The seemingly calm seas of old have turned into large and turbulent waves for some congressional Democrats and the Democratic Party as a whole.
To say that congressional Democrats have an identity problem would be an understatement. From the day that President Donald Trump was elected, congressional Democrats have systematically “investigated” or pursued various individuals and groups in hope of finding something against the president, including, but not limited to: President Trump; Melania Trump; Donald Trump Jr.; Attorney General William Barr; ICE; Alexander Acosta; Justice Brett Kavanaugh; Justice Neal Gorsuch; and Steve Mnuchin.
Obviously, the common denominator among these individuals and groups is President Trump. In other words, all of them were, in some way, related to (or helped) the president.
At the outset, when congressional Democrats had some semblance of hope that their investigations would produce information that would satisfy their relentless and unwavering efforts to remove the president, they were all on the same team. In reality, aside from their shared commitment to remove the president from office at any cost, the Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), were a party without a message and without an identity.
One need not look further than the recent and publicized dispute between Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) regarding the issue of immigration.
"Ocasio-Cortez complained on Twitter about the Problem Solvers Caucus, bemoaning their refusal to include accountability measures on funding for immigration enforcement.
“‘And to think this week the GOP & Dem ”Problem Solvers Caucus” fought to eliminate ALL accountability amendments from funding,’ she said. ‘They just wrote a multi-billion dollar blank check for misconduct.’
As expected, Pelosi tried to minimize the tensions within her own party.
“So we’re a family and we have our moments and we’re like a kaleidoscope—sometimes all of us on this side of the room are in agreement vis a vis them to the back of the room or to the front of the room.
For example, the so-called “Problem Solvers Caucus,” while not necessarily moderate in the traditional sense, were blasted by the progressives in the party for being too moderate on the issue of immigration.
Given the dramatic shift to the left among many of the new and vocal Democrats in Congress, along with the apparent shift in power within the party, it’s become increasingly difficult to define what the party stands for.
When time was on their side, congressional Democrats had the luxury of attacking and investigating the president and others in hopes of removing Trump from office. This was a common goal among most Democrats and served to seemingly “unite” them.
However, as the 2020 elections get closer, the pressure on the Democrats will become more palpable. Given that their efforts to remove the president have failed (so far), they’re now being forced to focus on the issues, to formulate an identity, and to sell a specific agenda for America’s future.
The problem for them stems from the major disconnect between what many of their candidates are selling and what the American people are willing to buy. People such as Pelosi, a seasoned politician, probably recognizes this dilemma, which is one likely reason for the infighting. There’s no unified message, no identity, and nothing that is worth selling to the American people.
There’s only the noise of a broken kaleidoscope as its pieces hit the ground and scatter in a hundred different directions.
