In this episode, an intervention is laid out to help resolve the ideological deadlock that has the two wings of the Democratic Party trapped in discord.
Democrats on the Couch:
How to Handle the Democratic Party’s Dysfunctional Divide
To win in 2020, Democrats have to cease the infighting and unify forces. Here’s how a family therapist trained in handling deep-seated conflict would intervene.
Throughout this campaign season, in debate after debate, Democratic presidential candidates had been claiming they “will unify America.” This is critical not just as a campaign strategy but for the health of our nation.
However, the important point that not one candidate acknowledged is that before Democrats can unify America, they have to first unify their own party. Otherwise, party infighting will sabotage all efforts to defeat Donald Trump, and could very well contribute to handing him another four years of power on a silver platter.
And of course, Like a vulture spotting troubled prey, Trump had readily honed in on Democrats’ disunity, knowing it’s their greatest vulnerability.
After Biden’s ascent as the presumptive nominee, Trump immediately began taunting the ever passionate and committed “Bernie people” that they’d been dismissed by the party establishment and deemed irrelevant.
By stoking the embers that have been smoldering between the two wings of the Democratic Party since 2016, Trump had set out to amplify chaos and divisiveness—his signature strategy for control and dominance. This is how he wins.
While party leaders have banded together with across the board endorsements of Joe Biden, and olive branches extended via policy tweaks, making nice through gritted teeth isn’t enough.
Pretending all is fine is the precise type of non-problem solving that has plagued the Democratic Party over the past 4 years, a neglect that has only exacerbated intra-party polarization. Papering over fuming tinder never extinguishes a fire; it fuels it.
The fact of the matter is that Democrats are still contentiously divided and contemptuously conflicted, with each wing of the Party feeling threatened by the other.
Those on the center-left think the progressive-left is too radical, too naive, too impetuous, and too out-of-touch with Middle America. Those on the “woke” left think centrists are too complacent, too careful, too incremental, and too willing to cater to Republican and corporate interests.
The question becomes: What to do about it? How do Democrats extract themselves from their “circular firing squad” as Obama has phrased it, overcome the desire to dictate Party ideology, and unify the Party to damn well get elected?
Let me walk you through how a family therapist trained in handling deep-seated conflict would intervene…
The first step is the obvious step…finding common ground.
Finding Common Ground
As when treating families on the verge of breakdown due to bitter, entrenched conflict, finding common ground is the starting point.
Applied here, it’s safe to say that each and every Democrat is desperate to oust Donald Trump and gain Democratic majority on the Hill, with the ultimate goal of bringing justice to the American people.
With this urgent aim in mind, Democrats must muster the maturity needed to do whatever it will take, within legal and ethical boundaries, to beat Trump and win seats in Congress.
This means fighting together for a common goal, not against each other for ideological purposes. This means putting principles and the welfare of American citizens ahead ofideology, righteous stances and dogged beliefs. And yes, this means letting go of rigid, right/wrong attitudes that pamper egos yet hamper productive movement forward.
Once common ground is clearly established, it then boils down to a basic decision to either be part of the solution or part of the problem. To win together or be defeated apart. To feel triumphant or continue to feel bitter.
The choice, and the outcome, is in the hands of Democrats.
Building Rapport
The next therapeutic step in tempering strife in dysfunctional systems is building rapport between opposing sides. When each side understands where the other is “coming from,” empathy develops, judgment lessens, and stances can soften.
As it applies here, it’s helpful to recognize that both centrists and progressives have best intentions to defeat Trump and the Republican Party in 2020, yet each side simply has different instinctsabout how to meet this too-critical-to-fail challenge that has everyone in a panic.
Establishment Democrats are clinging to what once worked for them, as people tend to do in a crisis. Centrism managed to get Bill Clinton elected (with the help of third-party spoiler, Ross Perot) and re-elected, ending a robust 20-year run Republicans had in the White House during the prior 24 years.
So-called “New Democrats” had broken through a solid electoral wall and snatched the presidency from an incumbent Republican. This feat had defined an era and redefined what a successful Democratic campaign and candidate looked like—a fair reason for centrists to believe their way is the path to victory.
Progressive Democrats, on the other hand, are coming at this crisis with a fresh, no-holds barred approach to righting what’s gone horribly wrong in our democracy since then.
With a focus on the future, they’re bringing unfettered passion, idealism and bold ideas for tackling this crisis head on. A vital, increasingly powerful block of young voters enthusiastically embraces these views—a fair reason for progressives to believe their way is the path to victory.
By understanding that this intra-party conflict involves different means to the same end and understanding why each holds the views they do, helps reduce antagonism and animosity—fundamental for any kind of true unification.This vital step doesn’t happen when making nice.
Reframing
Once this foundation is set, the next interventional technique involves reframing the conflict to breakthrough dysfunctional deadlocks. In this case, reframing can diminish the paradoxical thinkingthat has the two wings of the Democratic Party trapped in discord.
With a broader understanding of the problem, the solution is not either/or. It’s “and/and,” with both sides being “right” to an extent, and both sides needing to make adjustments and cede ground—but not the way they think they do, and are adamantly resisting.
Centrists believe they have to reach moderate voters by “moving to the center” at times even compromising principles, albeit subtly and perhaps unintentionally, to get there. Reaching middle-of-the-road voters is essential, but moving to some mythical “center” is not the answer. Appealing to the center is (which is better defined as swing voters).
Becoming Republican-lite doesn’t make Democrats more appealing to anyone—left, right or center. No one wants a watered-down version of anything, especially principles.
When this happens, Democrats lose their moral footing, their identity and their distinction from Republicans, a key concept in branding, marketing, and selling one product (or party) over another.
The only movement to the middle should be between the two poles on the left—the center left and progressive left—modifying positions and policies in a way that properly responds to and serves the needs of constituents, while keeping principles and party brand intact.
Progressives, on the other hand, are so focused on creating change with reformative policies that they don’t even think about appealing to voters who aren’t already sitting in their pews, singing their tune. And, they’re sure as hell not going to shift their positions or compromise principles to do it.
Democrats do have to reach voters beyond their activist base to increase their number of supporters. This is what campaigning is all about—nothing more, nothing less. And this must be the goal if you want to win, regardless of how “right” your positions are, or how righteous you feel.
The “my way or the highway” approach to elections is like shooting yourself in the foot while running a race—a self-sabotaging action that needs to stop.
As an example, when a successful, two-term Democratic governor of a purple state warns: “Socialism is not the answer to beat Donald Trump and achieve big, progressive goals,” the productive response would be: “Really? Tell me more,” not booing to drown out the unwanted opinion as happened at the Democratic convention in California last summer.
This is the type of reaction that will doom the Democratic Party. I understand the intense desperation to right what’s gone terribly wrong in this country. But this takes getting elected, which takessuccessful campaigning, which takes listening to and understanding the views and values of the voters you need to sway.
Only after you understand voters’ views, needs and values do you have any hope of 1) communicating with them in a way that resonates; 2) bonding with them; and 3) inspiring them to rally behind you.
Fighting, denying, chiding, deriding or ignoring differing viewpoints (progressive Democrats’ default mode) alienates and even repels voters, which is utterly self-defeating if your goal is to win.
Moving Forward Together for the Win
While progressives need to listen more broadly, and centrists need to anchor into principles more deeply, the Democratic Party, as a whole, needs to elevate their perspective in order to identify what unifies them—the common mission they hold and the values and principles that guide them. Without this, you’re on open seas without a compass—lost. Good luck trying to get anyone on board that boat with you.
The lack of a big-picture, unifying philosophy from which to build campaigns is the self-imposed handicap that repeatedly undermines Democratic campaigns—not stances that are too progressive, candidates that are “unelectable,” or the Republican Party’s infamous tricks.
Next, Democrats have to communicate their mission, values and principles in a way that emotionally engages voters and drives them to the polls. This is achieved through a compelling narrative that tells the Democratic Party’s story—who they are, what they believe, and why they do what they do. Not facts. Not logic. Not policy proposals, no matter how deliberatively detailed or beneficial.
This is exactly why the Republican “culture wars” of the last forty years and Donald Trump, of late, have been so effective. They’ve had complete command of campaign narratives, persuasively telling the story of why Americans should vote for them and not those dirty, rotten Democrats.
This is thereason Trump triumphed in 2016, and why Republicans defeat Democrats at the polls again and again—not because their policies benefit Middle America, which they assuredly do not.
Democrats do have to become more like Republicans, but only by mastering the art of persuasion,not by “moving center.”Unlike Republicans, however, Democrats don’t have to dupe voters with deceptive rhetoric because they are fighting for the good of average Americans.
I’ve laid out such a narrative along with a proposed mission and five-point strategy in my not-yet-released white paper: “Make America Good: The Stand the Democratic Party Must Take, the Story They Need to Tell, and the Leadership They Have to Find…A Strategy for Success.”
In it, I explain how Democrats can pull the Party together, spur non-voters, and bondwith swing voters all while running on a strong and principled platform of reformative change.
In future podcasts, I’ll go into detail about narratives and persuasion, and show what it will take for Democrats to master this crucial campaign skill.
But first, it’s all about dropping the internal discord. Only by consolidating like a laser—electrified, in sync and focused on a common mission—can Democrats have the potency needed to triumph in 2020 and beyond.
If ever there’s been a “now or never” for Democrats to “get it together” by coming together, it’s now.
Blue skies are ahead my friends…don’t give up. Take care and talk to you soon on the next episode of Democrats on the Couch.