After President-elect Donald Trump's resounding victory in the Electoral College and the popular vote, it is apparent now more than ever that Democrats have become a tone-deaf party that just lectures in lieu of "listening," according to former New York Democrat Gov. David Paterson.
"We've got to kind of tear up all the information that we have now and start going out and start listening to the people, hearing what they're saying, as opposed to lecturing, which I think the party has gotten into too often," Paterson told "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y.
And it has continued in Vice President Kamala Harris' Howard University concession speech that was more of a "graduation speech," a day late and coming up short, Paterson said to host John Catsimatidis.
"When she gave her concession speech — which I would've given the same night because all of your people followed you and just literally gave you all their energy to you; she gave it the next afternoon — but it didn't even sound like a concession speech," Paterson said.
"It sounded like a graduation speech at Howard."
Paterson pointed to her vow "to solve the problems of tomorrow" being a disconnect with reality that fails to resonate.
"I think she's a very intelligent woman, but there's such a communication problem that when she tries to address these issues, it just doesn’t register with the public," he said.
Trump now has been given a historical powerful mandate by the electorate rejecting Democrat rule, Paterson concluded.
"The president has an immense opportunity because he has the House and Senate presumably behind him, and the Supreme Court: I don't think any president has ever had that kind of power," he said. "I hope he uses it judiciously.
"If he does, we might just look up in a couple of years and say, You know, things really aren't that bad."