Sarah Deien talks with a long time activist about his take on politics.
You can’t teach an old yellow dog democrat new tricks. Now that John Yancey is 80-years-old and Demo Days turns 40, Yancey has officially spent half his life working on this event.
“It’s not a hell of a lot different than it used to be,” Yancey said of his politics. “You’ve gotta have some d**n common sense.”
You might notice Yancey’s a colorful character. He’s certainly a “call it like I see it” kind of guy. Here’s his take on the Democratic party: “For the last 20 years, I’ve said Democrats are either d**n poor messengers, or we have a d**n poor message.”
That’ll be the topic kicked around at the 40th Annual Demo Days this Friday and Saturday at the Hannibal Inn. “You can’t take a whoopin’ like we took and not sit down to think about it.”
Click here to read more about Demo Days from the Hannibal Courier-Post.
Yancey says his party needs to do one of two things: “Listen to the people better or change our strategy.”
In Yancey’s view, “It’s the tail wagging the dog these days.” He says groups that yell the loudest are the ones who draw the attention, and the regular blue-collar types aren’t making their voices heard. “I guess people who are making a lot of money just don’t remember how things used to be,” Yancey says. “Spending money for the hopeless and the helpless is something we’ve all tried to do.” While government spending is the battering ram recently, Yancey defends programs that have helped the poor and working class.
“In my opinion, guns and babies don’t have a thing to do with government, but that seems to be the only issues of the day,” Yancey said. He, like many local democrats, believes in gun rights and doesn’t agree with abortion. He says those two issues have dominated the national stage and affect elections at every level.
John Yancey calls himself the “good ol’ boy auctioneer.” That’s been his profession for years, but politics are his passion. He’s spent a few terms as Hannibal Mayor and Marion Commissioner, but he’s best known for his work on the state level bringing together the party faithful at Democrat Days. He’ll be holding court there this Friday and Saturday, and he’ll be happy to bend your ear on his favorite topic.
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