A Democratic campaign operative and former fundraiser penned an op-ed revealing her decision to exit the party after the Democratic National Convention.
A Democratic campaign operative revealed that she is exiting the party after volunteering at last month’s Democratic National Convention, which left her “disenchanted” with Democratic leadership.
In a Newsweek op-ed published Tuesday, Evan Barker described how she went from raising “tens of millions of dollars” for Democrats to distancing herself from a party she now believes is “totally out of touch” with everyday Americans.
Barker said she was initially “thrilled” to volunteer at the DNC, where Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the nomination for president.
“But once there, wandering amidst the glitz and glam, imbibing the gloss and schmaltz of it all, I couldn’t escape a sinking feeling. I felt submersed in a hollow chamber whose mottos were ‘Brat summer’ and ‘Joy’—totally out of touch with regular, every-day Americans and their pressing needs; instead, the most elite people in the world chanted in unison that “We’re not going back”, Barker wrote.
“I found myself feeling disenchanted, lost, sad, and alone. As someone who has given her life to Democratic politics, it was devastating. But if I’m being honest, it wasn’t totally surprising”, she continued.
Barker said she was raised in a family of blue-collar union Democrats near Kansas City, a “long ways away from the glitz, glamor, and ostentatious wealth I’d become accustomed to seeing in and around Democratic politics.
