Under the guidance of Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz, the Democratic Party lost control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives allowing the Republican Party to advance a policy of obstructionism without any resistance. Following Wikileaks’ release of emails showing that DNC officials had not been neutral during the Democratic Primaries, Wasserman Shultz was forced to step down. Then yesterday, under the leadership of Interim-Chair Donna Brazile, the Democratic Party failed to gain control of a majority of state legislatures, failed to get a majority in either house of Congress, and they failed to win the Presidency. As the President-Elect Donald Trump would say, Democrats just aren’t winning anymore.

The Democratic Party, as it is today, is in freefall. While the establishment will blame racism, sexism, third parties, the FBI, and Bernie Bros for Clinton’s loss last night, others understand that the Democratic Party has no one to blame but themselves. Vast swaths of the American people see lower standards of living, see their rights as workers being stripped away and see a bleaker future for their children all while the Democratic Party continues to push its corporatist agenda. Moreover, the American people see that the political and economic elites have continued to grow more powerful and more wealthy off of their backs. It is this injustice that has now unleashed a populist wave throughout our country.

Throughout history, when populism sweeps through a nation, the people are left with two options. Either they will pick authoritarian populism, in which a demagogue will channel people’s fears and anger towards minority and foreign scapegoats; or they will choose reform populism, in which genuine reform leads to investment in the people and making equal opportunity a reality. So when the latter was taken away during the Democratic Primaries, the American people went with the former and elected a monster.

It is not as if we were not warned. Franklin Roosevelt, during his 1944 State of the Union Speech said, “We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. ‘Necessitous men are not free men.’ People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” Corporatist Democrats failed to heed his warning, failed to protect the American people, and have now failed as a political party. More than ever, it is up to the Progressives to take back the populist wave from Donald Trump and restore the American people’s faith in the Democratic Party.

In her role as Interim-Chair, Brazile appointed Tom McMahon to lead the transition team in charge of finding the next permanent party chair. Tom McMahon, who served under then-Chair Howard Dean, helped lead the party’s effort to develop and deploy the 50-State Strategy. The goal of a 50-State Strategy is to put a significant effort behind winning elections at every level and in every region of the country, regardless of whether or not a seat is deemed winnable. By putting resources into building a Democratic Party presence even when Democrats are unlikely to win federal positions, Democrats that win local and state elections can help raise voters’ awareness of their party and can increase the chances of more Democratic victories in the future. Although President Obama deployed a scaled back version of the 50-state strategy in 2008, he was nevertheless able to win Virginia, Indiana, and North Carolina, three states that had previously been Republican strongholds. A similar approach is needed today. Progressive Democrats need to run in all elections, from school boards in California to Senate races in Wyoming. The American people need to be exposed to a new Democratic Party, a party that has thrown away the shackles of big donors and lobbyists.

However, if progressives wish to rebuild the Democratic Party, they cannot afford to waste a single moment. Tom McMahon is most likely not consulting the Progressive wing of the party when searching for a new DNC chair. Chuck Schumer, the incoming Senate Minority leader who advocated giving corporations a giant tax holiday, will be trying to get his person picked as the DNC Chair. Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House Minority Leader, will be doing the same. Progressives need to target these two immediately. Voters in their states and district need to email them and call them and tell them that they need to pick Bernie Sanders as the new DNC Chair.

“Let me be very clear. In my view, Democrats will not retain the White House, will not regain the Senate, will not gain the House and will not be successful in dozens of governor’s races unless we run a campaign which generates excitement and momentum and which produces a huge voter turnout. With all due respect, and I do not mean to insult anyone here, that will not happen with politics as usual. The same old, same old will not be successful. The people of our country understand that — given the collapse of the American middle class and the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality we are experiencing — we do not need more establishment politics or establishment economics. We need a political movement which is prepared to take on the billionaire class and create a government which represents all Americans, and not just corporate America and wealthy campaign donors. In other words, we need a movement which takes on the economic and political establishment, not one which is part of it.”

~ Bernie Sanders August 28th, 2015

Progressives and Democrats alike are angry. We need someone capable of channeling that energy to lead the party. We need someone who is willing to take the current establishment and toss it to the wayside. Sanders has proven that he can lead a grassroots movement. He has proven it is possible to raise enough money from small donors to compete against the wealthy. If the Democratic Party is to survive, it must reinvent itself in the image of Sander’s Political Revolution. Either the DNC can do it now by picking Bernie Sanders as DNC Chair, or the Political Revolution will do it for them. We will protest every corporatist step they take and we will primary them out of office, one by one, state by state until the American people have once again regained control of their democracy.

The DNC: Send a message to the DNC

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