In case you’ve ever wondered why Democrats have a hard time connecting to people’s hearts, you now have your answer. It’s because of “how smart they are.” Yes, she really said it. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) was interviewed by journalist Dahlia Lithwick at the “Bend Towards Justice” conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

Lithwick asked Hirono: What is the thing that Democrats need to be saying about why the courts matter? Hirono replied:

One of the things that we Democrats have a really hard time with is connecting people’s hearts instead of here (points to her brain). We’re really good at shoving out information that touch people here (points to brain again), not here (points to her heart). And I have been saying at all of our Democratic retreats that we need to speak to the heart, not in a manipulative way, not in a way that brings forth everybody’s fears and resentments, but truly to speak to the heart so people actually know that we’re actually on their side. We have a really hard time doing that and one of the reasons that was told to me at one of our retreats was that we Democrats know so much. That is true. (Interviewer chuckles) And we have to tell everybody how smart we are and so we have a tendency to be very left brain and we think, really? That is not how people make decisions and one of the books I always bring up is “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt where the image is of an elephant. And the elephant is making all the decisions – go right, go forward, whatever. There’s a rider on the elephant. The rider simply explains the elephant’s decisions. Republicans speak to the elephant, the Democrats speak to the rider. That is why we’re not speaking to people here (heart) and we’re just mainly going here and it’s a huge issue.

Flattering portrayal of Republicans, isn’t it? What astounding hubris!

This is one of the most transparent displays of liberal elitism I’ve heard recently. Hirono is merely saying out loud what the majority of Democrats think. Most would not come out and say it quite so plainly, but they do truly believe they are the smartest people in the room. It’s easy to visualize them sitting around at a retreat talking about how smart they are.

I think President Reagan said all that needs to be said about this. “It’s not that Democrats are liars, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t true.”