Time For A Democratic Revolution

The American people are not happy with the Democratic Party. Depending on the poll, their approval rating has sunk to 27%, an all-time low. In a system with only two major parties where the other party is worsening the economy, attacking constitutional rights, destroying alliances, and still polling higher, that is about as bad as it gets.

This distrust is why Democrats not only lost the presidential election last year but also lost the Senate majority and failed to regain the House. Democrats found themselves completely removed from power after running an administration that lowered inflation, raised wages, significantly reduced crime, added jobs every month, and improved consumer protections. Even worse, they lost to an extremist movement led by an insurrectionist, convicted felon, fraud, and national security thief who praises our enemies and berates our allies.

If there was ever a blatant in-your-face wake-up call, this is it. Yet many Democrats still refuse to answer that call, afraid to shake up a system that clearly isn’t working.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has found himself as the poster child for the outdated, out-of-touch Democratic Party that has let America down. When Republicans needed more time to work on their devastating budget that would cut Medicaid, food assistance, education, and so much more, they needed to pass a continuing resolution. House Democrats all voted against it, but lacked the numbers to stop it. Senate Democrats do have the numbers, and Schumer said he would vote against it, only to turn around a few days later with his loyal group of Senators, including his #2 Dick Durbin, to vote with Republicans and gave them everything they wanted.

In face of the massive public backlash to that decision, Schumer didn’t try to make things right, he berated the public for being angry at him and said the best strategy was to sit around for the next couple of years in hopes that the Republican Party would tire of Trump and then Democrats and Republicans could work together to stop him. That is, apparently, the best plan Schumer can conceive of after serving in Congress for the past 45 years.

It would be easy to write many long articles about how poorly Democrats have countered the MAGA movement, but the problems go beyond that and span back over fifty years to a time when the middle class was robust, houses were affordable, working-class wages were livable, and workers' rights were strong. Since then, the federal minimum wage went from being a livable wage to one of poverty, the middle class all but disappeared, housing, education, and healthcare became unaffordable to millions, and people are working multiple jobs not to get ahead, but to simply try and keep food on the table.

This is why Democrats, the party that is supposed to be for hard-working Americans, are losing elections. This is why 77 million people are electing a president while almost 90 million sit home, unmotivated to vote at all. And this is why the Democratic Party needs a revolution in its thinking and approach.

That revolution doesn’t come from reelecting the incumbents that have been in office for 30-50 years, watching these problems worsen without ever solving them. The political machine works for incumbents, not for you. They do everything they can to stave off primary challengers and put massive support behind the party leaders. This stagnates the party, represses new ideas, and leaves people in power who are no longer up to the task.

When Dianne Feinstein refused to step down as her medical conditions were worsening, she had long absences from Congress during hospitalizations, which created a Senate Judiciary Committee that now had an equal number of Republicans and Democrats despite the Democratic Senate majority. Dick Durbin was the chair of that committee, but lacked the fight and willpower to find leverage to keep judicial appointments going during Feinstein’s absence. Durbin, who has been in Congress for 43 years, believes he can ask the modern Republican party nicely and they will help him out, the same way that he thought writing letters to the Supreme Court would make them do anything about the rampant ethics violations plaguing the court. Durbin has yet to decide if he will run for reelection again next year.

It isn’t that the Democratic Party doesn’t have any voices fighting for change. It is that they aren’t letting them lead the way. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez connects with voters in a way other Democrats don’t and is one of the leading working-class voices in Congress. She went for a leadership position in the House Oversight Committee, but Nancy Pelosi, who has been in Congress for 38 years, rallied support to stop her and get Gerry Connolly appointed instead. Connolly has been in Congress for 16 years and has worked with Democrats since the 1980s.

AoC is also an example of taking on the system. She ran as an unknown with no political experience or history against a powerful top Democrat and won. If she can do it, others can too.

There are other powerful democratic voices, many of which people haven’t heard because they haven’t had the chance to move into more critical positions. One name that will become more recognizable is Cory Booker, who is, as I write this, setting a record for the longest filibuster in Senate history to speak out about how bad the Trump administration is for America.

It is time to embrace change instead of fearing it. We should see primaries as a way to strengthen a party, not embarrass it. We should demand a path forward and vote only for those who support it. We should run for office if there aren’t good candidates to vote for.

The people have the power to change a political party and the country, but only if they get involved.