Demise of the Democrats

The Democratic Party is working to kill itself. This self destructive pattern is brought on by old guard loyalist within the party, historically weak national governance, and a power hungry / win at all cost family with a track record of setting the Democrats back.

Listen, I'm a progressive. I believe we have a chance to create a new progressive majority. I will talk about this in a subsequent blog, but first let me tackle the factions I see killing the Democratic Party.

Old Guard Party Loyalist
There is an energy that has been building over the last 2 years that have swept the Progressives (Democrats) into front and center as the national party. It began in the election of 2006 where the Dems took control of Congress and has continued during this most recent election cycle positioning them for a realistic chance at winning the Presidency with either a Women or African-American. This movement has been fueled by young voters, independents ready for change, and a grass roots movement that has been gaining a strategic advantage over the Republicans for the last FIVE years. However, Old Guard Party Veterans are loyal to those that helped them along the way. Its this old loyalty that is fueling Clintons campaign to some extent where by delegates committed to her before the race formally began and now are walking in lock step. The Clinton backers range from the Ed Rendall (Governor PA), Evan Bayh (Sen. IN), and most recently John Murtha (Congress PA). I understand that these old school veterans of the party have to display some commitment to those that have been to battle with them in the past. Its to be expected and commended to a point. However, we are now at a point where party and country loyalty have to supersede individual loyalty. More to come later on this thought.

Historically Weak National Leadership
Since losing the Presidential race of 2000, the Dems have struggled to find a national leader to rally behind. Thru the weak leadership of Terry McAuliffe former head of the DNC (2001-2005 and current Clinton Sr. Advisor) The dems managed to lose two congressional elections, one presidency, and countless statewide elections. It was pathetic. The spineless leadership of Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle (current Obama National Co-Chair) leading a minority congress that was unwilling to stand up to the republicans. Now we have Howard Dean. The election of 2006 was won in spite of Dean and NOT because of him. It would be fairer to say that the Republicans lost the election rather than Dems winning it because they simply became too drunk with power. Dean needs to simply stand up and calm down the rhetoric that has come up in this campaign. He needs to act in the best interest of the party and he has been unwilling. He needs to say emphatically that MI and FL lost their respective voice in the national primary, not because of him, but because their arrogant leadership attempted to break rules that the other 48 states abided by. But don't count on any Democratic leader to stand up...they excel at being quiet.

Power Hungry / Damn The Party Family
Listen, I liked the Clintons as much as the next person. They happen to come to power at the right time and enjoyed a largely successful presidency. The economy boomed not necessarily because of Clinton, but he did a good job of not screwing it up. However, he damanged the party immensely. He galvanized the Republicans into a dominate majority, he caused the Dems to lose control of congress for the first time in 37 years, and he generally screwed Al Gores chances to win the Presidency because of the scandals that he fostered. Now we have a situation of race baiting, declaring that John McCain is more fit than Obama, and generally sticking around too long. Although the Dems enjoyed a huge lead over all their Repub opponents initially, this lead has all be disappeared over the continuation of the Democratic contest. Hillary is not going to catch up to Barack in Pledged delegates, but its her hope to batter him enough that the super delegates give her the nomination. Real smart.

More to come.