Democrats are at It again

Democrats are fighting each other - again.

The left-left is fighting the center-left - again.

Younger (mostly) Democrats are fighting older (mostly) Democrats - again.

This is nothing new.

It’s the story of the Democratic Party since the 1960s.

Yes, it can tear the party apart and elect a Republican President - like Nixon in 1968, Reagan in 1980 and Trump in 2016.

It can also refresh and reinvigorate the party and elect an exciting new President - like John F. Kennedy in 1960, Bill Clinton in 1992 and Barack Obama in 2008.

The fight always plays out in the presidential race, and it will again in 2028.

We win when a candidate - usually a fresh face - emerges who can appeal to both wings of the party.

We may not see a JFK, Clinton or Obama out there today, but few people saw them coming.

In 1958, two years before the election, JFK was dismissed as a callow lightweight, a rich man’s son with a “Hahvahd” accent.

In 1990, Clinton was mocked as a hillbilly Governor from Arkansas. President George H.W. Bush looked unbeatable; his approval ratings were in the 90’s after the Iraq War.

In 2006, Obama had been in the Senate just two years. Yes, he’d given a great keynote speech at the 2004 convention, but surely, he couldn’t beat Hillary Clinton and North Carolina’s John Edwards for the nomination in 2008.

What did JFK, Clinton and Obama have in common?

They were eloquent and inspiring.

They had a gift for connecting with people.

They offered a positive, optimistic vision for the future.

They were young. Kennedy was 43; Clinton, 46 and Obama, 47.

They did well in North Carolina. Kennedy and Obama carried our state in November, and Clinton nearly did.

And they all changed politics.

JFK was the first politician to master television.

Clinton went on MTV, played the saxophone on Arsenio Hall’s show and - with Hillary by his side on 60 Minutes - pushed back against the “womanizer” attacks.

Obama combined grassroots organizing with new online tools.

In 2028, Democrats have a chance to find a new champion for the party and set a new course for the country.

The old ways won’t work.

Donald Trump’s hate-fueled, populist authoritarianism has fundamentally changed politics.

A new kind of politics and a new kind of leadership are needed.

It’s not clear today who and what that is - no clearer than it was in 1958, 1990 and 2006.

Something new can be forged only in the fires of competition.

A new leader can arise only from an open, spirited battle for the nomination - what we didn’t have in 2016, 2020 or 2024.

Republicans, meanwhile, are stuck with whatever Trump tells them to do.

They compete only in toadying to him.

I’d rather be us than them.

So, fight on, Democrats.

May the best man or woman win.

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