JOSEPH KENNEDY III: Democrats, Heal Thyselves.

U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, breaking ranks with other Democrats who are trashing President-elect Donald Trump and boycotting his inaugural, is imploring his party’s rank and file to figure out why middle American voters went Republican in November.

“Somewhere along the way, we lost their trust. We have to get it back,” Kennedy said tonight, departing from many in his party who have sought to cast blame for the loss elsewhere.

Kennedy rallied roughly 160 Democrats in a high school cafeteria in deep-blue Newton, giving a brief outline of what he sees as the future of his party.

An important step, he said, is to find out why people voted for Trump, rather than reacting to everything he posts on Twitter.

“The danger with going down that road is that it risks distracting us from what the core message was on November 7 and November 8,” Kennedy said. “For some reason this time, they decided to trust Donald Trump with their vote.”

He said liberal voters need to find common ground with Trump supporters, and said berating them for their decision is the wrong way to win them back. “Folks, we lost their trust and being mortified and mystified about their vote doesn’t bring it back,” he said.

Good advice that is likely to be ignored.