Politics –
Democratic Brand
Dysfunctional And In
Dire Straits?
A growing number of Democrats are beginning to sing the same refrain: It’s time for a “Come To Jesus” moment and a total remake of the Democratic Party.
Politics
The huge and totally unexpected loss by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election set the tone. However, it was last Tuesday’s loss by Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff in Georgia that has the party second-guessing its leadership and game plan moving forward.
The 2016 presidential election was Hillary Clinton’s to lose. However, Democrats have not only blamed Clinton for running a horrendous campaign, but also Barack Obama for failing to set up the party for success following his presidency.
A variety of Democratic leaders and organizers now say that Mr. Obama’s self-created nonprofit, “Organizing For Action,” drained valuable resources and energy from the official Democratic grassroots effort during the election and diluted the strength of the party.
“This is some GRADE A Bullshit right here,” Stephen Handwerk, a leader of the Louisiana Democratic Party wrote in a leaked email regarding Mr. Obama’s perceived support of his own group over the Democratic Party. “It also to me seems TONE DEAF — we have lost over 1,000 seats in the past 8 years… all because of this crap.”
Following last week’s loss in Georgia over the open congressional seat, a contest Democrats sank a historic amount of money into and billed as a referendum against Donald Trump, a variety of Democrats are now calling for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to go.
“We need leadership change,” Rep. Kathleen Rice announced publicly. “It’s time for Nancy Pelosi to go, and the entire leadership team.”
“This is certainly something that we have to discuss because it’s clear that, I think, across the board in the Democratic Party we need new leadership. It’s time for a new generation of leadership in the party,” added Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton.
Politics
Even Sen. Bernie Sanders weighed in, saying he agreed with Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan’s belief that the Democratic brand is worse than Donald Trump’s in parts of the country.
“I speak as the longest-serving independent in American congressional history, the Democratic brand is pretty bad,” Sanders said last week.
“Understand that for the last 10 years, the model that they have had really has not worked,” Sanders said. “It doesn’t work when you lose the US Senate, US House, the White House. When almost two-thirds of governors chairs are controlled by Republicans. When Democrats have lost a thousand seats and legislatures all over the country.”
Sanders added that Democrats need to “make it clear to working people of this country that the Democratic Party is on their side. The Democrats need a progressive agenda. They need to rebuild the party in states they have ignored for decades, where they have almost no presence right now and create a 50-state party.”
This time a year ago, the perception was that the Republican Party was in disarray and near death. Now, with Donald Trump in The White House and Republicans controlling all branches of government, the tables have dramatically turned.
Is the Democratic brand (in its current state) dead? Is the party in need of new leadership? Can the Democrats reinvent and revive themselves, or are they doomed to failure for at least the very near future?
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Wow. is this a much needed discussion! Thanks DJ.
I have a few thoughts on the "dire" situation the Democratic party now finds finds itself having to address if the Dems hope to truly save the party. But I'll simply start with the 3 questions in DJ's post:
"Is the Democratic brand (in its current state) dead?" Not yet. But it is on life-support and fading.
"Is the party in need of new leadership?" Yes. From top to bottom. But not just "new" leadership. WE The people need representatives in BOTH parties that truly give a d*mn about Us, ALL Americans…not just the rich and powerful.
"Can the Democrats reinvent and revive themselves, or are they doomed to failure for at least the very near future?"
Yes they can but will they? We shall see. But if they fail to do so..then Yes, they're doomed.
Here's the good news for the Dems. Thanks to Trump being Trump…and ALL of the incredibly BAD consequences of that ongoing nightmare….I believe the Democratic party under "new" leadership – the kind of real leadership that works their collective *azzes* off to effectively address the pressing issues facing our nation and Americans all across this land (ALL 50 states) – won't only save that party but also this country.
I have more to say but I'm at work and I've gotta run to a meeting right now so….I'll be back.
…continuing on…….
Re; The Republican Party
True conservative Repubs (not to be confused with right-wing extremists or first-time White supremacist voters who voted for Trump} recognize exactly what has happened to their party.
Trump's rise to power as the leader of the Republican party – and playing the role of President – makes it official; the Republican party has ceased to be an actual functioning governing party. That party has devolved into a Frankenstein driven mostly by hate, ignorance, cruelty and division.
As Bruce Bartlett (writer and conservative Repub) put it:
"it’s the natural outgrowth of 30 years of Republican pandering to the lowest common denominator in American politics. Trump is what happens when a political party abandons ideas, demonizes intellectuals, degrades politics and simply pursues power for the sake of power."
What will be the actual ending of such a horror-freak show? In terms of the Republican party? I honestly hope that party is eaten alive by the very monster they spent decades creating. As for Our country? I hope AND pray that WE survive.
Re; The Democratic Party
In short- I'm fed up with the DNC and the Dem leadership. And frankly, the more I've learned about what Pres.Obama DIDN'T do in response to Russia's meddling in Our presidential election the more upset I've become with him.
I admire Pres. Obama but I never hesitated to criticize him whenever I felt he had truly dropped the ball. Suffice it to say, I feel he dropped the ball "choked" (as one person put it), when it came to his mishandling of Russian meddling and making sure that WE, the American people were fully informed of Russian meddling.
But the truth is, long before the idea of a "Pres. Obama" was even thought possible, the DNC and Dem leadership had already shown themselves to be a collective of mostly weak and ineffective (even complicit) representatives. For example: a solid majority of Black-Americans OPPOSED the illegal invasion of Iraq while the DNC and the Dem leadership supported it when they knew darn well it wrong!
The Dems knew Dubya had been played by Repub neoCONS and Dem zionists. The Dems knew that Saddam didn't have any "weapons of mass destruction."
The Dems knew that Colin Powell had served as the front-man for a bold-faced, flat-out NeoCON LIE. But the Dems were okay with the indiscriminate slaughtering of hundreds of thousands, if not a MILLION, innocent, Iraqi civilians (men, women and children) just to prove they could be just as hard-azzed, and just as cold and callous as Repubs.
Frankly, I honestly don't know how anyone who supported that Unjust invasion sleeps at night(?) If what WE did isn't a clear case of CRIMES against humanity then I don't know what is?! But I digress.
I've come to this conclusion about the leadership in BOTH parties: Neither party really gives a fig about Us, "ordinary" people. As a reader on another site put it: "The disdain and disregard they have for Us has been palpable for decades." .
Time and time again, they've shown themselves to be mostly crooks and liars. whose actions are rooted in cynicism, rank hypocrisy and "the love of money." They seek, first and foremost, to serve themselves, their families and friends…..and always…ALWAYS…the interests of their Masters (the rich and powerful).
Until/unless "We The People" demand real "Change" and work tirelessly towards that end…..there will be NO change.
There will simply be a lot of anger, frustration…perhaps some reshuffling of chairs on the deck of the Titanic…..
…but NO real change.
This is a great article and very timely. One problem I see is the Dems don't have anybody really leading right now. Obama was the leader for eight years but like DJ said he put a lot of his energy into his own group instead of the party. Also the deal for Hillary to be next in line was probably the price he paid for the Clintons to back him. But by the time his term was over Hillary wasn't really the best one to be the candidate. So who is really the Democrat leader right now? If somebody was seen as the head in charge maybe things would be better. Because just fighting Trump with the Repubs already running everything won't do. As for the guy in Georgia it was already a Repub area anyway so I don't see that as the failure a lot of people are trying to make it seem like. He is a young and good candidate and I think he has a future in politics. Remember Bill Clinton lost at first too. But Dems need to figure out who they are then find somebody to be a effective leader.
USA Today:
Roughly 80%of us now live in states either partially or totally controlled by Republicans. Two-thirds of our nation’s governors are now Republican — tying a 94-year-old record — and an all-time high 69 of 99 state legislatures now have Republican majorities. In half of our 50 states, both the state legislature and the governorship are controlled by Republicans. And that’s aside from the fact that Republicans control Congress and the White House and have appointed a majority of justices on the Supreme Court.
After four straight losses in recent special elections for congressional seats, on top of more than 1,030 seats lost nationally by Democrats in state legislatures, governorships and Congress since 2009, the Democratic National Committee needs to figure out the cause of what can only be called the party’s slow death.
It’s time for the DNC to perform an autopsy.
Hey thanks for finally writing something about the Democrats. they are a shit show right now even though Trump is too. Who is running that party anyway?