With Trump back in office and Democrats working to reenergize their supporters, former ESPN anchor and commentator Jemele Hill is sharing a key lesson from her time at the network to help them refocus.
Hill recently appeared on The Blueprint with Jen Psaki, where they discussed a range of topics, including President Trump and strategies for Democrats to strengthen their base after a disappointing election. Hill emphasized the importance of shifting focus away from trying to win over non-supporters and instead prioritizing those who already back the party.
“When you have to win the turnout game, that means you have to win the passion and enthusiasm game,” said Hill. “The way you win that game is you got to go harder for the things you believe in. You don’t go the other way. The people that didn’t vote for you or chose to vote for Donald Trump or are Trump supporters, ain’t voting for you. Give up on those people to some degree.”
Hill recounted advice from an ESPN producer on drawing in viewers and connected it to how Democrats can refine their strategy.
“And in terms of turning out your people, worry about your people. Is this a producer I had when I was at ESPN that gave me this brilliant analogy that I’ve never forgotten when it came to attracting viewers,” said Hill. “He said, you got to think of yourself as throwing a party, and you throwing the dopest party you could possibly think of. People are VIP, they poppin’ bottles. You’re having a great time. You know who you don’t worry about? The people hating outside the club. That’s who you don’t worry about. Because you know what will happen? They’re going to look through the windows and be like, ‘Damn, we want to get in that party. It looks fun.’ Don’t worry about them.
“Democrats need to stop worrying about the people hatin’ outside the club. They pay too much attention to them. Worry about the people inside the club.”
Liberals have just about two years to focus their attention on “the people inside the club” and flip both the House or Senate in the midterm elections, she continued.
According to a recent Gallup poll: “A plurality of Democrats would like their party to become more moderate, while a similar plurality of Republicans favor the status quo for their party” in the wake of the 2024 election and Donald Trump’s inauguration last month.
According to the poll, “both party groups’ preferences have shifted significantly since 2021, at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, the last time Gallup measured opinions on this question. Support for a more moderate Democratic Party among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents has grown by 11 percentage points, to 45%, since 2021. At the same time, Democrats’ and leaners’ desire for a more liberal party has declined five points, to 29%, and preferences for no change in party ideology have fallen nine points, to 22%.”
It continued: “Meanwhile, Republicans’ and Republican-leaning independents’ support for the GOP to stay the same ideologically is up nine points from 2021, to 43%, as the desire for a more conservative party is down 12 points to 28%. The 27% of Republicans and leaners who now prefer moderation for their party is not significantly different from 2021.”
