James Zogby: What Democrats Must Do
What Democrats Must Do
James Zogby
Common Dreams
As the Sanders' candidacy demonstrated, Democrats also faced an internal challenge. Many rank and file Democrats had lost confidence in their establishment and were looking for an authentic message that spoke to their needs. Because he was authentic and had a powerful economic message that spoke to the realities faced by young and working class voters, Bernie won the trust of those who had given up on politics and the Democratic Party.The postmortems I have read analyzing the Democrats’ loss of 2016 (and their accumulated losses on the local level during the past 6 years) require that the party face its problems, head on. There must be changes in message, structure, and leadership.
Despite the extraordinary efforts of these great leaders, the party lost its way during the past several decades. It lost touch with the working class voters who had been its core constituency and focused its message, instead, on a litany of progressive social causes. Democrats were right to attend to these issues—but were wrong to have forsaken their traditional progressive economic program. It was a mistake to have seen these two agendas as competing or mutually exclusive. For the party to once again become the leading force, it once was, it is important that they project a message that unites "class and race" and elect a leader who can authentically carry that message to voters.
Based on my past experiences with these great party leaders and looking forward to what Democrats need to do in the future, I will be supporting Keith Ellison for chair in 2017. I have known Keith since before he was elected to Congress 10 years ago. He is a passionate advocate for working people. He has a vision that is inclusive, progressive, and understanding of the needs of all Americans.
There are also critics who have made the case that as an African American Muslim Keith is the wrong face for a party that needs to win back support from the "white working class". This argument is, at best, wrongheaded, and, at worst, insidious.
Democrats didn't lose the support of the white working class because of the race of the messenger. Rather it was because the party wasn't advocating a message that spoke to the needs and concerns of this disaffected group of voters. In his Congressional campaigns, Keith has consistently appealed to and won the support of a cross-section of voters. And as the endorsements of Bernie Sanders (who won significant support from the white working class) and the AFL-CIO make clear, Keith is a champion for American workers of all races.
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