It appears more and more every day that the Democrat Party is slowly turning the giant ship in the sea of American politics away from Hillary and Bill Clinton. Since 1990 the two have championed the causes of the Party, both while in and out of office. Barack Obama began what many consider that “ship turn” away from the Clintons by defeating HRC for the 2008 Democrat Presidential nomination. Her tortuous loss to Donald Trump in 2016 seems now to be the proverbial nail in the Clinton-Dem leadership coffin. The Party is struggling to find a real leader. It’s last two leaders both resigned in embarrassment. Hillary’s loss in the election pretty much put the kibosh on her political future, (at least all things Presidential) and there’s a huge leadership vacuum remaining that needs to be filled, and filled soon. The 2018 midterms are just around the corner. Democrats desperately need if not to regain control of both houses of Congress get the Senate or the House back in Democrat control. Accomplishing that takes time and takes a lot of money. The DNC has never struggled with raising dollars, but they are running out of time for ramping up for the midterm elections.
Who is there to pick up the DNC mantle of party leadership? Former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez — a hand picked successor to the DNC Chair surprisingly slipped into that role through a late Obama endorsement for him to be named Head. His hate filled speeches attacking all things Republican and of course President Trump have startled many Americans who are not accustomed to his brash and angry rhetoric. To some his actions and style speak of a desperation among Democrats who are watching their deep party roots throughout America being ripped out by middle class working voters who the DNC simply forgot about in the election of 2016. Perez seems to sense the desperation of those voters but struggles mightily at determining how to harness that energy that pushed Trump over the top against HRC. What the Democrats really need and are scouring their ranks to find is someone who can don the mask that the party uses to promote a “new” Democratic Party, forgetting about the old party. And they’re having a difficult time finding the right person.
Who is out there? Quite honestly, the obvious choice is Bernie Sanders. Sanders in many people’s mind should have been on the ticket in 2016 instead of Hillary. DNC shenanigans and the installation of “super delegates” made getting the nomination virtually impossible for Bernie. And besides that, he’s not even a Democrat! He’s and Independent. If he made another run for the White House he’d be 79 when he took his oath of office. All of these are stacked against him. While his name is being mentioned, he is doubtful to be the one to put on the DNC mantle moving forward. After Bernie, Democrat options become scarce. The picture gets even more complicated as the Party struggles with its identity: does it move to the middle to try to attract those former middle American blue collar workers that until Donald Trump were sworn to the Democrat ticket no matter who was at the top? Or do they move to the far left to try and widen their base hoping to attract new younger Democrats? Determination of the party’s identity is critical to finding and putting the right person out front.
There is one option that we have not mentioned, and it’s far fetched for many: Elizabeth Warren. She no doubt is somewhere left of Hillary but not nearly as far left as Bernie. She knows how to play the political game, too. In the 2016 election, she stayed in the middle, withholding her endorsement of either Hillary or Bernie until it was a lock that Clinton would get the nomination. Then she launched into full campaign mode for the party running everywhere with Hillary. And there is no doubt she is definitely in the “Dump Trump” camp — she hates the President. She has recently stated she will in 2018 run to keep her Senate seat and is already campaigning that way. She is most often adept in Q & A with the rare ability to never allow herself to be backed into a corner by reporters — she pretty much always says the right things. And she currently is the DNC attack dog in the Senate, no doubt.
Senator Elizabeth Warren launched another attack on U.S. President Donald Trump on April 19, describing his election win as partly the result of an “ugly stew of racism” on the MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show. The Massachusetts Democrat has been one of the most outspoken critics of the real estate mogul since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, taking every opportunity to call him a “fraud” and a “thin-skinned bully.” Since Trump’s inauguration, Warren has escalated her fight against the president, leading the opposition against Senator Jeff Session’s nomination for Attorney General and urging the Senate to vote down Betsy DeVos’ nomination. When asked by Rachel Maddow why so many middle-class voters cast their ballots for Trump, Warren said the U.S. rhetoric appealed to voters who felt angry and frustrated about the lack of job opportunities.
She added that xenophobia played a big part in Trump’s election campaign. “He got that people are deeply angry,” she said. “People are right to be angry, but Donald Trump said it’s their fault—those other people. Those people who don’t worship like you, those people who don’t look like you, those people who aren’t the same color as you.” Warren also attacked the president for not fulfilling any of his campaign pledges and his promise to help the working class. “He has already signed off on a law to make it easier for employers to steal their employees’ wages. He’s made it easier for investment advisers to cheat retirees,” she said. Earlier on Wednesday, Warren said on ABC’s The View that her biggest regret was “that Donald Trump is president of the United States, period.” She called Trump a “master of distraction” and urged Democrats to unite and focus on combating his agenda. “This man is truly dangerous,” she said.
Of course there will be time to firm up (if she is even going to be considered for the Dem “out front” role) exactly what the party line is going to be for 2018 and 2020. But they need to get started with its modifications pretty quickly. As we saw in 2016, blue collar working Americans feel left behind by the Dems. They will have to be won back.
Enough about Warren as the face of the Democrats. Please note the apparent tone they have taken since the election: they double down almost daily against the Trump Administration, his policies, campaign promises, and actions in his first 100 days. And they’re doing so with the most strident messaging I’ve ever seen from the Left. DNC head Perez goes postal when he speaks using profanity laced verbal attacks on the President. And in the footsteps of HRC, Warren attacks Trump spouting facts that are not facts at all when discussing Trump. That policy hurt the Dems in November. Many Americans feel Democrats look down on them — especially middle class working people — and that being talked to in the way the party speaks to them sends a message of DNC superiority. And Americans do not like that.
Speaking of Warren spouting “non facts” (or “fake news”) about Trump: in the paragraph above taken from her interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, she made these claims of Trump: …..She added that xenophobia played a big part in Trump’s election campaign. “He got that people are deeply angry,” she said. “People are right to be angry, but Donald Trump said it’s their fault—those other people. Those people who don’t worship like you, those people who don’t look like you, those people who aren’t the same color as you.” Warren also attacked the president for not fulfilling any of his campaign pledges and his promise to help the working class. “He has already signed off on a law to make it easier for employers to steal their employees’ wages. He’s made it easier for investment advisers to cheat retirees,” she said. More name calling and attacks that are not factual. And Americans understand this tactic! The fact that Democrats do not understand or believe average Americans read, watch, and listen to news and therefore are cognizant of current affairs is another put down by Dems of working class Americans.
Whether it’s Warren, Perez, Bernie, or even Hillary again, the Democrats have a tough road ahead. The DNC leadership is almost toothless at this time. Without real political leadership soon, I predict the Democratic Party will implode.