Why Democrats Fail | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Unfortunately For Us, The Democratic Party Is Doomed To Always Fail

It's time to take a look at the failures of the party.

231
Unfortunately For Us, The Democratic Party Is Doomed To Always Fail
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hands-hand-raised-hands-raised-220163/

When Neo-Nazis marched with tiki torches in Charlottesville and killed a counter-protester with a car, the Republican President got on the TV the next day and said they were "very fine people." He also said the people protesting against fascism were "just as bad" as the fascists.

More recently, when a young, Democratic congresswoman accurately described our relationship with Israel, Democrats took to the media to decry and defame her as an anti-Semite.

Her name has been dragged through the mud and she has been slandered and this resulted in the far-right engineering attacks on her because of her Muslim faith.

Even after a shooting in New Zealand which resulted in 49 Muslims dead, because they committed the crime of being Muslims, nobody has apologized for what was done to Ilhan Omar.

Therein lies the reasons why the Democratic Party will never succeed, at least in the long term. Even if, by some miracle, the Democrat beats Trump in 2020, what will happen?

If Bernie Sanders wins, he will likely fail to get his agenda moving because of his own party.

The Democrats, even with a super majority in the Senate, will not do wildly popular things that Democratic voters want, like abolishing private insurance. How can we expect Democrats to fight insurance companies when most of them receive major campaign contributions from insurance companies?

If any other Democratic nominee is elected, they will simply return to the status quo of centrism and the system will inevitably produce a second Trump.

The majority of voters, especially voters that vote Democrat, favor progressive causes like Medicare For All, abortion rights, legalizing marijuana, etc.

However, Democrats in office repeatedly fail to represent the views of their constituency.

The best example of this is a bunch of young activists that went to lobby for California Senator Dianne Feinstein to support the Green New Deal (which is now beginning to poll well with even Republican voters) and instead she told them "you aren't even old enough to vote."

Meanwhile, let's take a look at the Republican Party, also known as The Party that currently controls all three branches of government.

After the 2008 election, Republicans were defeated at nearly every level. The party was lost and humiliated; it had no direction. Luckily for them, the masterminds came up with a genius plan to win again.

The GOP knew its voter base consisted of old people, racists, and the rich. However, the first two groups outnumber the last, so they started appealing to those types.

The GOP race-baited with President Obama, nominated immigration hardliners and religious fundamentalists and it spiraled further and further to the right until now it has become totally openly racist with fascist sympathizers.

However, that's what the base believes in. President Trump has the lowest approval ratings overall, but if you look at his approval rating from exclusively within voters for his own party, they are always in the 80s-90s range.

This means that the Republicans, in order to win elections, are going to continue to nominate people just like Trump for all positions. You saw this in the Alabama Republican primary in 2017 the moderate lost to the radical anti-immigrant fundamentalist.

And if you look at the Democrats, they are openly at war with their own base. Party power brokers are already discussing trying to primary Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, women who inspired more people in 2018 than Nancy Pelosi did in her entire life.

When candidates like Bernie and AOC get involved, the Party lines up against them. Joe Lieberman, will go on the news and denounce the party members for "going too far left" when they imply poor people should not starve to death.

I think the best example of how the Democrats failing their constituents hurts them electorally is the year 2009.

Barack Obama won with a pretty wide margin in the electoral. He promised the people hope and change, and the people interpreted that as meaning he would bring about serious progressive reforms.

The fight to pass the Affordable Care Act began, the Democrats in the Senate had a supermajority, so they could, ideally, pass whatever they wanted.

Part of the debate on the ACA dealt with a public option, people could choose a healthcare provider that wasn't a private, for-profit, corporation. This angered the health insurance lobby that controlled a lot of Democrats, including Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman vowed to fight against a public option, so it was scrapped.

The ACA then went on to prove to be a band-aid on a shotgun wound, meaning it failed to really address the real problems of healthcare in this country.

People being upset with the bill is what allowed the Republicans to have one of the greatest comebacks in politics in 2010, and they went on to keep winning up until 2016 when they finally won the White House.

Had the Democrats fought to get a public option, they would have been a much more popular party and they would have ended up being able to rally their base and hold off the Republican victories.

To sum things up, it can be viewed simply: Democrats always lose when voter turnout is low. Voter turnout is low when Democrats run with uninspiring candidates.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Lifestyle

The Great Christmas Movie Debate

"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.

594
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
Mental Floss

One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."

Keep Reading...Show less
student thinking about finals in library
StableDiffusion

As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.

1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.

Keep Reading...Show less
Christmas tree
Librarian Lavender

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Phases Of Finals

May the odds be ever in your favor.

1996
Does anybody know how to study
Gurl.com

It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

How To Prepare For The Library: Finals Edition

10 ways to prepare for finals week—beginning with getting to the library.

3252
How To Prepare For The Library: Finals Edition
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

It’s that time of year again when college students live at the library all week, cramming for tests that they should have started studying for last month. Preparing to spend all day at the library takes much consideration and planning. Use these tips to help get you through the week while spending an excessive amount of time in a building that no one wants to be in.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments