Dems have hard time connecting to voters because they know so much: Hirono

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Sen. Mazie Hirono says Dems know so much; appeal to the mind

Sen. Mazie Hirono told a conference that she heard one of the reasons that her party has a difficult time connecting with voters is because Democrats know so much, and have a tendency of appealing to voters' minds instead of their hearts.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on Tuesday told a conference that she heard one of the reasons that her party has a difficult time connecting with voters is because Democrats know so much, and have a tendency of appealing to voters' minds instead of their hearts.

Hirono made the comment at a conference in Washington, D.C. She was asked by the moderator about ways Democrats could drive voter turnout.

"I wish I had the answer to that because one of the things that we, Democrats, have a really hard time is connecting to people’s hearts instead of [their heads]," Hirono said. "We’re really good at shoving out all the information that touch people here [pointing to her head] but not here [pointing to her heart]."

Hirono, 71, said Democrats need to stop speaking in a way that comes off as manipulative or strokes fear and resentment.

“But we have a really hard time doing that and one of the reasons-- it was told to me at one of our retreats-- was that we Democrats know so much, that is true. And we have kind of have to tell everyone how smart we are and so we have a tendency to be very left brain," she continued.

The left-hand side of the brain is often associated with analytical thought.

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The first-term senator gained widespread notoriety as a leading Democratic voice for the women who accused against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. She urged men to "shut up and step up" when the Senate was confirming Kavanaugh to the court.