. And meanwhile, working-class Mainers were 20 points less likely to say that Graham Plattner has a good character than the elites trying to foist him on them."

Batya Unger-Sargon argues that Democratic elites backed Graham Plattner, a Senate candidate with a Nazi tattoo and abuse allegations, because they believed his aggressive masculinity and offensive behavior would appeal to working-class voters. She contends this reveals how out of touch party elites are, noting that working-class Mainers were 20 points less likely than elites to view Plattner favorably. The analysis suggests Democrats fundamentally misunderstand the values of the working-class voters they claim to champion.