Well, this is something you don’t see every day. Usually, a political party, either the DNC or the RNC works out a plan, decides what they’re going to do, and tells everybody else what they’re going to do, and what we need to do. But this time, everything is on its head. We, the people are telling the DNC what they need to do. The only question is, are they listening?
There was a report that came out yesterday that sure as hell seemed important to me, but it only got one segment each total that I could see on both CNN and MSNBC. The report stated that the DNC is having a real problem with raising cash for the upcoming midterm elections. In fact, they’re already starting to worry about how effective they can be in supporting candidates next year as they try to flip the House and Senate back to sanity based control.
Bad news for us, right? Especially since the conditions for a north coast of Hawaii wave are in the air. Except not really. The same report stated that while the DNC may have trouble making their rent payments, Democratic candidates are swimming in the green stuff. It was quoted that there are at least 26 Democratic challengers who are outraising their GOP incumbent opponents at this point.
The DNC is getting a fusillade right across their bow, from their own supporters. Progressives don’t stop being progressives, and liberals don’t stop being liberals just because their organized leadership has their heads up their asses. If you love playing golf, you don’t stop just because the PGA won’t let you into a tourney, you find people you like and play with them. And that’s exactly what’s happening here.
Actually, I find this a very positive development, and this is as good a time as any to get the message across. You don’t stop going to school just because you hate the way the principal runs the cafeteria, you brown bag it or go out for fast food. Whether you’re a Bernie supporter or a Hillary supporter, you don’t sit and pout just because the DNC can’t get their act together, you go to the corner deli. And the wind is blowing that people in districts are going out and finding their own candidates instead of waiting for the state and national parties to annoint one for them.
Now, it’s up to the DNC. The Democratic base is sending a very clear message; “You’re not listening to us, so screw you, we’ll go and talk to somebody who will. And we’’ll support them directly rather than trust you to do it”. Personally, I cannot imagine that this site cannot take some small credit for this, for pushing candidates to a wider public circulation. If the DNC wants to get the moolah they need to run their operation, they’re going to have to listen to their core supporters, not the Richie Rich donors, and they’re going to have to walk the talk, not just pay lip service to it. If the DNC doesn’t pay attention, their base will go find people who will.
You may disagree with me, but from where I’m sitting, this is real grassroots politics. The party supports local candidates who stand for the principles the party holds dear, and that the local constituents find acceptable. If you want to find a plumber to fix your leaky sink, you talk to your neighbors and coworkers. The DNC may have local district offices, but if they’re busy pushing a predetermined agenda instead of listening to their local constituents, they’re kinda missing the point.
This is not a new struggle, but it’s growing legs. A couple of days ago, MSNBC had an entire segment on highlighting first time candidates for state offices as well as the US House, and a majority of them admitted that a certain distance from the DNC was a selling point for their campaigns. Turns out people want candidates who are actually motivated by serving local interests and opinions, and not a preset agenda from someone who has no idea what is important locally. What’s the old saying? “All politics is local”. But the national parties have both gotten away from that, pushing broad agendas that have little or nothing to do with the lives of the people that will actually elect the candidates, and the local candidates use that as their fallback position instead of speaking to local issues and concerns. The grassroots organizations and candidates are trying to take their politics back.
If this trend in the Democratic party continues, and especially if large numbers of these local grassroots fueled candidates win, their acceptance and assimilation into the party is going to be critical. These people did not win because of a blind allegiance to a national political agenda, they won by being responsive to their friends and neighbors. The more of them that win in 2018, the more the DNC and
Democratic leadership is going to have to actually listen to them, and acknowledge their input in legislation they hope to pass.
The GOP has already danced this boogie. When the Tea Party burrowed their way into Washington in 2010 and 2012, the GOP leadership fornicated the canine. The GOP leadership automatically assumed that just because they ran with a (R) after their name on the ballot, that they would seamlessly assimilate into the party and become an automatic vote for anything the GOP wanted to pass. This imperious attitude ended up costing John Boehner his job, and Eric Cantor quickly followed him right out the door. People are getting just plain sick and tired of politicians telling them what they’re going to get, instead of asking them what they want. Anybody who thought that this was a phenomenon that was exclusive to the Republican party is now being disabused of that notion.
If these candidates win, is this going to bring back the specter of the dreaded “blue dog Democrats”? Quite possibly. But let me ask a quick question, exactly what has rigid ideological purity gotten us lately? Everybody whines about gridlock, but legislation by it’s nature requires compromise in our system. How can we expect it to work across party lines when we can’t even get it to work within party lines. I’ll close this with a celebrated quote from President Ronald Reagan, which somehow or other just seems to be appropriate right about now; “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally - not a 20 percent traitor.” Even a 5 year old learns eventually that you don’t get every single thing you wish and ask for.