Former national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Tuesday that the best way for Democrats to attract voters is just to be themselves, and said when it comes to taking on President Trump in 2020, they need to run for something, instead of just running against Trump.
“You’re not going to beat Trump by just running against him,” Rhodes said on CSPAN. “You have to run for something, and that’s what worked for Obama in his two election victories.”
The former Obama White House official said voters value authenticity, a quality Trump has.
“What I found in my 10 years in kind of the center of this political world is that Americans like authenticity,” he said. “And if you’re progressive, they want you to be up front about that, and up front about your policies, just like conservatives want their leaders to be up front and honest.”
“In his own way, Donald Trump is authentic, just as Barack Obama was,”he added.
Rhodes made no mention of Hillary Clinton, though many believe Clinton struggled with voters because she was relatively moderate compared to Sen. Bernie Sandiers, I-Vt., and was forced to shift toward Sanders.
“I do think that in the Democratic Party there has been greater acceptance of just being ourselves, and standing up for what we believe in,” Rhodes said. “When we kind of look like we’re shading ourselves off of conservatives or Republicans and not just declaring what we believe in, that doesn’t resonate I think with the voter who wants to know, who is this person that I’m being asked to vote for.”
