![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So, the Democratic National Committee elected Tom Perez as their next chairman, and not Keith Ellison. That tells me that they are staying their course, whatever that happens to be. Why? "Because we've always done it this way." Or so it seems to me.
I honestly don't know what the Democratic Party stands for any more. What is their current mission statement? What are their core values? Are they living up to them? If not, why not?
Years ago, the Democratic Party stood for the little guy -- the working man, the laborer, for civil rights, and equality for everyone. That may no longer be the case (except for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage), and probably hasn't been that way since the early 1990s, after Bill Clinton was elected and NAFTA was passed. Their current mission and purpose seems to be "To oppose the Republican Party, everything they do, and constantly fundraise".
Despite their incessant pleas and repeated requests for $3, I don't give money to political parties, period. I don't think it's a good return on my investment. Where does that money go? For ads (or should I say "party propaganda"), and to pay staffers. I might as well gamble it away in a casino.
Bernie Sanders chose to run as a Democrat last year because they had avenues and money that wouldn't have been available to him had he run as an independent. But the party chose to stonewall him because he was an outsider, and go with their lifelong loyal subject: Hillary Clinton.
I would very much like to see more political parties enter the fray, and knock the donkey and the elephant off the see-saw they've been riding. But both the Libertarians and Greens can't seem to get any traction -- they lag in fundraising behind the Big Two, don't get as much media coverage, and are kept out of debates. I can see both Democrats and Republicans spliting up their parties, and spinning off two new political parties: the Democratic Socialists (for followers of Bernie Sanders and the progressives), and (for lack of a better term) the Tea Party (for the neo-conservatives and Trump supporters). What's holding them back? The people who keep saying "But I've always voted this way, and don't see a reason to change!"
I'm still registered as a Democrat. The primary reason is so I can work as a volunteer pollworker. My county allows only D's and R's to work the polls, in order to keep everything fair balanced. Independents or third-party members need not apply. Thankfully there are no "loyalty tests" I have to take, or minimum donations required.
I honestly don't know what the Democratic Party stands for any more. What is their current mission statement? What are their core values? Are they living up to them? If not, why not?
Years ago, the Democratic Party stood for the little guy -- the working man, the laborer, for civil rights, and equality for everyone. That may no longer be the case (except for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage), and probably hasn't been that way since the early 1990s, after Bill Clinton was elected and NAFTA was passed. Their current mission and purpose seems to be "To oppose the Republican Party, everything they do, and constantly fundraise".
Despite their incessant pleas and repeated requests for $3, I don't give money to political parties, period. I don't think it's a good return on my investment. Where does that money go? For ads (or should I say "party propaganda"), and to pay staffers. I might as well gamble it away in a casino.
Bernie Sanders chose to run as a Democrat last year because they had avenues and money that wouldn't have been available to him had he run as an independent. But the party chose to stonewall him because he was an outsider, and go with their lifelong loyal subject: Hillary Clinton.
I would very much like to see more political parties enter the fray, and knock the donkey and the elephant off the see-saw they've been riding. But both the Libertarians and Greens can't seem to get any traction -- they lag in fundraising behind the Big Two, don't get as much media coverage, and are kept out of debates. I can see both Democrats and Republicans spliting up their parties, and spinning off two new political parties: the Democratic Socialists (for followers of Bernie Sanders and the progressives), and (for lack of a better term) the Tea Party (for the neo-conservatives and Trump supporters). What's holding them back? The people who keep saying "But I've always voted this way, and don't see a reason to change!"
I'm still registered as a Democrat. The primary reason is so I can work as a volunteer pollworker. My county allows only D's and R's to work the polls, in order to keep everything fair balanced. Independents or third-party members need not apply. Thankfully there are no "loyalty tests" I have to take, or minimum donations required.
