The Corporate Democrats that currently control the party are slowly destroying the party. Everyone points to 2018 as being a bell-weather year on Trump’s presidency. The problem with this is that as long as corporate Democrats stay in leadership Democrats will lose in 2018.
Corporate Democrats solely focused on Trump
I learned many lessons in the 2016 election. One of the biggest lessons is that people did not vote for Trump because they preferred him. They voted for him because they felt the Democratic Party was not listening to them.
So how do Corporate Dems respond to the 2016 election? One of the tester slogans they have come up with for 2018 is “Have you seen the other guys?” Sadly this is not a joke. This is one of the many reasons I believe that Republicans will either keep one or both houses in 2018.
In an era where people are feeling left behind, focusing solely on the president is not a way to win offices. Trump is a dumpster fire, yes but Hillary sought to focus on Trump’s issues rather than addressing people’s issues. She lost an election that she should have won in a landslide.
Corporate Democrats collectively putting their fingers in their ears
The leadership of the Democratic Party has no idea what they are doing or where they are going. They do not like other ideas. One of their favorite beating posts is Bernie Sanders.
I truly do not understand the hate directed at Sanders. I have asked people who line up with the corporatists why they do not like Sanders. Their first response is that he is not a Democrat. I typically point out that his entire career he has consistently voted with Democrats. They then started pointing to lies and distortions made up about Sanders.
The truth of the matter is that corporatists do not like their ideas being challenged and will strike out at anyone that proposes different and new ideas. This is not a winning strategy and never will be.
We need to end the corporate stranglehold on the Democratic Party
If, as Democrats, we want to start winning elections again we need new leadership. Yes, that means getting rid of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. While I can give Schumer a bit of a pass because he has become a bit of thorn in Trump’s side, he is still part of the problem.
Pelosi wants to keep the Clinton defense against Trump going just for fundraising purposes.
We need new leadership in the party. It does not necessarily need to be younger leadership. But it does need to be new leaders with new ideas. The party needs to embrace a lot of Sander’s platform from the Democratic primary.
We need to embrace single payer healthcare, $15 minimum wage, free tuition and so on. Right now the corporatists do not want to break any eggs and just keep the established status quo.
The Republicans figured out this game in 2008
After the Republicans lost the election in 2008 they completely reorganized how they ran the party. They focused more on their base, which naturally pushed them further right.
The Democrats to this point do not seem to be understanding this. Russian interference or not, the Democrats should have won 2016 in a landslide. They did not and the corporatists are making sure to keep making that mistake.
For the Democrats to start winning again they have to move left. The 40s, 50s, and 60s are considered to be among the best in American history when looking at the economy. That is because we had strong liberal leadership (in both parties). High taxes on the highest earners, a safety net for those at most danger in our society.
It is time for the Democratic Party to throw off the shackles of the Corporate wing of party and go back to the glory days.
Same old parrot squawking. Even some of the most “advanced” activists & “leaders” refuse to mention the main fact that capitalism (in any form) IS the main problem.
We have needed at least 3 other political parties for the past 20 years. We need a labor party that focuses on the needs of workers. I spoke with a young woman today who clearly had had no education around labor history and the importance of the organized labor movement in the U.S. in the 20th century. We also need a viable and active environment oriented party. I have registered as a Green, mainly out of disgust with the candidates for president in 2016. The Green party has to be beyond tree-hugging, barefoot (dare I say “white people”) hippie dippie types. It has to be about environmental justice, sustainable land use and land management and it has to focus on the economics of environmental abuse. Tall order, but somebody has got to get behind why clean air and clean water are vital to human survival (along with global warming). Finally the social and religious conservatives need their own party so that the pragmatists in the center on both sides can nod politely and then go about getting things done.
One more thing: local party activism has to be revitalized in the worst ways. Instead of throwing tantrums (of which partisans and politicians of all stripes are guilty) we need to put on our big kid pants and do the grunt work. Go look at the public commissions and advisory groups in your community. If there is not one woman or one person not of primarily Northern European heritage on the group, then there is an opportunity to bring someone in who better represents the community.
I grew up in the bad old days when backroom politics were the rule. But things got done. Democratic and Republican clubs and neighborhood associates competed to support floats in local parades and sponsor events for families and kids. The kind of “wholesale” politics that has taken over even before the horror of Citizens United, needs to be replaced with old fashioned sitting down and talking to people. Yeah its old fashioned retail politics, its going to funerals and weddings and graduations and remembering anniversaries. It is showing that you care (even if you don’t) and looking like its important to you (even when it isn’t). And one more thing: its getting out of the way when someone younger with more energy shows up on the scene.
You have learned nothing except to continue to whine and carry one. What part of 3 million votes do you not understand? Or is part of the bargain for you pseudo progressives is to lose the ability to count? Hillary Clinton WON – Putin, Comey and rigged votes made sure she did assume the office. Don’t like what the Democrats are doing? Can’t abide the work they have done? Feel cheated because the pouty, grumpy, user from Vermont didn’t pull off his scam? Form your own damn party, raise your own money, create your own voter rolls (and don’t steal this time ’round, ok?) and build your own platform – considering anything past a protest sign is almost beyond the pseudos, this should be fun to watch. Oh, and have your dear leader release his taxes.
Democrats lost because they didn’t have a clear image of what the party wanted to do. It was like they expected to ride Obama’s coattails and just carry on from there. There was no effort to even hear the fustrations from the”deplorable” side nor did they come off as being any more a friend to middle class. They made zero effort to engage with various groups beyond a very select few. And they STILL aren’t. The next round of elections is not that far off. Tell me how you would fix American Health Care. Tell me how you will keep my city streets safe so anyone, including a young African American and middle aged white police officer, can walk by each other. Just a little under half of this country are not buying what the Democratic party is selling. It is time to look at your product.
Democrats did not win due to their pettiness & stupidity about Hillary’s emails, Bill’s 3 strikes law, unwillingness to vote for the party rather than its candidate, etc. Some Democrats refused to vote because Bernie was not the nominee. Other Democrats split their votes and voted for Hillary, the Third Party candidates, etc.
In 2020, if they become politically stupid & ignorant again, they will not WIN. Democrats must go to the polls & vote for whoever becomes the nominee.
Take note that Trump’s supporters and eventually Republican politicians stuck with him regardless of what he said & did. Thus, he won. Democrats need to vote for the party, not the person. And, Democrats need to stop bashing each other to try to win the nomination. Trump effectively used what Democrats said against each other to win as the party’s nominee. It was too late to take back the nasty campaign rhetoric.
Black Lives Matter, MoveOn & other folks need to stop bashing the party’s candidates and eventual nominee and showing up to disrupt their speeches, etc. This was bad for candidates & supporters. When people go to rallies, they want to hear what the candidates have to say and not listen at some stupid, childish yelling and screaming. And, I’ll never forget the senseless act of standing on a road throwing money at Clinton’s motorcade headed to a Hollywood fundraiser! That was embarrassing.
Anyway, if Democrats again decide to bite off your noses in spite of your faces in 2020, they will not win. Their own stupidity & limited knowledge how to win an election will stifle them again. They must stick with & vote for the party’s candidate–like, love, dislike or hate the person. Just vote for them! Period.