Following the House Democratic caucus’ underwhelming election results, a key member of leadership told ARTICLE ONE that his party needs to get better at empathy.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) recently sat down for a conversation with me for the podcast. In our chat, Yarmuth reflected on some reasons why the caucus failed to hold onto a number of vulnerable Democratic seats in the 2020 election.

Yarmuth’s theory – that he shared with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – is that a majority of voters don’t vote on issues, “60 percent vote with their gut – it’s visceral.”

The seven-term Kentucky lawmaker says that voters want candidates to understand the challenges they have, “that you are empathetic. We’re great at policy … We’re not good at empathy.”

Yarmuth says that Democrats “have the empathy – we just don’t show it well enough and instead would rather say ‘hey – look what we’re going to do for you.”

Yarmuth’s candid reflections are just one part of our lengthy conversation.

Tune in on Friday morning — ahem — download the conversation to hear Yarmuth – a former journalist – reveal the dynamics among the Kentucky congressional delegation (reminder, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) and Sen. Rand Paul (R) belong to that bunch), how his Bourbon Caucus actually influences policy, what reconciliation could mean if Democrats win back control of the Senate and how earmarks helped rebuild parts of his Louisville-based district.