America Needs a Strong, Effective, Democratic Party
The Current Version Is Most Effective Against Progressive Activists
The corporate Democratic Party, represented by “luminaries” like Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi, exists primarily to keep the money flowing and the progressive base disempowered (if not disembowled). The real leader of the corporate Dems, Barack Obama, admitted as he left the presidency that his policy choices and major decisions were essentially those of a moderate pro-business Republican. Certainly, Hillary Clinton in 2016 represented a continuation of hawkish neocon agendas abroad, pro-corporate neo-liberal policies at home. Enough Americans were fed up with that to enable the election of Donald Trump, a political novice and bombastic huckster.
In 2024, the Harris/Walz ticket continued the Hillary/Biden legacy of hawkish policies abroad, pro-business policies at home, leading again to a Trump victory. Trump, no longer a political novice but still a bombastic huckster, is spreading his own peculiar brand of chaotic incompetence in the wake of that victory.
I used to be a registered Democrat. I left the party when Bernie Sanders was railroaded in 2015-16. Hillary and the DNC conspired to defeat their own progressive base, to fake left and run right, to embrace militarism and corporatism, which led to Trump’s narrow victory in 2016
If the Democrats are ever to win again, they have to return to the days of JFK, RFK Sr., George McGovern, and similar candidates of substance who are unafraid of championing the working classes while confronting the worst excesses of militarism and corporatism. Instead, the Party advertises itself as “not Trump” and therefore worthy of the American people’s support. Something more is needed than “not Trump.”
Lacking a compelling identity, the Democratic Party today is more unpopular than the chaos agent that is Trump. Trump’s approval rating as of June 6th is roughly 47%, give or take, so half the country sees him in favorable terms even as the other half disapproves. Compared to the Democratic Party, that’s pretty damn good, as the Dems after the election have hovered around 33% approval after a low of 21%, though the numbers have recently bounced back to just above 40%.
These low approval ratings aren’t surprising. The corporate Dems, who keep nominating candidates like Hillary, Biden, and Harris, who keep breaking promises and commitments to help the working classes, create the conditions under which a wannabe dictator like Trump thrives.
If more people had seen in Harris/Walz a dynamic ticket that was on their side, Trump probably would have lost. But Harris/Walz represented more of the same, even as Trump promised change and action (no matter how crazy). Of course, in far too many cases, Democrats and Republicans basically take the same positions: total support for Israel's genocide in Gaza, colossal Pentagon budgets, perpetual war, no increase to the federal minimum wage,* wealth redistribution upward to billionaires, and so on.
Many people see little difference between the parties so they don’t bother voting. Others, fed up with Democrats and their broken promises, gravitate to Trump (if the choice is blue or red only, and blue is feckless, people see and vote red). Some are so pissed at the system, the deep state, whatever you want to call it, that they see a Trump vote as an FU to elitists that they associate with the Democratic Party.
Critical questions include: How can the people have more choices to vote on and for, and how can the Democrats become a party that's more representative of its progressive and liberal base rather than its reactionary and corrupt owners and donors?
Both major parties have a hammerlock on the political process, so the likelihood of viable third parties emerging is slim. To defeat Trump (or the next Trump), you need a charismatic candidate committed to the people. The names being bandied about for 2028 by Democrats (Mayor Pete, Rahm Emanuel, Gavin Newsom) are the exact opposite of that.
Will a generational talent emerge like Obama? It's doubtful. Will the Democrats reform themselves? It’s doubtful. So, I'm worried, and not just about Trump and his crowd.
As Democrats look at why they lost yet again to Trump, the first thing they should do is take a long look in the mirror. To assert any Democrat was doomed (not just the rushed campaign of Harris/Walz) because of inflation and MAGA propaganda is both to exaggerate the power of the Republicans and to absolve Democrats of blame for their flawed candidate and Cheney-adjacent campaign. And by “Cheney-adjacent” I mean being (or posing as) a traditional Republican, embracing military lethality and Israel while serving big money. That is what Harris chose to do in 2024. It didn’t end well.
Democrats are forever chasing the elusive Republican who says he doesn't want to vote for Trump and who allegedly can be persuaded to vote for a Democrat. It didn't end well for Hillary in 2016 and it failed again for Kamala in 2024.
Instead of looking to convert Republicans, Democrats need to embrace a youth movement that activates their progressive base. Aligning with the Cheneys and reelecting members of a dying gerontocracy is not the way forward.
Incredibly, Trump seems to some voters more worker-friendly than the average Democrat politician. Trump is stealing signature issues like cutting prescription drug prices and eliminating federal taxes on tips. Meanwhile, Democrats are doing almost nothing effectively to resist him. Calling Trump “TACO” (as in Trump Always Chickens Out) is lame in the extreme as well as counterproductive.
The Democrat gerontocracy is so out of touch, so lacking in charisma, so driven by money, so busy protecting their power and positions, that it’s hard to see a way forward for 2028. And that’s a disaster for our country. Because we need a strong and determined Democratic Party committed to the working classes, and this Party isn't it.
*Republican Senator Josh Hawley supports a $15 federal minimum wage. Is he positioning himself for a presidential run in 2028?
I believe one has to look past the individuals and focus on the structures of power that put them there. There is a national Democratic Party organization that is supported by 50 state organizations. From even a passing observation of the local party in this state, it doesn't appear there is mainstream criticism of the national party or its candidates (I assume there are objections at the fringes, but they get little to no coverage).
My point is that fixing the Democrats is not a matter of a new hero, but would require ripping the guts out of the existing party at all levels - something I don't see happening. It is too corporatized, too built on notions of identity and privileged groups, and its other ills - to be reformed. It needs to die.
One hopes something new will emerge, but that is uncertain. From what appears likely, the Republicans will shatter too - once Trump diminishes (I believe after the 2026 elections) as other pretenders to the throne fight for control. If there is an election in 2028, it will be a new low in demagoguery between candidates who stand for nothing - no matter their party label.
Watching the Democratic party decay over the last 40ish years has brought me to to conclusion that there is likely no way back to redemption for it. I agree we need a strong party that follows the philosophy of FDR, JFK, RFK et al, but I no longer believe it will be possible using the tarnished label "Democratic". American needs something strong and effective to replace the Democratic Party, that is for sure.