Democrats: Be Like Ferris Bueller

Democrats need to ditch applause from the DC media and start relating to all the voters — from the sportos to the wastoids and everyone in between.

Last week, The Bulwark rolled through the Windy City. During the show, JVL, Sarah, and Tim talked about how voters see Democrats—like a deer in headlights.

Here’s a clip.

Tim asked why that is. He’d just come off an interview with Mayor Pete—who, somehow, has never seen Back to the Future. When Tim asked what he’d do if he had his own DeLorean, Pete’s answer was… fine, I guess.

That led the three of them to ask: Why are Democrats so… uh, let’s say “staged,” to be kind?

I’ve been thinking about it, and I think the problem is two-fold:

First, Democrats are scared to say what they actually think, because the party attracts a lot of people with a teacher’s pet mentality. They want to get things “right,” so they stick to safe talking points.

Second, they’re scared of getting yelled at. Stray from the script and you risk getting scolded by CNN hosts or New York Times columnists.

Instead of trying so hard to be the perfect valedictorian, Democrats should be more like the kid running for class president: promise everyone pizza on Fridays. Make the principal mad by standing up for the weird kids. Stir up some good trouble.

Remember when Grace in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off explains why Ferris is so popular? It’s because he appeals to everyone—from sportos to motorheads to wastoids and everyone in between. You get a glimpse of that in the scene below.

That’s constituent services. Ferris just talks to people. Democrats should stop caring about what Jake Tapper thinks and go talk to actual voters. In fact, they’ll probably get points for ignoring the pundits and the chattering class. A group of people, for the record, that most Americans don’t like much anyhow.

Give double middle fingers to the authority figures—and get elected class president.