Minnesota governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s address to the California Democratic Party on Saturday demonstrated that the Democrats have diagnosed a problem with their public image but are unwilling to implement a solution.

Walz spoke to Democrats in California and South Carolina this past Saturday. Much media attention has been devoted to his South Carolina address, where he made his now-infamous call for the party to “bully” President Donald Trump. However, his speech in California was equally important. (RELATED: How Democrats Can Stop Alienating Young Men: Some Unsolicited Advice)

During that speech, Walz repeatedly acknowledged a serious issue with voters’ current perception of the Democratic Party. Walz described the “primal scream” of voters, which demands that the party reorient the messaging it puts out and the policies it makes.

“None of us can afford to shy away,” Walz said, “from having hard conversations about what it’s [going to] take to win elections.”

Walz called his party a “deer in headlights” and noted that voters won’t “elect roadkill.” He explored how the party lost the working-class vote to Donald Trump and urged his fellow Democrats to “get out there and listen to people.” (RELATED: Democrats’ Real Problem with Populism)

These are statistically driven exhortations. However, Walz did not leave his speech there. Though the governor was clear that his party must refocus its vision, many other statements throughout his address directly contradicted this advice.

The governor warned the party to avoid “calibrating [its] words” and instead urged Democrats to continue discussing issues like abortion, climate change, transgenderism, and DEI policies. “Don’t worry about the pollsters calling it distractions,” he reassured. (RELATED: Cisgender and Latinx Democrats Agree: Ditch the Wokespeak)

Walz even referenced accusations that the Left has gone too far. 

“They always tell us this: ‘Oh, you overreached, you overreached.’” But Walz assured the crowd, “I’m going further than where [California’s] going.” 

Walz and the Democrats continue to deny their own mistakes. Unwilling to surrender losing cultural issues such as transgenderism and DEI, they are floundering for a way to win back voters. 

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