- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
The DNC’s 448 voting members include hundreds of Democrats elected and selected through state parties, along with smaller numbers of appointees, elected officials, and representatives from party groups like the Young Democrats of America. They will cast ballots for a new chair at a time when the Democratic Party itself is adrift, with no clear leader and no strategy for fighting the Trump agenda or regaining power. As one DNC member told me, “The DNC is not really talking about what went wrong and what we did wrong.”
In writing this piece, I reached out to 427 of the DNC’s 448 voting members and interviewed 19 of them. Those who spoke with me came from ideologically, geographically, and racially diverse backgrounds. They included Democrats from rural and urban communities, grassroots party members, elected officials, and party insiders and critics alike. Most agreed to speak on the condition their names wouldn’t be used.
What emerged from these conversations is a picture of a DNC that is built to be an undemocratic, top-down institution, unable to truly leverage the wisdom and guidance of the DNC members who hail from local and state networks across the country. This is especially true when those local and state members disagree with the DNC’s posture or strategic choices.
This is all absolutely true. Though it is important to point out that it actually is better than what came before.
But just because it’s better than what we previously had does not mean that it’s good enough or that we should have stopped. We absolutely do need to basically dismantle the national leadership and build up locally. The national Democratic party should only be a facilitator for state democratic parties and not the core.
The GOP would love that
Well it’s either that or Democrats continue to be beholden to the oligarchs.
How would dismantling the DNC undo Citizens United? Wouldnt it instead create many more opportunities to get bad actors and bought politicians into the DNC for sabotage?
It would make it harder. Because instead of a single national level party for oligarchs to buy. They would have to buy 51 state level groups. Groups that live, with their constituents. Are answerable to their constituents. Not across the country from them.
Power corrupts. Concentrated power more so. If you want a party responsive to the people. To push against things like citizens united that hurt the people. Give power and voice to the people. Not some oligarchs or vanguard. Not a few nameless unaccountable rubes on the other side of the continent.