The general trend over the last 4 to 6 years in terms of elections have not been favorable towards the Democratic party or anyone on the left. This issue lies deeper than just the electoral college or obstructive gerrymandering by the Republican party; these are challenges, but not exactly the root cause of the problem.
The obvious first issue is rooted in the leadership of the Democratic party. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was not a party favorite as chair and was a publicity nightmare for the DNC during the 2016 primary election with her connection to Hillary and her ties to corporate lobbyists. But, nonetheless, poor leadership replaced with a great DNC chair still won't solves the Democratic party's biggest flaw.
The biggest flaw of the Democratic party is failing to unite the left and open itself up to grassroots groups. The left in this country exceeds the right; but the left has a hard time of unifying itself; something that the Democratic party has the power to do.
By power, I mean that there is no doubt, that we live in a two-party system; it's unfortunate, but the unfortunate truth. This is something that radical activists on the left are going to have to accept until a better system can be formed. I hate to say it, but it's true. So the Democrats have the political power, but the grassroots is where the energy and the organization is embedded, key components of what is needed to win.
We see with groups like a Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats that there are grassroots activists who are eager to join the Democratic party and change it from inside out; there is no cry for a third party from these groups, just progressive Democrats running for office. This is the advice that so many Democrats tend to tell activists, explaining that they need to join the party to change the party.
The advice holds true, but isn't held true in practice. The DNC spends money helping established Democrats running for re-election discouraging new Democrats from running for public office. Wasserman Schultz admitted that the purpose of super delegates were to protect the party from progressive activists who wanted to get involved. Stating that “Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists.”
This need to protect the party's establishment politics is the same reasons why so many progressives voted third party. When the platform of the party is to keep the party just left of center in hopes to compete with the perceived-political shift of the US to the right, it doesn't gravitate people to your platform, it pushes them away from the party itself.
The DNC needs to stop trying to adjust their platform to appeal to moderate liberals and moderate conservatives, but rather open up the platform to debate in hopes to find common ground between the causes of grassroots groups and members of the Democratic party. Without the ability to have a conversation with grassroots activists, those activists are not going to use their energy and political base to get voters to the polls in support of Democratic candidates.
This is method of working with grassroots activists on the right is something that the Republican party did well; they were able to organize Americans on the right which in hindsight paid off. It was done through lying and fear-mongering, but nonetheless, it paid off.
There's hope and there's solace that the actions of the current administration will reignite the left to take a bold stance; something that the Democrats have been lacking. We need Democrats who are going to push for single-payer healthcare, universal education, and actions to combat climate change; because without them, the voices on the right become louder than those on the left. We need grassroots activists to demand the conversation of these progressive values.
If we are going to grow the Democratic party, the Democratic party has to be willing to grow as well. We need the left to work together rather than compete against ourselves. For example, strong Democratic candidates will discourage third party candidates for running; but this can only happen if the candidates on the Democratic side are willing to adapt more progressive values.
So I urge the leadership of the DNC and Democratic candidates to open the line of communication between the party and progressive activists.