Gordon L. Weil
Donald Trump likes to acclaim winners (often himself) and scorn
losers. If you are a “loser,” he holds you
in contempt.
After last November’s elections, the Democrats were
losers. They saw control of the federal
government go to President Trump, the Trump Republican Party in Congress and a
Supreme Court majority openly sympathetic to him.
Joe Biden led them to being losers. The Democratic Party remained loyal to him
and his policies when he should have stepped aside to allow the party to renew
itself through primaries to choose younger leaders. By clinging to the unrealistic belief that
he was the only person who could defeat Trump, he was the Pied Piper who led
the Democrats over the cliff.
Even worse, the Democrats see themselves as losers. They haven’t recovered or developed a
coherent response to Trump. They cling
to the hope of an eventual return to their policies as the American people come
to see his flaws. Perhaps, but meanwhile
his “losers” label sticks.
They seem to accept it. Their sign-waving in the face of a triumphant
Trump at his speech to Congress was embarrassingly pathetic. Their reaction
to Trump’s extreme and ill-informed policies did not look like the response of
a still powerful political party. Opposition
by Senate
Democrats to the budget bill approving Trump’s actions was a more positive
sign.
Possibly to avoid giving any potential presidential
candidate an advantage, the party has not designated a spokesperson to take on
Trump. That has left the Democrats’
image in the hands of two leaders from Brooklyn, N.Y., Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Neither of them has proved to be charismatic or capable of
launching a sustained response to Trump.
Legislative leadership, more important inside the Washington Beltway than
across the country, is not enough. The
Democrats should have a forceful, informed and younger person speak for
them.
Their voice need not be a member of Congress, but that
person should be ready now. Former
Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg could fill the bill.
Clinton strategist and would-be Democratic wise man, James
Carville, proposed that his party should “roll over and play dead.” Do nothing and allow the Trump Republicans to
self-destruct. The Democrats could then
pick up the pieces. That strategy says almost nothing about how they would
reassemble those pieces.
The Democrats need a coherent and comprehensive answer to
Trump. They should hold a mini-national convention to compensate for the lack of
an open party process last year. In
reviving the party, the task of defining Democratic policies cannot be left to
random pop-up leaders.
They risk being unable to agree. They should recognize that a common goal –
taming Trump – matters more than forcing their agendas into a hotly contested
platform. For their unifying message, they
could adopt the motto,
“the greatest good of the greatest number” and declare that equal respect for
every person is an essential element of the greatest good.
People should be treated as citizens of the country that is
theirs and not as subjects of a presidential government that has taken control
of the country. The Democrats need to
stress that the government serves the values, interests and needs of all
people, not only those who voted for the latest presidential winner.
Their focus must be the congressional elections next
year. The president’s party usually
loses seats at the midterm
elections. That should cost the GOP control of the House. But the Senate is a major challenge. A majority is possible, but tough. A veto-proof majority could only be obtained
with some Republican senators.
Getting GOP Senator Susan Collins to commit to independence
from Trump should be the central element of next year’s campaign in Maine. If she supports his excesses, her claim to
being a moderate and not a Trumper could be exposed and make her vulnerable.
Trump threatens to unseat potential GOP dissenters, possibly
exposing them to personal threats and attacks.
If public service means more than sitting in Congress, now is the time
for the best leaders to take risks.
Otherwise, the political system may disappear beneath their feet,
leaving little need for their public service.
The U.S. needs a functioning two-party system. The parties have had sharply different views
about good public policy, but have shared a commitment to the system. The Republican Party is no longer the clear
conservative voice; it is the Trump maga-phone.
The Democrats are drifting, leaderless and dispirited.
The Democrats should offer a political alternative to Trump
that can win elections in a country that wants cooperation but cannot
compromise. They must lift the level of their
politics above outbursts of frustration, bouts of depression, and disunity. Otherwise, they will share responsibility with
the GOP for the country’s decline.
