Democrats desperately need more diversity in their party
- yonkman
- Jun 24
- 6 min read
The Democratic Party lacks leadership with real-world experience outside the corridors of political power, which is a major problem.
“If my choice is cruel, experienced and with a plan on the right, and inept, inexperienced and no plan on the left, I have to go with cruel and with a plan.” – recent comment from a Michigan Farmer.
Democrats are great at complaining, but they have no plan.
It is becoming increasing clear to voters that part of the reason for that lack of plan is because there is a dearth of business and other real world experience on the Democratic side.
Instead of addressing the lack of real world experience in the Democratic Party, David Hogg, who just stepped down from his post as a Democratic National Committee vice chair, wants to bring in even less experienced candidates.
The Democratic doesn’t need more complainers. It needs more builders.
Where is the veteran, the farmer, the small business owner, the banker, the corporate manager, the doctor, the mechanic, or the scientist?
Look at the following chart with my back of the envelope numbers for the kinds of experience the DNC needs to be both representative and competitive in the Electoral College swings states:
The boxes under the green columns used to be full of check marks. Elon Musk would fill 6 of the 9 experience categories. I would fill 8 of 9. It used to be that a lot of people filled those experience categories.
After WW II, almost anyone you hired had some farm, small business, and military experience before they moved into the business or professional world and later into politics.
Many were from the Midwest.
I prepared this chart for several administrations back over time – over the years those with experience steadily declined until it is now virtually gone. Everyone now is a lifetime professional staffer.
The same holds true for many legislators and it is certainly true of their staffs.
When you have no life experience in the non-governmental world, it is difficult to come up with creative plans. It explains why Democrats rely so heavily on donors and consultants.
Not only does the DNC not reflect experience in the economy, it also doesn’t reflect voters
Nor does the party look at all like swing state voters, 78% of whom are white. Adjusted for turnout and swing state, black voters are perhaps 9% of your electorate. Yet almost 50% of the DNC will be black after the June elections.
Democrats are now spending $20 million to learn to communicate with young men, who comprise perhaps 5% of voters who turn out.
Rural voters, on the other hand, control up to 30% of the Electoral College vote. Because they turn out.
Learn to communicate with the rural voter and you automatically take care of the youth male vote.
Instead of commissioning studies, consider hiring some people who look like 30% of your voters. Today there are none.
David Hogg wants to make this situation worse by promoting young candidates with no experience in the economy
Of the 12 candidates on the Leaders We Deserve website, only one has had even one job in the real world – as a teacher. The remainder are advocates, Youtube and TikTok personalities.
One lists being an Inspector of Election as her experience. I also did that in the last election cycle, but it certainly did not end up on my resume.
Not a single one has a message on how to create a good economy, what our defense issues are, how to address food security or how to address any of the issue that are of primary concern to swing state voters.
All of them would struggle to have a conversation with any of my neighbors.
Yes, the issues these young people are passionate about are some of the reasons many people are Democrats. And yes, you need some vim and vigor. But you can only have so many justice warriors. You also need some people who know how to mind the store.
Lack of experience and diversity of thought makes Democrats miss progressive opportunities
We have 2 million immigrants waiting for asylum hearings in the U.S. Farmers want to put them to work. We should provide them with immediate approval to work in the agricultural sector. As it stands, these immigrants are not even allowed to apply to work until they have been here for 6 months.
Agricultural work permits solve multiple issues: it would provide a work force at $12 - $15 per hour to pick our fruits and vegetables (versus the $30 per hour that H2A labor costs – which ironically includes an asylum fee); it disperses immigrants from urban areas to rural areas; it would give these immigrants an ally in the farmer; and farmers are already paying asylum fees.
Why wasn’t this part of the Biden/Harris immigration bill? It would have given the bill a chance at passage.
Because there was no one in the Administration or the DNC with a farm or rural background.
President Trump exploits Democrats’ lack of real world experience
President Trump is a master at saying things in a way that only people in the industry understand. He throws noise into his comments knowing that the mainstream press and Democrats will focus on the wrong issue.
The President accurately identified the issues with two of the Panamanian ports being controlled by the Chinese (via Hong Kong), and that Greenland is a top geopolitical risk due to the Arctic slowly opening up as a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. All 3 superpowers want Greenland. China has declared itself a “Near-Arctic State.”
Canada is spending $73 Billion CDN over the next 20 years for Arctic security.
The military crowd has been talking about these issues for years.
In his bombastic way he added in that the U.S. should just take over both of these countries.
Democrats immediately fumbled the narrative. Some said that China didn’t control the ports – Hong Kong did.
Sigh.
Others said it was unbelievable that we would even want Greenland. Both show a total lack of understanding of geopolitical realities.
Instead of telling voters how they would address the geopolitical risks of these two countries, Democrats fell into the trap of misdirection.
Yet rural voters pay attention to these military issues. When Black Rock acquired the ports from Hong Kong, this was the headline in my next issue of Michigan Farm News:
Some Democrats, on the other hand, said the President did it to benefit wealthy corporate interests on Wall Street. This displays a complete lack of military knowledge or experience. And falls into President Trump’s trap.
I can’t imagine that anyone in Leaders We Deserve has ever discussed a single military issue.
There is a lot of progressive thought in the corporate and rural worlds – both of which are shunned by Democrats
Democrats talk about greedy corporations, at the same time shaming their voters as 65% of workers work for corporations. Farmers can’t understand why agriculture isn’t bi-partisan or why Democrats don’t advocate for agricultural work permits. The thing is, there is a lot of talented progressive thought in both of those groups.
It is just that neither of those is in Democrats’ “space.”
I have gone to Numerous Democratic events, including two conventions. When I introduce myself as a family farmer living on a farm, Democrats’ eyes glaze over, they nod politely and then walk away. They just don’t have any talking points for farming.
If I say that I am from the C suite of a fortune 500 company, Democrats actually flinch. Like Elon Musk, I am the enemy they are fighting against. They forget that we are also experienced and highly skilled.
But if I say I am a gay father and former Detroit foster home with two adopted black daughters, I am embraced with open arms. Which has nothing to do with my skill set.
When I go to Republican events, the reaction is truly the polar opposite. The reaction is always “Wow – corporate, banking, finance, legal, and farm experience all together – you don’t see that anymore.” Then I’m asked if I would like to work on policy. They want to put me to work.
Democrats should be focused on rebuilding diversity of thought
The reason John Ewing won in Omaha is because he is competent and has decades of real world experience. He is focused on economic development for Omaha and actually has expertise in that area. It had nothing to do with Trump.
Elissa Slotkin is popular with swing state voters because she has real world experience and has sound economic and military ideas.
AOC frightens swing state voters because the only job she has ever had was as bartender and waitress. At a time of a massive Chinese military build up she talks of cutting defense and spending more on social issues. When I ask one of her supporters to name an economic policy of hers that they like, there are none.
Rural voters cannot imagine her as Commander-in-Chief.
Democrats need to start actively recruiting candidates and staffers who have a wealth of real world skills and backgrounds. The choice isn’t just 80 year olds or 20 year olds. Most of us in fact are somewhere in the middle.
If you want to connect with Middle America, perhaps retain some people and talent from the middle.
Mark W. Yonkman 12 June 2025
