Taking On Issues - Political Issues and Government Policies

A Hot Discussion Forum on Government Policies and Political Issues

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Election 2016
  • Big Government
  • Healthcare
  • The Other Side
  • What’s New
  • Your Freedom

The Sanders vs. Clinton schism in the Democratic party isn’t going away

February 24, 2017 By Takingonissues

posted at 3:21 pm on February 24, 2017 by John Sexton

The sharp schism in the Democratic party between establishment types who sided with Hillary Clinton and progressives who supported Bernie Sanders has not gone away in the past three months. One area where the divide still rages is in the race for the DNC chairmanship.

Keith Ellison is the progressive choice being supported by Sanders himself. As Ed noted yesterday, Ellison is already taking a far left line, pushing for impeachment of President Trump (who has also offered a semi-endorsement of Ellison). But moderates in the party don’t like Ellison much. Case in point, today Alan Dershowitz wrote a piece for the Hill threatening to leave the party if Ellison becomes chairman:

There has been powerful push from the hard-left of the Democratic Party, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to elect Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) chairman.  If he is elected, I will quit the party after 60 years of loyal association and voting…

My loyalty to my country and my principles and my heritage exceeds any loyalty to my party.  I will urge other like-minded people — centrist liberals — to follow my lead and quit the Democratic Party if Ellison is elected chairman.  We will not be leaving the Democratic Party we have long supported.  The Democratic Party will be leaving us!

Dershowitz goes on to say that selecting Ellison would be following in the footsteps of “Jeremy Corbyn’s labor party in England.” Dershowitz warns that doing so will result in “the Democratic Party relegated to permanent minority status as a hard-left fringe.”

The DNC race is not the only place this divide between moderates and the hard left is evident. Today Politico Magazine published an opinion piece by Leah Hunt-Hendrix. She argues progressive donors should stop supporting the moderate, Clinton-allied empire of David Brock:

Brock’s recent machinations—including a January conference where he promoted his own organizations amid chatter that he’ll launch a Koch Brothers-style donor network—show that he and those like him have no interest in learning from or adapting to what the country needs in this moment. Establishment figureheads are calling for Democrats to unify behind a common agenda, but it’s an old agenda with amorphous values, one that is more focused on defeating the right than on creating an economy and society that lifts up all people.

Brock is just one part of a broader constellation of insider efforts to maintain the dominance of the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party against a rising progressive populism.

The author writes that the party mush present “a radically progressive economic agenda that offers a vision for transforming the financial industry and guaranteeing dignified jobs.” It’s not entirely clear what radical vision she is talking about but it sounds a lot like Sanders-style socialism. As I’ve suggested before, that is the likely future of the party.

The Democratic party remains at war with itself. Both sides of the divide are saying it’s time to take their money and go home if they don’t get what they want. Well-heeled moderates like Dershowitz will walk away if the party goes hard left. Meanwhile, the hard left wants to see progressive donors hold back from giving to moderate aligned groups like those run by David Brock. Whichever side wins at tomorrow’s DNC election, the party itself seems likely to take a hit.

Related Posts:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Email, RSS Follow

Related

Subscribe to Taking on Issues

Enter your email address to subscribe to our site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

RSS Political News

  • Comey memos: Trump said he 'needed' and 'expected' loyalty, wanted proof dossier was 'a lie' April 20, 2018
  • Two Gilchrist County Florida Deputies Killed in Apparent Ambush April 20, 2018
  • Illinois Dems push bill rewarding schools that replace armed officers with therapists April 20, 2018
  • DOJ turns over redacted Comey memos to congressional committees April 20, 2018
  • Trump says Comey threw McCabe 'under the bus' after criminal referral April 19, 2018
  • Federal court rules against Trump's sanctuary city crackdown efforts April 19, 2018
  • Texas School: List 'Postive Aspects' of Slavery April 19, 2018
  • Florida felons are latest point of contention in fight for battleground state's votes April 19, 2018
  • DOJ watchdog sends criminal referral for McCabe to federal prosecutor April 19, 2018

Archives

New Featured Articles

  • He is risen! Happy Easter to Hot Air readers
    April 15, 2017
    posted at 12:01 am on April 16, 2017 by Ed Morrissey […]
  • U.S. Should Favor the Most Vulnerable Religious Refugees
    March 15, 2017
    Last week, the Trump Administration made another […]
  • Alas, All Societies Have Closets
    June 17, 2017
    My friend Andrew Sullivan is angry over my post the […]
  • As expected, Trump’s visit to a Florida hospital was criticized by the media
    February 17, 2018
    Last night I wrote a brief post about President […]
  • Video: The Hillary Clinton “Between Two Ferns” interview
    September 22, 2016
    posted at 11:21 am on September 22, 2016 by […]
  • The last straw? Hope Hicks reportedly quit after Trump “berated” her for admitting to telling “white lies” for him
    March 1, 2018
    Meh. Lots of buzz about this but I don’t buy it. […]
  • Coulter on the terrible spending bill: “We want the ruthless businessman we were promised”
    May 3, 2017
    posted at 10:01 pm on May 3, 2017 by Allahpundit Eh, […]
  • Throwing cold water on climate alarmism
    November 27, 2017
    Judging by a handful of recent reports regarding the […]
  • Senate’s ‘new’ healthcare reform bill looks a lot like Obamacare… and it’s about to get worse
    July 13, 2017
    As expected, the healthcare reform legislation […]
  • Who’s ready for a 45′ tall naked woman on the National Mall all winter?
    October 4, 2017
    If only she’d been five feet taller. Then she […]
  • Bragging rights: Wall Street’s lousy, disappointing, not-too-good, somewhat-bad day
    February 5, 2018
    Live by the S&P 500, die by the S&P 500. Less […]
  • The Hunting Of Bret Weinstein
    May 25, 2017
    The Evergreen State University in Olympia, Wash., […]
  • Deal? Bipartisan Senate group has agreed on DREAMers, says, er, Jeff Flake; Update: $2.8 billion for “fence barrier”
    January 11, 2018
    There are no details in this story, just Flake’s […]
  • Follow Farrell’s Rule No. 9
    December 28, 2016
    Bob Farrell is a legend on Wall Street. He built […]
  • Government audit makes case for Trump wall
    February 2, 2017
    Department of Public Safety officials in Texas report […]
Copyright © 2018 TakingOnIssues.com

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Advertise | About Us