Why the ‘Wokest’ Candidates Are the Weakest - The New York Times

Democrats are too “woke” for their own good, or so goes the argument.

“Today’s progressivism is more or less a secular form of religion with its own high standards,” Matt Lewis, a conservative columnist, wrote this spring. “Eventually,” he concluded, “the revolution devours its own.” Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, urged Democratic presidential candidates to “Get out of Woke-ville, for a day.”

“Wokeness,” in this rendering, is an overly rigid commitment to identity politics and social justice ideology. And in their zeal, these woke Democrats are pushing the Democratic Party away from the voters it needs to beat President Trump in 2020.

If this were actually true, you would expect real traction for the wokest candidates in the Democratic presidential race. But it’s been just the opposite. The woke candidates have been the weakest, electorally speaking, and the defining attribute of the Democratic primary has been a preoccupation with the voters that put Trump in the White House.

Source: The New York Times

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The New York Times • Democracy • Value (ethics) • Argument • Progressivism • Secularity • Substantial form • Religion • Matt K. Lewis • Conservatism • Columnist • Bill Maher • HBO • Real Time with Bill Maher • Identity politics • Social justice • Ideology • Democracy • Democratic Party (United States) • Voting • Donald Trump • Democratic Party (United States) • United States presidential election, 2016 • Democratic Party (United States) • Donald Trump • White House •