The most important thing to understand about the current DNC chair debates (i.e. who should lead the DNC and shape the future of the Democratic Party):
If, like most people, you're not that deep into the details, you might think the current discourse you hear on MSNBC or CNN from people like Howard Dean, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi (the Establishment Democratic side) and progressives like Keith Ellison, Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders is a debate of ideas between groups of people who have different visions of what is best for the Party and for the country.
No.
That is not what is going on.
It is true that Progressive leaders and millions of Progressive activists across the nation are concerned about what best for the country, and want to fix the Democratic Party so it can help improve the lives of most Americans.
But... Establishment Democrats are concerned about what is best for their own bank accounts, and they are concerned about keeping their own personal power.
Period.
Establishment Democrats wrote off "the people" decades ago, when the Democratic Leadership Conference (led by Bill & Hillary Clinton, funded by the Koch brothers) started the Dems away from the working and middle classes, and towards the right -- towards Wall Street, and towards the Corporate Oligarchy. Jesse Jackson saw what the DLC was up to, and dubbed them the "Democratic Limousine Conference." The party was taken over by greedy elitists who were either already members of the 1% club, or determined to get into the 1% club, by hook or by crook.
What happens when your party is taken over by greedy elitists? They attract more greedy elitists and wannabe-elitists, until the party's ranks have been filled top-to-bottom with ego-driven selfish people who don't give a damn about the fact that 84% of Americans today are making less money than they were ten years ago (when you factor in inflation and cost of living rise), or that half of Americans today live in poverty or near-poverty.
And not just the party's ranks -- Establishment Democrats fill the ranks of the corporate media, "think-tanks," the civil service, law firms and lobby firms... All over Washington DC there are thousands of people who owe their cushy livestyles to obedience to the most powerful Establishment Democrats in recent history, the Clintons.
30 years of Neoliberalism (a right-wing economic philosophy that puts corporate profits above all other considerations, begun under Thatcher & Reagan and continued under Bill Clinton, both Bushes and Obama) has not only created the greatest wealth-gap since the Gilded Age... it has also made thousands of people riding the Clinton bandwagon very wealthy.
As we know, the Clintons keep a spreadsheet -- a list of who has been naughty (to be punished) verses who has been nice (to be rewarded). This is the power that Bill and Hillary continue to hold in Washington. It is a very great power, not to be underestimated.
There is no truer saying than "Power corrupts."
The American system has survived 250 years because of checks and balances that prevented any one side or group from gaining too much power. If we are seeing that system collapsing today, the Democratic Party has been as much to blame as the Republican party. Both parties are suffused with greedy, wealthy elites who value their own financial success and power over any other consideration.
These people do not want change. That's why Nancy Pelosi did the round of talk shows after this disasterous election, looked straight into the cameras and said with a straight face: "People don't want the Democratic Party to change direction."
Actually, it is indisputable that 99% of us DO want change -- people on the left, right and center. All want change.
But... NANCY PELOSI does not want change. Howard Dean does not want change. None of the Establishment Democrats want change... because change would rock THEIR boats, and since they are currently at the top of the greasy pole, any rocking could see them slip down a peg, and that is not acceptable to them.
Because they are selfish, greedy people. Sorry to be that blunt. But its the truth.
They are not patriotic. They do not put country first. They do not care about improving the lives of average Americans. Two recent examples:
- Senator Cory Booker and eleven other "Democrats" voting to deny Americans access to lower-cost pharmaceuticals from Canada (the same exact drugs manufactured in the New Jersey Big Pharma corporations that donate generously to Booker). Booker defended his vote by repeating a lie about "safety concerns" which he borrowed, verbatim, from Republicans who have used this lie to keep drug prices high for decades. (BTW, Booker is on same side as Betsy DeVos, and has so far privitized 40% of New Jersey schools -- with disasterous outcomes for the children, but giant corporate donations for Cory.)
- California State Democratic Party vice-chair accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Pharma and then working to insure that Prop 61 did not pass (Prop 61 would have lowered pharmaceutical prices for Californians)
These examples are just the tip of the corruption ice berg which the Democratic Party has been steered into by 30 years of wealthy elitists piloting the ship.
Today's "Democratic" leadership believe Americans living in poverty deserve to be there. They feel superior to most Americans (Thomas Frank explains this thoroughly in LISTEN, LIBERAL). They believe they belong at the top because they scored high on the SATs and went to the best schools. (Scoring high on the SATs may mean you are smart, but it does not mean you are superior. That distinction is not recognized by today's wealthy elites.)
But mostly they owe their success to having latched onto the Clinton bandwagon. They will not give an inch of their privileged position without a fight.
- This is why, to this day, they are incapable of admitting (publicly) that Hillary Clinton was the WRONG CANDIDATE to run in The Year People Demanded CHANGE. They insist that the election results bear this out -- because Hillary won the popular vote. Never mind the record-low turn-out, the many millions of Americans who voted for Barack Obama who STAYED HOME, rather than vote for Clinton.
- This is why, to this day, they cannot admit the corruption and cheating that went on behind the scenes at the DNC. (When Tom Perez admitted the rigged system recently, he was immediately disciplined for his heresy, and dutifully went on Twitter to say he had "misspoken." That's code for "I accidentally spoke the truth.")
- This is why Chelsea Clinton is now being groomed to continue the political dynasty. The Establishment Elites are all on board, looking forward to continued power and wealth coming their way.
We cannot allow the corruption of the past 30 years to continue to dominate a once-great and meaningful political Party.
Progressives are working to return the Democratic Party to its roots as a party of the working and middle class.
If we can succeed in doing this, the ego-driven wealthy elitists will migrate elsewhere, to more fruitful pastures. Don't worry about the poor dears -- they will call in their favors-owed and be employed on Wall Street or the Military Industrial Complex... There, they will be more comfortable among their own kind. They will not want to hang out at the new Democratic Party with the rabble-peasants who don't even know where to buy the right clothes.
We need to replace the top-most leadership so that a new direction can be set for the party. That new direction will involve actually helping the people, instead of merely paying lip-service to "helping the people" while lining their own pockets with obscenely huge speaking fees and corporate donations. Those cynical self-serving people will leave, to be among their own kind. They will be replaced by genuine warriors who will fight for liberty, justice and the welfare of all Americans.
This is how we can win back the White House in 2020.
And not only the White House, but also win back the 1000 state senate and state assembly seats that Democrats have lost in the past ten years.
- Democrats need to first EARN people's votes, instead of feeling entitled to those votes.
- Democrats need to start representing The People again.
- Democrats need to give people a positive altnernative to the negative populism of Donald Trump.
We will never win back the country by being "moderate" (code for no change) or centrist or corporatist. People see through that now.
People know they've been lied to and mistreated by Democrats as much as by Republicans. Either the Dems stop being "republican lite" or this party has no good reason to exist.
Therefore, before Dems can beat Republicans, the first battle that must be won is for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party itself.
More to the point, the battle is to RESTORE heart and soul to the Democratic Party.
- OUT with greedy, self-serving centrist-corporatist Wall Street lackeys.
- IN with new fresh ideas and a rising tide that will lift ALL boats.
Below are links to terrific You Tube interview with Thomas Frank, author of LISTEN, LIBERAL which everyone should read.
Don't have time to read it? These 4 ten-minute clips will fill you in.