I was reading an online Op-Ed piece at CNN critical of what one could call the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, written by Froma Harrop, an author/writer who the conservative/libertarian think tank The Heartland Institute has called her its "favorite lefty”. Not good.
And it shows in the CNN piece. Harrop takes on what I would call a benign Fox News tone, respectfully criticizing but not pulling her punches, as she details the sins of the hard left and their effect on the party’s losses over the last two decades.
She does make some good points, though: It’s a fact plenty of folks irresponsibly and/or naively gave their vote to the Ralph Naders and the Jill Steins and then bemoaned getting Bush or Trump in that Faustian bargain. And yeah, the Ocasio-Cortez-type candidates are not going to appeal to the Dem base in every district.
But the biggest takeaway for me was her allegation that the party’s hard left was more interested in dethroning establishment Democrats than winning the November midterms. And frankly, that doesn’t seem a far-fetched accusation when you factor in what went down in the 2016 Democratic primaries and campaign and what we’ve seen and heard since.
Listen, it’s time for Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the rest of their ilk to hit the road. But let’s keep the eye on the ball: the goal of the 2016 midterms is to gain majorities in Congress not settle internal scores or make dramatic, symbolic purges for the fuck of it. We need to win. Badly. I’d rather hold my nose a little bit and see a Democrat I don’t see completely see eye to eye with win the election, than have another Louie Gomer Pyle or Rapey Roy Moore-type go to Washington.
Democrats are routinely mocked for being more than able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We don’t have the luxury this time. Get on message and stay there, Democrats. We can deal with our dirty laundry after we’ve won back Congress. Don’t fuck this up.
[CNN: Democrats Pop The Movement’s Balloon]
