A Storm Is Brewing

I am going to make a prediction, during a party’s national convention there are going to be riots because the partys choice to represent them in the National Presidential election is not the people’s (voting public) choice. That’s right, the most ‘popular’ candidate will not be the chosen candidate, the person people see as best suited to represent the republic, will not represent the republic. Yes it is true they may deem themselves an ‘outsider’ (whatever the heck that really means), and are truly sparking a political revolution by harnessing voter anger and redirecting it to a type of political uprising that scares the elite political class. If the people’s candidate is not elected at the party’s convention, that party will alienate their voting base.

Now with all of this I bet you thought I was talking about Trump and the dilemma of the RNC. Nope. I am referring to the DNC and the mess that’s ensuing regarding the Bernie Sanders believers and the Democratic delegates.

Senator Sanders has won 8 of the 9 last primary states; furthermore he is out fundraising Secretary Hillary Clinton simply by his enormous coalition of progressives and young voters. These people have made an evaluation of the current state of the Democratic party and are upset with their business as usual politics, their lack of a progressive agenda, and their unwillingness take big business out of politics.

Lets back up for a moment and revisit the early 90’s of the Democratic party, 1992-93 to be exact. After several consecutive presidential election defeats (Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis, respectively), Democrats were tired of losing elections and seeming weak. Along came a southern democrat who not only had the charm of a gentleman, but the intellect of a scholar. Democrats no longer hung close to progressive ideas, they just wanted to win, and so they allowed this Democrat and his brain trust to bring the party closer to the center. They perfected the concept of Center-Left/Right political dogma, even going as far as to bring Reagan Republicans and turn them into “Clintonian” Democrats and guess what? It all worked. Bill Clinton once famously vowed to be perceived as tougher on crime than ANY Republican, an on the fence Republicans ate it up, while firm Democrats acquiesced thinking a Democrat in the oval office is better than the alternative (a Republican in the white house). In turn Democrats enjoyed two fruitful years of leadership and even in the post Clinton years (during the Bush Presidency) they got to brag about how under their Presidency the economy was booming and the world was great.

But that was then, and this is now, and after two terms of an Obama Presidency progressives are not just hoping to keep ‘business as usual’ but rather want to overturn the entire system. They are not willing to fall back into the shadows just so the party can continue their occupation of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. What they want is a systematic change and a government shaped by the voting populace, not the most powerful or politically inclined. When they see Hillary Clinton they do not see a progressive kindred spirit, rather they see someone who wants to bring the party back to the Center-Left/Right, and they want no part of that world again. To them the party has been there and done that and they have no reason to revisit the 90’s.

The problem is the democratic party is still operating with a 1990’s logic, and the delegates are still backing the candidate that a majority of people are saying does not hold true democratic ideas. Now whether that is true or not is something to be debated at a later time and definitely in another writing piece. What I will offer is that if the party is not careful in choosing their candidate over the wishes of their progressive base it could not only affect the outcome of this falls presidential election if those same progressives decide to stay home come November, but also there is a real chance that a progressive version of the ‘tea party’ could take shape. We all remember how that turned out for those republicans in office who refused to adhere to the extreme platforms of their party, they got voted out. So if Democratic party officials are not careful, maybe the prediction of national convention riots shouldn’t scare them or keep them up at night it’s the prospects of possibly losing their job just to hold onto the presidency that should worry them. I guess they need to decide which job is more important. Ponder on that.

Be Blessed