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Obama gives Dems a reality check: ‘Talk like normal people’

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by Lindsey Granger, opinion contributor - 05/07/26 1:24 PM ET

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by Lindsey Granger, opinion contributor - 05/07/26 1:24 PM ET

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As “The Late Show” winds down, host Stephen Colbert sat down with former president Barack Obama, and what started as a wide-ranging conversation quickly turned into something much more pointed: a reality check for Democrats.

Obama: What I’m more interested in for Democrats is, do you know how to just talk to regular people like we’re not in a college seminar? Can you talk in plain English to folks?

Colbert: I think that’s one of the powers that [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani has, not only does he talk like a normal person, he lives a normal life and he names what is obviously wrong.

Obama: Yes! And not have a bunch of gobbledygook around it.

Obama is getting at a bigger issue Democrats have struggled with for years: it’s not just about their policies, it’s about whether voters feel like Democrats actually get them, and whether they come across in a way people can relate to.

And the numbers back that up.

In 2024, Republicans made significant gains with working-class voters — not just white voters, but Hispanic voters and some Black voters too.

For decades, Democrats were seen as the party of working people, rooted in the New Deal era, unions and industrial jobs. But starting in the late 20th century, especially through deregulation, that relationship began to shift. Communities that once anchored the Democratic coalition started to feel left behind.

Fast-forward to today, and you see the result: what people are calling class dealignment. Working-class voters, across race, are moving away from Democrats and toward Republicans in growing numbers.

Even under Joe Biden, Democrats pursued some of the most ambitious economic policies in decades, from industrial policy to labor investments. But politically, the party still struggled to translate that into a clear, unified story people could feel in their daily lives. That gap between policy ambition and public perception is part of what people mean when they talk about “communication drift.”

At the same time, you’re starting to see counterexamples — candidates who focus heavily on cost of living, housing, and wages in direct, plain language. Figures like Zohran Mamdani are often cited because they don’t overcomplicate the message.

So when Obama says “talk like normal people,” it’s not just about tone, it’s about trust.

“Just talk like normal people talk,” he said. “You know what, the rent is too high. We need to make the rent lower for people”

It sounds simple — almost obvious. But that clarity has really been missing.

There’s also a bigger lesson here: Voters don’t just want policies, they want proof that government can actually deliver. Whether it’s lowering costs, building housing, or improving infrastructure, results matter more than rhetoric.

Many voters don’t believe Democrats follow through, even when the policies themselves are popular. For example, the government shut down to extend healthcare subsidies, and no healthcare subsidies have been extended. The party find its self being reactive instead of proactive.

If Democrats want to rebuild a durable coalition, especially with working-class voters, they have to do two things at once: speak plainly and deliver visibly.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.

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