WASHINGTON—In an attempt to reach a voter bloc they hoped would be responsive to the party’s message, Democratic leaders employed broad hand gestures and loudly intoned the words “Friend, you understand friend?” during a focus group with working-class Americans, sources confirmed Thursday. “Voooooote…V-V-V-Voooote…Can you say, ‘Vote’?” Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez asked a conference room full of truck drivers, home healthcare workers, and retail associates, offering them candy when they provided desired responses to 2020 candidates and shocking them with a small electric baton when they did not. “Me Tom. Me say, ‘Joe Biden good, Donald Trump bad.’ Say it with Tom, now: ‘Biden good, Trump bad.’” At press time, a fed-up welder reportedly interrupted Perez, who was handing out coloring-book pages of sample ballots, to ask how the party would bring renewable energy jobs to underserved communities.
