For years, the Republican Party was split into multiple factions fighting for power, and to some degree it still is. Now it looks like the same thing is happening to the Democratic Party. Those who have remained in lock-step with mainstream Democrats, like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are beginning to fight back. This ultimate fight between the mainstream Democrats, the progressives, and those who don’t want to give up power is slowly brewing. Many in the House are disappointed with Pelosi’s leadership, and it’s no surprise considering the conclusion of the 2016 elections: Democrats had lost over 1,000 seats, from the most powerful seat on Pennsylvania Avenue down to seats in each of the 50 state legislatures since 2008.
Now the fight is ramping up for those who are desperate to remain in Congress. Since the 2018 mid-term elections are only two months away, this is crunch time for those running for election. On the House side of things, over 50 Democratic candidates have announced that they will not support Pelosi as the next Speaker of the House if Democrats manage to retake the House. It’s important to note that number only includes a handful of incumbent candidates. However, many in the House have begun to float the idea of challenging Pelosi. In my opinion, it’s time for a change, especially considering the sheer amount of gaffes from “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it,” all the way to “Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs.” (Note that the current population is 325 million.) And let’s not forget that poor, 78-year-old Nancy can’t remember that President Bush is not the same person as President Trump.
On the Senate side of things, Chuck Schumer started less than two years ago in his role as minority leader and, compared to his counterpart in the House, he has kept a tight ship until recently. The looming elections are making Democrats in traditionally Republican states very nervous. Democratic senators from Montana, West Virginia, Indiana, and Missouri are starting to show Republican tendencies of potential support for some of Trump’s policies. Without those four critical votes, it will be much more difficult for Schumer and the mainstream Democrats to say they have accomplished anything in their “resistance” fight against Trump.
But the long-term problem for both Democratic leaders will be the progressives. Those who are holding on for power will jump back in line if they win their election. However, with the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic Socialist from Queens, and the popularity of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, it’s time for Nancy and Chuck to move over for the new Democratic power couple. After all, Ocasio-Cortez can perfectly fill Pelosi’s gaffe ridden career. Just since winning her primary, Ocasio-Cortez has made so many gaffes that she banned the press from a recent town hall. And Bernie can easily take over Chuck’s job of rallying the numerically challenged to vote for fiscally irresponsible policies. Looking at the big picture, it looks like a progressive takeover is inevitable, especially considering 70-80% of young Democrats would vote for a socialist candidate in the near future. From my perspective, progressives and socialists are the same books, just with different covers.
The progressives want to drag the party to the point of socialism, whether it be “democratic” or just plain old fashioned socialism. As recently as the 1990s, the Democratic platform sounded very similar to the Republican platform. Just take immigration for example. Then President Bill Clinton, in the 1990s, could have been a stand-in for President Trump at his rallies based on how similar they are policy-wise. Today, mainstream Democrats want to give more to illegal immigrants, and progressives go even further to say they want open borders.
The list of policy disagreements could go on forever. It is rare that there is a single issue that mainstream Democrats and progressives can agree on. An evolution is happening in the Democratic Party and it’s not looking good for mainstream Democrats, especially considering the groundswell of support for progressive policies by the extremely misinformed who will do whatever Bernie and other progressive leaders tell them to do.
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