This article is part of a continuing series promoting honest self-examination among Democrats.
That’s what Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway claimed that Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said in an interview presented on today’s edition of NPR’s “All Things Considered”. While she used the word “quote” to describe her rendition of what Ryan said, that is not what he said.
Ryan, who is challenging Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the leadership of Democrats in the House of Representatives, said something that is quite a bit more than merely subtly different. What he actually told the Fox Business Network is,
"We better get our act together or we will cease being a national party, we're going to be a regional party that fails to get into the majority and fails to do things on behalf of those working class people that were the backbone of the Democratic Party for so long,"
While Conway clearly misrepresented what Ryan actually said with her misquote, many who look at the diminishing presence of Democrats in government might forgive her.
Beginning in 2017, there will be only 17 Democratic governors, and Democrats will have full control of the executive and legislative branches in only five states, while Republicans will have total control of 25 states, with the remaining 20 states split between the parties. In all, Republicans will control 69 of 99 legislative chambers.
Clearly, since Democrats hold elected and appointed positions at all levels of government, from village councils to Congress, Democrats must be considered to be a national party. On the other hand, Democrats have such a diminished presence in government overall, that they are relatively powerless to influence policy on a multi-state or nationwide scale.
Democrats are, indeed, a national party, but whether that has any bearing on the real issue — Can Democrats shape national policy? — is not in doubt. Republicans can and will do whatever they want, and Democrats do not have the legislative or Congressional votes or the veto power to stop them.
— David Dickinson