If you’ve ever seen the movie “Fight Club,” Ed Norton’s character beats cruelly Jared Leto to a pulp. That’s what happened to the Democratic Party. It may not have happened in one fight, but they’re 0-4 in special elections. They lost the White House, Congress, and their foothold in rural America. That’s why Republicans control 69/99 state legislatures. As the left licks its wounds after Democrat Jon Ossoff’s lack of competitive fire to win Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, the party is wondering what it’s going to do. There will be another internal debate about whether to move further left or center, although some Democrats wonder if their party’s brand just sucks. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) admitted that his party’s brand is worse than Trump’s. Uh, one difference, Congressman, President Trump’s brand actually won the election (via NOW) [Emphasis mine]:
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton called the defeat “frustrating” and called for changes at the party’s highest levels.
“Our leadership owes us an explanation,” said Mr. Moulton, who voted against Ms. Pelosi in the last leadership election. “I personally think it’s time for new leadership in the party.”[…]
Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a third-term lawmaker close to party leaders, said Democrats will “crystallize our message on jobs, on health care” in the coming months. The results in Georgia and other special elections, he said, should encourage Democrats to campaign on the immense map of districts. “We have to compete everywhere.”
Mr. Swalwell said Wednesday morning. “We want to be the party that stands up for your jobs, your health care and your children’s future.” Others in the party were far more caustic, calling Mr. Ossoff’s defeat a warning to Democrats who see red-blooded suburban districts as a key to winning power and saying Ms. Pelosi will undermine the party’s candidates as long as she holds office.
Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, who tried to oust Ms. Pelosi as House minority leader overdue last fall, said she remained a political touchstone for Democrats. But Mr. Ryan said the Democratic brand had also become “toxic” in much of the country because voters saw Democrats as “unable to connect with the issues they care about.”
“Our brand is worse than Trump,” he said.
At the moment the Democratic choir is growing larger finger pointing in the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). South Carolina House candidate Joe Cunningham, who is hoping to unseat Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), said he would not vote for Pelosi for leader if he wins in 2018. He said the speaker, but at this point — it’s a stretch to predict a Democratic takeover when the rug was just pulled out from under them in Georgia. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX) also criticized Pelosi saying, “I think you have to be an idiot to think we can win the House with Pelosi at the helm.” Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) seemed to agree.
“There comes a time when every leader has to say, ‘For the good of order and for the good of the party, it’s time for me to step down,’ and I would like that to happen now. This is not personal. I want to get my majority back,” she said.
As MSNBC Morning co-anchor Mika Brzezinski noted yesterday, Jon Ossoff’s defeat shows that the road to Democratic Party rebirth is long. President Trump may have his flaws, but he’s working. The Democratic Party’s screaming, yelling, and cursing; the endless protests; the calls for resistance; and the obsession with collusion with Russia are not winning messages. It shows that momentum is not on their side. It shows that we’ve seen progressives who live in bubbles travel to other bubbles (i.e., New York to Washington) to protest Trump. When there’s a large Women’s March in Youngstown, Ohio, we might reconsider, but progressive tantrums are happening in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, etc.; places where you’d expect liberals to be raging at Hillary Clinton, who lost one of the most winnable elections in recent memory.
And it doesn’t look like the future is too vivid (via Political):
DEM OPERATIVE QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We don’t have a party faction anymore that can ride this wave. We have 80-year-old leaders and 90-year-old members. This is not a party. This is a giant assisted living facility. With field trips, a gym, a dining hall, and service.”
