The Democratic Party's Playbook: Trying the Same Failed Strategy Again and Again, Expecting Different Results
It turns out, throwing progressives under the bus at every turn wasn't a winning strategy... Who knew?
My journey in politics started about a decade ago – when Donald Trump first ran for President. I was fifteen years old, growing up on a cattle farm in “red”, rural Kentucky. I couldn’t fathom that so many of my neighbors, family members, and people I went to church with were ardently supporting the anti-women, anti-equality, anti-American tangerine nightmare. In trying to understand this mass psychosis, I unintentionally became obsessed with politics and it changed everything for me.
Finding Progressive Values in Rural KY
I would sit in my bedroom on Twitter, holding my phone at just the right angle so I could get a faint internet connection – enough to load my timeline – which was filled with Bernie Sanders’ content and strangers on the internet talking about taxing the rich to invest in things like universal healthcare and free college. It made perfect sense to me.
I watched every debate, followed the news closely, and continued to align more with Sanders’ platform; but, the primaries came and went and the corporate Democratic establishment anointed Hillary Clinton as our candidate. We were told that Sanders was too radical and that his ideas weren’t practical, even though he told us exactly how he was going to pay for it all. Sanders would have finally made the wealthiest individuals and corporations in this nation pay their fair share. But, the Democratic donor class shut Sanders down because they saw him as a threat to their interests… and he was.
Already, as a young woman growing up in Kentucky who was even a little bit vocal about progressive values, older people really got off on telling me how naive I was. That I didn’t really know how the world worked. That when I got older and started paying taxes, I’d understand why Sanders was too left to be a real option, and that I’d come to understand why so many people hate Hillary Clinton (at least that part was true).
Do you get deja vu?
Fast forward to the 2020 election. In a more crowded and competitive primary, the same story played out once again. This time, multiple progressive candidates painted a clear picture of how the economy has been rigged against working class people, and detailed concrete policy solutions that would reshape our country for the better.
Once again, the Democratic establishment (and their major donors) chose their fighter, backing Joe Biden in full force as “the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump”. So, we all got on board, held our noses, and voted in record numbers for Biden and his moderate, watered down policies in order to keep Trump out of office for good.
It was a temporary fix.
Progressives Sounded The Alarm
For years, progressives have been sounding the alarm that the Democratic party has not been investing in bold enough policy or leadership for the future, instead relying on a handful of very old, very establishment players who are still running the show. Yet, Dems continue to make this same mistake time and time again.
Biden continued his 2024 campaign well past viability, despite the outcry for him to step aside for the good of the nation. His disastrous debate performance proved us all right on June 27th, and still it took nearly a month for him to step aside. At that point, Kamala Harris was the only potential successor who could access the massive Biden-Harris re-election fund.
Having worked in the electoral space during that whole switcheroo, I can tell you that my job got a lot easier and a lot harder all at once with Harris as the nominee. Of course, a candidate that can make their way through a sentence is easier to rally behind; but, Biden’s decision to stay in the race until the bitter end meant that, once again, the electorate was robbed of a choice in their candidate – all while facing significant hardship economically and otherwise – and their resentment was evident.
From beginning to end, Harris’ candidacy struggled emerge from the shadow cast by the “Biden-Harris” administration’s low approval ratings, especially as it relates to Biden’s handling of the economy.
What The Research Says
According to polling from Navigator Research about three in five voters reported disapproval of how Biden has handled his job as president and, there was a significant concern among swing voters and voters in battleground states, that Harris, would continue Biden’s economic policies.
Of course, most Americans don’t really understand how the economy works, what the government can do about it, or the extent of the dumpster fire that Biden inherited from Trump’s four years in office and catastrophic handling of COVID-19; however, the point remains that things did not feel materially better for struggling Americans, and the repeated reassurances from Biden and Harris about record low unemployment rates and inflation slowing down didn’t do much to ease the immediate and harsh reality many were facing. Too many Americans were struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table while the government assured us that the economy was perfectly fine.
The True Left We Need To Fight For
Leaders like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and others have spent their entire political careers showing us how exactly corporate greed and the failed legacy of Reaganomics have ruined prospects for working class Americans. From the Stop Wall Street Looting Act to reform the private equity industry and protect workers, consumers, and communities, to legislation to Make Polluters Pay for knowingly fueling the climate crisis, the progressive wing of the party consistently puts forward tangible solutions to address the biggest problems our country faces; but, time and time again, the political establishment fails our nation from both sides of the aisle – shying away from these solutions to line their own pockets, and those of their corporate donors.
As a result, in my lifetime alone, we’ve witnessed a massive transfer of wealth, taken directly from the pockets of the working class and funneled straight to the top. Now, we are entering an era where the 1% have moved beyond hiring lobbyists to beg Congress for corporate welfare. They’re now in charge of the entire federal government.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of hearing the same washed up politicians tell us that solutions are out of reach, while touting watered down versions of Sanders’ 2016 platform because lip service about taxing the rich is popular with voters. I’m tired of watching leaders like Nancy Pelosi climb their way to the top, and then slam the door on the women behind them who are ready to lead – like blocking AOC from House leadership in favor of another old white guy (who literally has cancer right now) just because she can.
The Democratic Party has been repeating the same mistakes, losing elections with the same tired playbook, and not taking any lessons from our many failures.
So it’s time to get louder than ever. We are not just fighting against Donald Trump and his extremist agenda. We are fighting for the soul of the American left. I know it may seem futile given the administration we will be up against for the next four years, but public outcry has already kept Trump from getting his way and he hasn’t even been sworn in yet. We must keep the pressure on. How the American collecive responds to this moment in history will make all the difference in whether Trump can push through his horrible and cruel policy prescriptions, and whether the Democratic Party will finally ditch their corporate overloards and chart a new course with new leadership and bold policy to fight for the working class and marginalized Americans.
Before you go… let’s channel this frustration and anger into action. Recently, the Department of Energy released a report about the harms of Liquefied Natural Gas. Long story short, there is nothing natural about it and it’s pumping a ton of pollution into our air. Back in 2022, the US became the biggest exporter of LNG. New research suggests that LNG exports are even worse for the climate than coal. The Department of Energy’s own report tells us that LNG is very harmful to our communities, our economy (by driving up energy costs), and our planet. As wildfires rage in California, it’s clear as ever that our climate can’t wait.
Please take one minute to submit a public comment to the Department of Energy, urging them to heed their own research and reject all new LNG export facilities before it is too late. Public comments have already made a difference on this issue, convincing Joe Biden to pause LNG exports back in January 2024. We’ve stopped new LNG build out once before. Let’s do it again.
At what point do establishment Dems doing nothing to stop atrocities become just as guilty as the ones actually carrying out these acts?