Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times shortly after the major party’s nominating conventions concluded wrote a column This generated quite a bit of conversation. In it, the longtime center-left observer offered some guidance to Democratic officials and candidates on the party’s messaging.

“It’s hard,” Kristof wrote“to win votes from the people you despise.” “Since Obama’s presidency, Democrats have increasingly become the party of the educated, and the result has often reeked of disdain for working-class voters,” the op-ed continued.

This came to mind again this week when David Axelrod, a leading Democratic consultant and veteran of Barack Obama’s team, made the offer. a similar post-election evaluation to the Washington Post.

My intention is not to belittle Kristof or Axelrod; The latter has much more experience driving than I do. A successful national campaign.

Moreover, it is entirely possible that these assessments have some degree of truth. As the dust settles on the 2024 election cycle, as parties begin to seriously examine the data and new rounds of polling are launched, perhaps the evidence will suggest that this will help explain the scope and scale of Republican victories.

But I have a few concerns.

First, these considerations raise difficult practical questions. Democrats try to defend the interests of working people, or rather, to continue to defend the interests of working people – but to do so without “the slightest whiff of contempt” or “implied” contempt.

How do things work in the real world? How specifically should the party carry out such a step? Honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea. Democratic senators like Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and Montana’s Jon Tester have apparently spent years proving to local voters that they are true and effective guardians of working-class communities and their interests. Their voters kicked them out anyway and rewarded their hard work with a pink slip.

Second, it is worth appreciating the degree to which Donald Trump fundamentally rejects such advice and pays no price.

From black voters with Latino votersfrom Jewish voters with Muslim votersfrom women voters with union votersTrump didn’t just show “implied” disdain; he also showed clear, obvious, subtle and deliberate disdain. His entire political career is based on racism, misogyny, Islamophobia and bigotry.

And yet available data recommends Republican gains have been made — in some cases, significant gains — with the same constituencies he has denigrated for years.

“It’s hard,” Kristof wrote In late August, “to get votes from the people you despise.” Doesn’t Trump help prove the opposite?