IT’S TIME TO BECOME A DEMOCRATIC PARTY

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a member of the Democratic Party. Not a proud member, mind you, but a member, nonetheless. I come from a long line of Democrats.

My grandfather was born in the United States to immigrant parents in 1897. His first presidential vote was for James Cox in 1920. He always said that a Democrat will vote for a better qualified Republican before he voted for an unqualified Democrat, but a Republican will vote for the Devil himself so long as he runs as a Republican. At the time, I thought he was being hyperbolic.

My father’s first presidential vote was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s history making third term. He was a lifelong Democrat and an officer in the Democratic Party of Lee County Florida. He was also a union organizer and local president.

By the time I was old enough to vote, I voted for Governor Michael Dukakis. At that time the Democratic Party was changing, however. I did not yet have the political acuity to realize it, but Democrats consistently lost throughout the eighties and early nineties. That’s when they turned to what has become known as the Blue Dog caucus, the Democratic Leadership Council, to rescue them from political doldrums.

To my knowledge this is the first instance of Democrats evaluating their plight and drawing exactly the wrong conclusion. It would not be the last. Under the leadership of the Blue Dogs, Democrats decided to become the party of what I call Neoliberalism Lite. They would attract the big donors by embracing pro-corporate policies and tough on crime rhetoric, while promising to protect Medicare and Social Security–and later, Roe v. Wade. After all, what were progressives going to do, vote for Republicans?

Unfortunately, this strategy appeared to work with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. It turned out, however, that unless Democrats were running a very charismatic candidate who could present himself (and it had to be a him) as more liberal than he was, Democrats continued to lose. So, we got Bill Clinton. We got NAFTA. We got the end of “big government.” We got what I have referred to as a bunting team.

People like me, progressive, pro-union, environmentalist, interested in human rights had nowhere to go. Frankly, I left the Democratic Party in the Clinton years. I wandered in the political wilderness, playing with libertarians before I realized that they were selective about who got to enjoy the “liber” part of their name. I voted socialist. I voted Green. I voted for RalphFreakinNader in 2000! That’s right. And I don’t regret it!¹

I remember progressive pundits, advocates, and commentators warning the Democratic Party that if they kept ignoring the working class, they would lose the working class. Well, here we are. Turns out, those progressives were right…again.

And what has the Democratic Party gotten for it? The Democrats pushed tough on crime rhetoric and policies, and yet continue to be criticized as “soft on crime.” Democrats promote pro-business, pro-corporate policies, and are still called “socialists.” They step up deportations and border security and are still accused of having open borders. They cut spending and reduced deficits and yet cannot convince the electorate that they are better for the economy.

We will be handing over a growing economy with low inflation and low unemployment to an orange con-man…again!

As it stands, under a Democratic administration the United States has weathered a severe inflation crisis better than just about any other advanced country. What do we have to show for it? We will be handing over a growing economy with low inflation and low unemployment to an orange conman…again! As I’ve said before…nobody pulls defeat from the jaws of victory quite like Democrats!

Look. The bottom line is that the current formula of Democrats tacking to the right every time they lose under the premise that they are “moderating” their position to adapt to the electorate is a bunting strategy. You may advance a runner here and there, but you will not score. For almost forty years you have been running as Neoliberal Lite…and lost your constituency. Do you really think that running as Fascism Lite is the best strategy?

No. Your best strategy is bold, yes progressive, small “d” democratic policies. MAGA won because the Orange Don had the courage to push the policies that MAGA wants. They may claim it was inflation, or trade agreements. That’s nonsense. MAGA wants a leader who is going to persecute the people they don’t like. They voted for bold, even unrealistic, policies like building a wall on the southern border, and now a militarized police state for purging “those people.” That’s what MAGA voted for. Fascism.

If you plan on contesting a fascist movement, you cannot do so by becoming a “less fascist” alternative. The counter to fascism is democracy. It is time for the Democratic Party to become a democratic party.

It is time for the Democratic Party to become a democratic party.

If you want your base to come out and vote, embrace big, bold democratic policies that excite us…then make your case to the American people that this is what democracy has to offer. The authoritarians have nothing but hate and violence. Democrats are proposing a future. Secondly, you have to attack to awfulness of the GOP, and you have to do it relentlessly contrasting it with democratic principles.² These are tactics that the Democratic Party has allowed to atrophy since the fall of Tip O’Neill.

First, the policies that will excite your base. I recommend the very first item on the list should be publicly financed tertiary education. Post-secondary education, whether it is in academia or trades, is not just important for individual advancement, but is necessary for sustaining a competitive marketplace in the twenty-first century. Individuals and families should not have to bury themselves in debt to pursue what is universally recognized as necessary for the health of the nation. According to Pew Research, over sixty percent of Americans favor paid college. Expand that to include paid trade and tech education and it is likely even more will sign on. Even younger and lower-working class Republicans favor paid college. That’s a hell of lot bolder than the milquetoast “debt forgiveness” schemes the Biden Administration pushed and largely failed to deliver on.³

And yes, this should apply for those people who want a philosophy degree, or an art history degree. The Marco Rubio strategy of taking up welding because we need more welders is ludicrous. This strategy can only result in a loss of talented philosophers or artists in exchange for mediocre welders. That’s no bargain. In a small “d” democratic society, people are free to pursue their passions and make those pursuits work for them the best they can. But this is an aside.

I could offer more progressive policies that have strong support among Democratic or Democratic leaning voters. Universal Basic Income. Medicare for All. The bottom line is Democrats take the wind out of their own sails when they take something like publicly financed higher education and water it down to attract the so-called “moderate” vote. Stop trying to attract the moderates. There are no moderates. The folks who want to persecute immigrants are not going to be convinced to vote Democratic just because you are offering housing subsidies and child tax credits. Dedicate yourself to attracting the young liberal and progressive vote.

That really is the key. I’ve talked to a lot of young people. They want progressive policies. They want to vote for progressive candidates. They are simply not being given the opportunity. Young people want massive investments in their future because they are scared for the future–and for good reason. The future of the Democratic Party is not in middle-aged white guys like me. It’s in the hands of the young. The Democratic Party should be making their pitch to the young. How do you do that. Environmentalism. Education. Digital Justice. Mental Health.

Oh! And for Christ’s sake, stop getting caught in the so-called WOKE Trap. We in the Democratic Party, as small “d” democrats believe everyone deserves to be treated with basic human dignity and that universal human rights are universal rights for all human beings. Period. A trans girl wants to play volleyball, let the school, the parents, and the students come together democratically to figure out what is best for their situation. It’s not the state’s role to make those decisions. Defund the police? That’s a decision for local communities to come together democratically and decide how they want to be policed.

See how easy that is? Stop getting distracted.

Next, Democrats need to make their case. This isn’t about winning the midterms and then maybe developing a plan to secure the presidency in 2028. Democrats need a long game. MAGA didn’t take over the Republican Party overnight. Progressives will not do so in the Democratic Party.

We start by making our case that progressive policies will benefit everyone, and here’s how. And stop trying to dump wheelbarrows full of data on people’s doorstep as if that might convince them. People are not convinced by data. Tell them stories about people who benefit from the policies you propose. Here’s a woman in Italy who can pursue her passion in college and start her own catering business without worrying about being buried in debt.

Then, here’s the key. Ask the question, “why can’t an American woman do the same in the United States?” The answer…because the MAGA GOP wants all Americans to be in debt bondage to the big banks. They will never allow your children to be free so long as they have enough votes to block progress. MAGA is funded by the big banks to keep it this way. Democrats are the ones fighting for your child’s future.⁴ Then, every time a Republican blocks a vote for public financing, the Democratic Party needs to point it out, make an issue out of GOP obstructionism. You would be free of college debt today if it weren’t for these conservative obstructionists. Stop trying to play nice to get that bipartisan support. Bipartisan support for small “d” democratic policies is a unicorn.

Oh, and don’t be afraid to call out the conservatives in your own party. Sorry. there’s no room for Joe Manchins anymore. This is a fight for the future of our nation, our democracy, and the future of our party. Sign on or join the police-state purge party and see how you fare.

For almost the entirety of my adult life the Democratic Party has pursued a dispiriting strategy of accommodation, leading potentially dedicated party members like myself to either find a political home elsewhere, or grudgingly sign on to the “lesser evil.” Consequently, it’s the Democratic Party who now holds the bag for a failed Neoliberalism that is rejected by everyone along the political spectrum. The only successes the Democratic Party has enjoyed have come on the heels of right-wing calamity, the catastrophe of the Iraq War in 2006, the collapse of capitalism in 2008, a mishandled pandemic in 2020. Otherwise, the Democratic Party is a political afterthought.

That a twice impeached felon and rapist who incited an insurrection and spent the last two decades spewing hate and vitriol can be twice elected to the presidency is an indicator that the Democratic Party is going the way of the Dodo if it does not change its strategy.

For what I hope is the last time, I beseech the Democratic Party to stop being a bunting team. For God’s sake! We’ve lost enough.

Sincerely,

Mike

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Footnotes

1. Well…in retrospect, I regret it a little. ↩︎
2. This is not to suggest that we should follow the GOP strategy of blatantly lying about the opposition. Liberals and the left are not as ambivalent to lies for the sake of the group as are conservatives. ↩︎
3. That’s not to say debt forgiveness isn’t a worth-while policy. It’s just not particularly inspiring. ↩︎
4. Of course, this insinuates that Democrats need to free themselves from big bank and big corporate donations. But that’s a topic for another post. ↩︎