Democrats need to stop talking woke because it is alienating swing voters and helping Donald Trump, a prominent think-tank has warned.
Third Way has urged Democratic Party officials and activists to drop a host of phrases rarely used by the people—including “cisgender,” “deadnaming,” “safe space,” and “stakeholders,”—warning that they can feel condescending and fuel GOP attacks.
“To please the few, we have alienated the many,” Third Way said. It says the list is a practical guide for Dems wanting to win back swing voters who tune out language they don’t understand or resent being lectured to. (Keep reading for the full list.)
“We are doing our best to get Democrats to talk like normal people and stop talking like they’re leading a seminar at Antioch,” says Third Way’s executive vice president of public affairs, Matt Bennett.
“We think language is one of the central problems we face with normie voters, signaling that we are out of touch with how they live, think, and talk.”
The think tank’s suggestions come after JD Vance gave the Democratic Party some “free political advice” during an interview on Fox News, which was to “stop sounding like crazy people.”
Third Way sorts the taboo phrases into six broad areas—“Therapy-Speak,” “Seminar Room Language,” “Organizer Jargon,” “Gender/Orientation Correctness,” “The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs,” and “Explaining Away Crime”—which it argues average voters don’t tend to use.
The group insists it’s not “policing language,” but says Democrats “must invite, not repel,” and talk plainly about crime and identity without sounding like a sociology seminar.
The message comes as the Dems work out how best to stop MAGA—a movement in which vibes and bombast often trump truth and nuance—ahead of the 2028 election.
“People can’t relate to something unless it has some edge about it,” Lanae Erickson, Third Way’s senior vice president, told Politico’s Playbook. “And we had shaved off all of our edges in an attempt to never make anyone upset about anything.”
One of the most senior Democratic Party members embracing the change is California Governor Gavin Newsom, who, with a proud history of promoting LGBTQ+ rights, has started playing Trump at his own game using a blend of tough-talking and populist rhetoric.
In June, opinion writers at The Washington Post made a similar plea for Democrats to ditch jargon like “intersectionality” or “justice-involved populations” and communicate using language that resonates with everyday concerns.
Axios reported in March that Third Way is investing in a longer campaign—“the Signal Project”—to help Democrats counter Trumpworld narratives with voter-tested messages.
Beyond the vocabulary purge, the organization gives broader thoughts on how Democrats should approach voters.
It says they should talk about safety in “plain terms,” never appear to “explain away crime,” and to build empathy for LGBTQ Americans without bewildering would-be allies.
“It shows that people don’t think Democrats want to hold criminals accountable at all,” Erickson said. “Like we don’t care about violent crime, and we don’t care if someone hurts someone, that they should be held accountable.
“That’s not true. We’re afraid to say that because we’re afraid that someone is going to criticize us for being too tough on crime.”
The point isn’t to abandon values, Third Way argues, but to stop sounding “superior, haughty and arrogant” to non-activist ears.
Or, as the memo puts it, to “put a wall between [Democrats] and everyday people.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Democratic Party for comment.
The Words Dems Shouldn’t Use
Therapy-Speak
- Privilege
- Violence (as in “environmental violence”)
- Dialoguing
- Othering
- Triggering
- Microaggression/assault/invalidation
- Progressive stack
- Centering
- Safe space
- Holding space
- Body shaming
Seminar Room Language
- Systems of oppression
- Critical theory
- Cultural appropriation
- Postmodernism
- Overton Window
- Heuristic
- Existential threat to [climate, the planet, democracy, the economy]
Organizer Jargon
- Radical transparency
- Small ‘d’ democracy
- Barriers to participation
- Stakeholders
- The unhoused
- Food insecurity
- Housing insecurity
- Person who immigrated
Gender/Orientation Correctness
- Birthing person/inseminated person
- Pregnant people
- Chest feeding
- Cisgender
- Deadnaming
- Heteronormative
- Patriarchy
- LGBTQIA+
The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs
- Latinx
- BIPOC
- Allyship
- Intersectionality
- Minoritized communities
Explaining Away Crime
- Justice-involved
- Carceration
- Incarcerated people
- Involuntary confinement.
