Announcer: The views and opinions expressed in to the point are those of the host of the program and its guests.

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Doni: After the loss to Donald Trump, a national news source described the Democratic Party as one consumed by fury.

Sorrow, finger pointing and self-reflection.

A full party reckoning is required, they said, and an acknowledgment that the country is moving more to the right, leaving traditional democratic values behind.

Is the Democratic Party out of touch?

Has it left the working class behind?

While every Democrat is searching for answers.

Skyler Beckwith, chair of the Lucas County Democratic Party, is close to her own about ho Democrats should move forward.

I'm Danny Miller.

Welcome To the Point and connect with us on our social media pages.

You know that.

You can email me at doni_miller@wgte.org.

And for this episode and other additional extras, go to wgte.org/To the point.

It is my pleasure to have Skyler back with with us today.

Schuylar is the chai of the local Democratic Party.

You know that we've had someone o from the local Republican Party.

We intend to have someone on from, who has the libertarian point of view as well.

But today it is our pleasure to have Schuylar with us.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Thanks for having me.

This is a powerful moment.

Yeah.

Doni: It's pretty rough time for Democrats.

Yes.

So what was it?

What's the first word that comes to your mind when you think about the strategy that the Democrats used nationally?

Schuylar: I, I think that.

We're lucky in Lucas County that we have, Democrats on the ballot who really live the values and the core values of the Democratic Party.

I think we sort of lost that at the national level.

With the election results, we are quite shocked.

And I think that the messaging from the top of the party really did move to the right.

And I think that was a mistake.

I think we sort of lost our core value in that messaging, in that attempt to, you know, appeal to folks who just were not going to see our way or believe in our cause.

Doni: You know that there's been lots of discussion, though, that, it was the messaging that, distanced the party from working class people.

That there was too much discussion about issues like, gender and abortion.

Those though ring pretty true to traditional values.

Schuylar: They sure do.

And we really have seen that with, with the issue on the ballot last year where we really enshrined abortion access and reproductive rights into our Constitution.

We saw that that was an issue and a true core, belief that folks really turned out for.

And so I think it's hard to discern what happened last year and what happened this year.

But I think you're right.

I think that I think that what we saw was, that kind of messaging from the Republicans, that fearmongerin and that race baiting and the, really really nasty language from them.

And we sort of played into that as well.

We used that same language.

We saw it on the ads, and it is just, I don't think was worth it.

Obviously it wasn't worth it.

We lost.

Doni: Yeah.

So what does that mean for the party though?

I mean, it feels as though the Democratic Party's a little lost right now.

Schuylar: Yeah I think we get back to our core.

I mean, my politics and and I've, I've heard this from a lot of folks.

My politics are rooted in this belief and this love for humanity and and this belief that we can have a better world than we can make it possible.

And so I think that what we need to do as a Democratic party and work and we have a plan for this is, is listen to the folks who vote for us.

We need to have listenin sessions in the community that, connect with folks in a way that we can figure out where the disconnection was, because it was it's obvious it was there.

You know, locally we won every race that we wanted to which, in a yea where incumbents were thrown out across the country really says something about our community's belief in our elected officials, and the work that they do.

And, but we have work to do.

We sure do.

Doni: Yeah.

And, the, party, elected official that we know well, locally, like Marcy Kaptur and Sherrod Brown, both really struggled.

Share it.

Obviously losing, his bid and Marcy being so very, very close.

Yeah, that sends a message as well.

Schuylar: It sure does.

Well, it sure does.

And I think that I think that we see the race so close for Marcy, because they hand drew a district with gerrymandering that favored Republicans.

And it was I think, I think it would be mathematically impossible for anybody besides Marcy to win that, that seat.

But we've we've got to connect with voters in a way that helps them understand the work that we have been doing, has really helped our community, the the work that Marcy has been doing for years in Congress is really for the people and by the people.

And, we need to figure out how to how to connect with folks in a way that makes sure they understand that.

Doni So does that mean a reevaluation of democratic principles?

I mean, what we don't need, I don't think, is two Republican parties.

So what, what does that mean?

Schuylar: I think I think we we reestablish our core principles, which is dignity of work, which is, access to resources for underserved communities and forgotten spaces.

So so we're going to start with the Democratic Party locally is going to start by going to those lowest turnout precinct and connecting with folks in a way that helps u build our infrastructure.

And, so we can really hear from folks in those communities what they need from us.

I think we're going to have a really, a really tough few years.

So we need to get radica in our support of our community.

Doni: You know, one of the most surprising things to me was, the perception by the working class people that Democrats no longer listen to them, that Democrats no longer supported them.

What happened between the last election and this election that caused that perception?

Schuylar: I it's so interesting.

I don't I'm not sure what happened, but I think I feel the same way.

I am hearing that it's obvious and and the low voter turnout in Lucas County that folk didn't feel like they were hurt and they didn't feel like their vote mattered.

And so, that is something we really need to work on.

I don't know what happened.

You know, I, I am really proud of the work that we did, and it's it's shocking because we did a lot of really hard work, and we connected with voters across Lucas County, in a way that we never have before.

And it just didn't resonate.

So.

So we've got some self-reflection to do.

I don't think we I don't think we shy away from our core values, though.

I think that is something that we need to dig into, especially now when we're going to see the right go farther.

Right.

And these MAGA Republicans, taking us to a place that we'll see corporate greed get worse, we're going to have a harder time getting money for local projects, because we won't have Sherro fighting for us in the Senate.

So I think we dig in an we and we support our community in ways that mayb we haven't before.

Doni: Yeah.

And I'd like to talk about that for just a minute.

What is the impact of losing.

What will what do you see the impact of losing Sherrod.

Brown.

Schuylar: Oh my gosh.

Well, we're going to have two super our our senior member who is on all of these committee and in serious leadership roles.

Sherrod Brown is going to we're going to lose that kind of influence, at the national level.

So, projects that Sherrod has been working on in our community are going to probably get lost to the wind.

We're going to have folks who don't have experience some politics taking over.

So I think I think we're going to see, some pretty devastating consequences.

Doni: Isn't there a benefit, though, to the to the Republican winner of, that seat connecting strongly and with this community?

Doesn't he lose a lot if he doesn't do that?

Schuylar: Oh, he does.

I don't know that he I'm not sure he will connect with us in that way, though.

I just don't see that happening.

Why do you.

Doni: Feel that way?

Schuylar: You know, he he is a carbon copy of Trump.

And Trump doesn't listen to people.

He doesn't care about people.

And so I think that, I think that we're going to see that kind of disconnect.

Like I said, corporate greed is going to get worse because they've got these.

I mean, he's a Bernie Marino is a used car salesman who doesn't have, an understanding of what our community has gone through and what we continue to go through.

You know, obviously, we've got work to do to connect with folks, to talk about the important work that the Democrats do and will continue to do and, and the capacity that we can.

But I don't I I'll be happy to be wrong if, if we see him come to our community and truly listen to what our needs are.

Doni: So with all due respect, he may be a used car salesman, and people may not listen to Trump, but he won.

Moreno won.

Trump won by devastating margins.

Hillary beat Trump with by 3 million popular votes.

Kamala came nowhere near that.

So somehow the country is listening to them.

The country is connecting with them.

And the the Democrats have lost those people that heretofore would have voted for the Democrats and now are are voting for Trump.

So when you say the party has a lot of work to do, what is that really?

What does that mean?

Yeah.

Schuylar: Yeah.

We've we've got to do this this community connection.

So we need to network with folks who feel disconnected from the work that we've been doing and feel like their vote doesn't matter.

We start in those lo precinct, low turnout precincts, and and we move from there.

But I think I think that I mean, we saw in Ohio Sherrod outperformed Kamala by eight points.

So so people connect with folks who do the work.

And and I think that's an important point to remember that that folks really did and do believe and in the power of, of hard work and, yeah, it's.

Doni: It's a tough it's a tough time.

It's a tough time for Democrats right now.

So we're going to you hold that thought.

We're going to come back.

I especially want to talk to you about what appears to be the walking away of people of color from from the party.

We will be right back.

You stay with us.

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Doni: Connect with us on our social media pages.

I would love to have you do that.

I'd also love to have you email me at doni_miller@wgte.org.

And as you know, for this episode and other additional extras, please go to wgte.org/to the point... we're talking to Schuylar Beckwith.

Skyler, as you know is the chair of the Lucas County Democratic Party.

We're talking about, of all things, surprise, surprise, the results of the last election.

And it's, it's fair to say that you guys were stunned.

Yes.

Stunned.

Schuylar: Yeah, absolutely.

Tuesday was a really tough night.

It was, and that's a hard contrast because almost every rac that the Lucas County Democratic Party endorsed, we won locally.

We we really, Dave, both out in district 44 really made a showing.

And we're really proud of, all of the folks who volunteered and and all across northwest Ohio.

But, yeah, it was the stunning, and devastating evening.

Doni So one of the one of the things I think that surprised the entire country was the degree to which, black men walked away from the party and the degree to which, Latinos also voted for Trump.

Now, I think it's a complicated question.

I think there are lots and lots of factors that go into both, to those decisions by both groups of people.

But what do you think happened?

Yeah.

Schuylar: Well, I think people feel like their vote doesn't matter.

And I think it's a combination of the fact that we have the most gerrymandered state in the country.

So when you're voting for Congress and when you're voting for state rep, you're those votes get sort of watered down because they are mathematically geared for certain parties to win.

And so, I mean another devastating loss was the the defeat of issue one this year.

But I think that I think that the real life problems of folks reall shield, shield us from thinking about how national politics affects our real life.

That's why I'm wearing this shirt.

Local election matters.

Local elections matter.

Because that is where you really feel the day to day impact of policy proposals, of funding cuts, of school board decisions.

I mean, and that is what we have to figure out is, is why did folks abandon the Democratic Party?

Doni: Yeah.

And the especially troubling thing about, folks of color leaving is that historically, the Democratic Party has been the party that has supported civil rights.

The party that's been in the forefront of workers rights, in the forefront of of all of those initiatives that have tried to level the playing field and then to watch those numbers walk to a party that is not seeing that especially clearly means that Democrats have really lost touch.

Schuylar: I feel I feel similarly, I'm, I think that, the inundation, the, the noise that we heard through this election season, the ads and the negativit and the really sort of nastiness out of the right and the influx of what are what were lies.

I mean, we heard ads, we saw news stories, we heard words come out of Trump's mouth that were blatant lies and nonsense.

And so that.

Doni: Now go ahead, please.

That will.

Schuylar: Really, make me if I was not super political and interested in this stuff, reall want to not hear anything else.

Doni: Yeah, so But they voted for him anyway.

Yeah, they voted for him anyway.

And I wonder if the Democrats need to do some something special, something different, something targeted for people of color.

White women also walked away.

So what what do you envision the party doing differently?

If anything it does take the local party.

Yeah.

Should local party.

What what are you guys going to do differently to ensure that people of color remain in the party.

Schuylar: Well I think these listening sessions are going to be a really important part of that infrastructure building.

So we need to fill gaps in our precinct committee people.

We've got the Central committee that is the infrastructure of our party.

We need to make sure we've got representation from all communities, in that space so that we don't lose touch.

And we hear from folks who have different opinions than us.

And I think, importantly, we need to engage folks who we haven't normally engaged.

So leaders and communities that have been disenfranchized or disengaged or maybe didn't vote for Democrats this year, I think we need to we need to connect with them in a way that helps, and we really need to listen.

I think that's part of the thing is that we just need to listen.

Because I don't think I don't think this is a time when we compromise on our core values.

I think we need to dig into our our core principles, of of good Democrats and democracy.

And we need to defend that democracy.

Doni: So what if the core values of the party are no longe the core values of the country?

One of the things that we noticed is that a lot of Democrats took a really hard.

Right?

Yeah.

Took a really hard right this year.

So all of the things that you've identified, Mr. Trump is saying the racist tropes, the sexism, you know, off script, really difficult language.

Those folks heard that, they understood it and they still moved.

Democrats are those folks?

Yeah, they still move to the right.

So what if the values of the country are changing?

Does the Democratic Party change its values?

You've said no, but what does that mean for the party?

Schuylar: Yeah, that's a tough one.

I, I mean, I think we will have to reevaluate then if we see through this chaos that folks still are not voting for Democrats.

Yeah.

I think we have to hav a real reckoning with with what those values are.

But I don't think that, folks, I think that folks just are disillusioned by the process.

I think I know I would be uninterested if all I heard were now was nastiness and racism and, you know, I think that.

I think that we need to dig into that.

Sense of community and help build that sense of community, because folks feel like they're not being.

Doni: They're not being heard.

Yeah.

How open do you think the Democratic Party is to reshaping itself?

And I'm not sure how, whether you get your cues locally from what the how much influence the national.

Rhetoric around the party has on, on local positioning and, and local, directions.

But but how open are you to reshaping the party?

Schuylar: Well, I, I grew up with, a a real sense of the work that you do needs to help create a, a more vibrant and sustainable and loving community.

And I think that.

Doni: Wouldn't have happened.

That wouldn't happen to have come from a man named David back.

Schuylar: Yes, ma'am.

He he always told me.

And I got it tattooed on my body after he died.

Remember who you are.

And so we really do not want to stray fa from those core beliefs because.

Because that's who we are.

And that's, how we make our community better.

And I think we will see through this chaos, that, that we, we will become better communicators and become better messengers of our, of our true beliefs.

Doni: So the the gentleman who was on who, represented the Republican point of view, said that the Republican Party was becoming the party of common sense.

And, when I asked him to defin that, he said, we are a party.

Who knows that boys are boys and girls are girls.

And went on to describe, several other aspects that typically that that are, that are, I think fairly traditionally Democratic, I'm sorry, Republican points of view, but with so many people moving from the Democratic Party, at least in this election to the Republican Party, are we now looking at fro your point of view, a community, a society, a country that is moving to more, exclusionary politics?

Schuylar: That's a great question.

I, I hope not.

I, I, I'm just it's so hard to hear that kind of language that, from from the right, from the Republicans and the MAGA, leadership that is so hateful towards folks in the trans community wh just want to live their lives, and I think that we need to focus on how to help folks like that, and, and working families who are really going to see a struggle because prices are, are going to increase on all kinds of things with these proposed tariffs.

We're going to see, I think, I think some real hard times, we need to make sure that we support our community in a radical way and and that lives our true values.

Doni: How much of the of, Vice President Harris's loss do you think is due to racism and sexism?

Schuylar: I don't think it can be discounted, I absolutely don't I think it was hard.

We only had a couple of months to really, get our point across about the value of, of Vice President Harris.

And, I think that hurt us in the long run that we didn't have enough time to communicate the, the that message.

But I, I think that the Republicans really, were successful in, in getting that racist and, and bigoted message acros in a, in a way that resonated.

Obviously, it was so hard to hear because you just don't want folk Yeah, that was hard.

Doni: So one final question.

We have about 30s left.

Do you think Joe Biden stayed in too long?

Schuylar: I do, yeah, I do, I think I think we didn't have enough time to communicate the power of the work that that the Biden administration did, because there was so much other noise about his age and, and that kind of thing.

So if we had had more time with, with Vice President Harris, I think it would have been different.

Although who knows, who knows.

Doni: So lots of work to do.

Youre going to be doing, spearheading that work in Lucas County.

We should talk again.

I look forward to hearing and hearing about and seeing what you do.

And please come back, I will, all right.

I appreciate that and thank you all for being with us today.

Be kind just because you can, and Ill see you next time.