By Trudy Rubin
The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
Focused on impeachment, Democrats may ignore the crucial lessons they need to learn from the smashing victory by Britain’s Trump clone, Boris Johnson, in elections last week.
The opposition Labour Party got its worst drubbing since 1935, and many longtime Labour strongholds in rust belt areas that were known as the Red Line turned Conservative blue. But because this election revolved around Brexit, some analysts doubt the relevance the British vote can have here.
Here are five lessons that the Democratic Party could learn from Labour’s defeat.
- Personality may matter more than issues. The candidate’s personality and voter appeal will be critical, maybe more so than the issues.
In an Opinium research poll on election day, 43% of voters who said they were not backing Labour cited party leadership as the prime reason. Jeremy Corbyn repelled voters. He was seen as shifty because he refused to take a clear position on Brexit. His tolerance of antisemitism within the party, and “friendship” with groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah offended many voters, not just the small number of British Jews.
Johnson’s personality and energy, on the other hand, helped him surmount his personal peccadilloes. Yet, with his calculated bumbling and his jokes (including a hilarious campaign video that went viral in which he wordlessly assures a female voter he’ll “get Brexit done”), he won over voters.
The message: A left-center Labour candidate would have needed a strong personality and media savvy to match Boris in wooing swing voters. Democrats take note. - Far-left economic policies aren’t a winner Apart from his personality, Corbyn’s far-left policies failed to attract the Labour votes he needed. The message (which is relevant to Democrats although Corbyn is far to the left of Bernie Sanders): Extreme left economic policies aren’t the key to winning over the working-class voters Democrats need to defeat Trump.
- Face immigration issues but without scare tactics
The Brexit issue touched on many of the pains of globalization, including fear of immigration. At pro-Brexit meetings and rallies in England, I repeatedly heard complaints that politicians don’t listen to voters — as well as anger that European Union rules permitted European workers from the continent to be hired on contracts in Britain at below British wages. The immigration issue was a loser for Labour.
The message: The Labour Party never figured out how to address serious voter concerns about immigration without imitating Conservative scare tactics and outright lies on the subject. Nor have Democrats need to resolve a similar conundrum. - Clarify who will preserve the social safety net
To woo Labour voters, the populist Johnson pledged to pour billions of pounds into infrastructure in swing districts, as well as into the national health-care system. If he actually delivers this may cement Conservative control of the former Labour heartland.
The message: Trump has failed to deliver on infrastructure or health care; his last budget asked for massive cuts to safety-net programs of a kind that British Conservatives would not contemplate. This should be a major Democratic talking point in trying to win swing voters back. - Young voters aren’t enough for victory Labour did well in 2017 elections due to a surge in youth registrations, when over 60% of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 backed the party. But the percentage of registered young voters remains low compared with the older population, and older voters, who trend Conservative, have a much higher turnout level.
The message: The situation is probably similar here. So don’t expect a surge of young people to guarantee victory.
Democrats can learn from his victory — and from how Labour defeated itself.
Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
