Democrats' Attempts to Learn 'Normal' Speech Prove They Are Fundamentally Not Normal
Source: Eddie Scarry. "Democrats Are Still Figuring Out That 'Normal' Can't Be Taught." August 28, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that Democrats' recent efforts to sound more relatable to average voters are doomed to fail, because true normalcy can't be taught—it's something you either have or you don't. He claims their use of jargon like 'unhoused person' proves they're out of touch, and that any attempt to tone this down is just a cynical strategy to win votes before returning to their old ways.
Conclusion
Democrats cannot become 'normal' through coaching or messaging strategies because their underlying ideology, not just their vocabulary, is what makes them abnormal to ordinary voters.
Premises
- Democrat-aligned groups like Third Way are explicitly training party officials on how to speak 'like humans' to connect with voters.
- The fact that Democrats need training to sound normal proves they are not naturally normal.
- Democrats use jargon like 'unhoused person' and 'justice-impacted individual' that ordinary people find laughable and only repeat mockingly.
- This specialized language creates a 'wall' between Democrats and everyday people of all backgrounds, as Third Way itself admitted.
- Prominent Democrats like Newsom and Emanuel have acknowledged the need to be 'more culturally normal' or admitted costs from debates like pronoun terminology, showing internal recognition of the problem.
- Democrats are only trying to appear normal enough to win elections, with the intent to reimpose the same ideological speech codes once in power.
Assumptions
- Genuine normalcy is an innate trait that cannot be authentically acquired through training or strategy.
- The specialized terminology Democrats use reflects a genuine ideological agenda rather than good-faith attempts at inclusive language.
- Ordinary Americans uniformly view this terminology as absurd or alienating.
- Democrats' motives for moderating their language are purely strategic/electoral rather than reflecting genuine internal debate or change.
- There is a stable, identifiable standard of 'normal' cultural speech against which Democrats can be measured and found lacking.