I am not a Democrat because I like donkeys or Bruce Springsteen (which I do!). I am a Democrat because the Democratic party, in a very imperfect way, supports most of what I believe in as a political philosophy. Thirty or forty years ago, I could easily have been a Republican. There were Republicans then who I could have and would have voted for, such as Pete McCloskey in California, Jacob Javits in New York, and Mark Hatfield in Oregon.
But my allegiance to this party is highly conditional -- and that's the way it should be. A political party is not a cult. I get those fundraising emails and I've even been called personally by successful candidates for statewide office, all seeking money and support. And within my small means, I have provided that support.
My warning to the Democratic party is that I losing my interest in you, and this is after 35 years of voting for, campaigning for and donating to D candidates. Two particular things are causing this. And if I am losing interest, it must mean that many many others with less commitment are also doing so.
First, you didn't deliver on filibuster reform. Basically the Senate Ds looked into the future and saw a time when they might be in the minority, and they wanted to use the same obstructionism that Rs derailed the first Obama administration with. In other words, they acted like losers, not winners. I mentioned the 35 years of voting for Ds -- well that included a lot of losers, and I'm tired of voting for losers, especially if they win and then immediately act like they've lost. I note also that when the Ds did have 60 votes they weren't able to overcome the filibuster.
Next, we see the Republican plan to basically steal the electoral votes of the Blue States, which if carried out, will result in election after election being handed to the Republican presidential candidate, even with a substantial defeat in the popular vote. Rachel Maddow and others have called attention to this -- what, if anything have we heard from the Democratic Party on this?
What needs to be done is to find the swing legislative districts for the statehouses in those states, find good candidates, and go in there and pound the Republican incumbents with GOTV and in-your-face politics. This is hard, tough, expensive work. What is the Democrat Party doing? And no, National Popular Vote is not an alternative, that has it's own problems, and isn't likely to pass anyway.
Remember the people who had to wait 7 hours to vote in Florida? Do you think they're going to do that if the Democratic party doesn't do whatever it takes to defend itself from this threat?
I'm not going to switch to Republican, not as long as that party is run by crackpots. Flat Earthers, and/or lickspittles of billionaires. But confronting the challenges in my own life, and the lives of my family, as all of us do, is something which can and should easily be prioritized well above the success of a party that wants my loyalty, and the loyalty of millions of others, but doesn't seem to be doing anything to earn that loyalty.