CHICAGO — One running gag among many Democratic activists on social media is mocking the media with the “Democrats are in a mess” meme.
Someone writes “Dems in raray” while Republicans struggle. As Trump attacks his fellow Republican, listen to the “Lessons Are Confused” gag from various corners of political social media. As Democrats Unite Behind Unity Ticket: “Dems Are Confused.” You see where this is going.
The whole “Dems in disarray” trope goes back to an earlier generation of Democrats who regularly used the media to debate among themselves the right direction on their party’s policy front or on the campaign trail. more private. When Democrats regularly aired their differences in the media, it sometimes gave the exaggerated impression that the party was not as united as the GOP because the GOP kept its divisions under wraps.
But since the start of the Donald Trump era, it’s been a GOP in constant turmoil. It makes sense, given that Trump is trying to remake the GOP in his own image, and that image is in stark contrast to the belief system of the more traditional GOP brand names of the past 30 years—think Bush, Romney, Cheney, Ryan, or McConnell. Aside from beating Democrats on Election Day and cutting taxes, there’s not much Republicans agree on these days. There are major disagreements over trade and economic policy, and more fundamental disagreements over America’s role in global security. On character, rule of law and more, the division in the party is there for all the world to see.
Perhaps the best example of this absurd social turmoil on the right in the Trump era is the 2018 government shutdown. Despite controlling the House, Senate and the presidency, the party suffered a government shutdown after the midterm elections. This is the only government shutdown that has occurred while the government is in place no divided into parties. Clearly, more evidence of the “Dems in disarray.”
On the contrary, the Trump era has made the Democrats more united and, in turn, more pragmatic and public. What unites the party most is defeating Trump, and that can create clarity of purpose. Senator Joe Manchin and Rep. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can both endorse Kamala Harris on the same news thread, you know you’ve got a pretty healthy Democratic Party as an institution… at least for now.
For those of us who have covered politics since the turn of the century, this is a surprising change in behavior on both sides. Republicans always dictated how things were done; It was always someone’s “turn” to run – whether it was Ronald Reagan in ’80, George HW Bush in ’88, Bob Dole in 1996 or John McCain in 2008, each of whom had previously run for president. and was defeated. The party was bigger than one person; Sure, Reagan was the North Star, but he was never bigger than the GOP establishment. Not Dole, not Bush, not McCain. It wasn’t until Trump that the party began to organize itself as a party of personality rather than an institution.
As for the Democrats, for much of the 70’s and 80’s (and even with Bill Clinton) they were always looking for their next cult figure, more specifically the next “Kennedy” at that time. They wanted to fall in love the way the party fell in love with John F. Kennedy in 1960. The idea of finding this “next Kennedy” was so strong that the highlight of Clinton’s 1992 convention was the debut of footage of the 1992 convention. young, teenage Clinton shakes hands with the 35th president of America. This was a big moment for him to position himself as the rightful heir to the leadership of the party and the country.
But today’s Democratic Party is remarkably disciplined, and very disciplined. The party proved to be bigger than any individual.
This convention in Chicago demonstrates this institutional strength and discipline. Every living president speaks or is represented (Jimmy Carter’s grandson speaks for his ailing grandfather). In fact, each night features a different president: Joe Biden on Monday, Barack Obama on Tuesday, and Clinton on Wednesday — and maybe the next president with Harris on Thursday.
Compare that to the Republicans. Bush has not spoken at the GOP convention since 2012. Before that, a member of the Bush family had addressed every Republican convention since 1956.
According to Trump’s 2016 eulogy, he was “Mr. Republican” at the Dole convention, but only after Dole pledged his support. Trump has little respect for the GOP’s past. He actually said he believed he was more popular and more influential than the party’s first president, Abraham Lincoln — and if that’s his way of thinking, why would he want to praise the past accomplishments of either Bush or Reagan? “Party of Lincoln” is not what Trump wants to hear. He prefers the “party of Trump”.
And therein lies the irony. Now that leaves the GOP looking for a personality buff to be its next savior (if Trump fails to be the savior this cycle). This was the role of the Democrats in the 70s, 80s and even the first decade of the 2000s until Obama came along.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has already coalesced around candidates early and quickly in two consecutive elections. In 2020, soon after Biden won his first primary, the party’s elite quickly rallied around him to stop the primary campaign and avoid a long, drawn-out fight with then-progressive champion Bernie Sanders.
And just 29 days ago, the party did it again, quickly rallying around Harris and stifling any potential major upset after Biden stepped aside, all in the name of defeating Trump.
Now, is this the party’s strength or a sign of the candidate’s weakness? The fact that Biden needed the party to rally around him in 2020 to prevent a potential Sanders nomination was perhaps a sign of things to come in 2024. But he won in 2020, and the party has had more success in passing its own selections. putting aside small ideological differences and pursuing larger goals, he brings up the agenda by justifying the intervention. (Remember, the legislation was supported by both Manchin and Sanders.)
Because of that success, party leaders felt more comfortable doing it again, ousting Biden and quickly rallying around Harris. If Harris wins, it will be interesting to see if he can garner more political capital than Biden, or if he will have a tough time getting the nomination, as Biden did. But winning solves many problems and documents over many potential divisions.
That’s not to say that there aren’t divisions within the Democratic Party, and those divisions could indeed cause it headaches and cost it elections at some point. But for now, the disagreements with Republicans look more like small skirmishes.
At some point, this will be the end for the Democrats, and infighting will drive them back into “confusion.” But that moment probably won’t come again until Donald Trump leaves the political scene.