The Democratic party is in deep trouble.
While the GOP is perceived as destructive and kind of insane — they manage to reliably get themselves elected — even if by an effective minority of motivated far Right activists. The Democratic Party is being perceived as ineffective and inconsequential, and also having abandoned its base.
When I left the NYC region for the more sustainable and affordable homestead, following the 2008 Crash and the devastation of Megastorm Sandy, I re-registered as an crusty Independent abandoning my life-long association with a Democratic Party that no longer represents working people in any significant way. And I had no interest in a GOP that is actively hostile to me and my convictions. West Virginia has semi-closed primaries, so I am not barred from supporting a primary candidate worth my effort to show up.
Nationally, the DNC and DSCC have been as effective in discouraging the Democratic Base and Left leaning Independents from voting as GOP shenanigans have been in suppressing it. Between not standing up for Democratic Principles or issues, (or not making any visible fuss about it, either) and incessantly fielding weak, unappealing, politically cowardly down-ticket candidates, voters with nothing to vote FOR, tend to STAY HOME IN DROVES. Witness the last two disastrous Mid-terms.
Many people point the finger at disenchanted democratic voters and blame them for their apathy and laziness. While there is certainly something to that, the National Party has not exactly been shaking the trees to get these folk moving, or give them much of a reason to move. And this stuff is local — i keep seeing stories of local and State Democratic Candidates and organizations being effectively abandoned by a National Party preoccupied with the Presidential Race.
The Party needs to motivate people with more than "Vote against those assholes, even if we're lame." Any surprise that the Dem varsity bench is damn near EMPTY? The party is fractured and the rising roar of venom between the more vocal and extreme supporters of Ms. Clinton and Senator Sanders further divide the party. It is unhelpful and hurts Democrat's chances in the General by alienating undecided and independent voters.
Doug Muder on his excellent blog, The Weekly Sift, gets into it more here –
"So on behalf of all the Democrats who are still undecided and really can see it both ways, I’ll put this plea out there: Between now and the time the nomination is decided, please work on imagining that some people might honestly and intelligently size up the situation differently than you do. Not everybody who disagrees is evil or stupid." - Doug Muder, The Weekly Sift, Undecided With 8 Days To Go.
And the party is doing very little to try to unify the party, other than hope Sander’s campaign would hurry up and crash and burn so they can get on with coronating Ms Clinton as the Chosen One.
Even in the 2008 and 2012 Campaigns, the WH was won on the strength of Barrack Obama’s own organization, not with very much support from the DNC. And there is a considerable faction of the party that tries to distance themselves from him on just about every controversial issue. That is not the sign of a unified party that can rally votes. And as the gridlock in Congress shows, the White House is not everything, not by a long shot. And State Houses matter, too, and Dems have gotten utterly shellacked in state elections.
“Vote for us. We’re lame, but they’re insane. Give us money.”
That’s not a platform. It’s a CHEER. And it STINKS.