Democrats have a message but not a messenger

Democrats are leaderless. Trump sets the agenda.

They are leading from behind, serving for now as the party of Trump-resistance. It isn't enough, but it will change.

There is a national consensus on acceptable Democratic policy. It is essentially Bernie Sanders' policies, but without Bernie. And certainly without Hillary. They are pro-expanded health care, anti the tax bill, concerned about climate change, pro-immigrant.  Mostly, though, they are anti-Trump.

Lleadership requires a face and personality, and Democrats are currently led by people who read as legislators, not presidents. Chuck Schumer does not inspire. Nancy Pelosi serves only to inspired Republicans to stop her, not support her.  

A president announces an overarching understanding of how the whole world works. Trump did so, and this blog described it yesterday. Trump-ism.  It can survive Trump because it is a message other personalities can carry.  Trumpism is an ethno-nationalist message of resentment by white, Christian men--and women--to maintain status quo of social and economic privilege against the rising female, black, Hispanic, Asian, immigrant, and LGBTQ communities who are rivaling a traditional social order. Make America great again harkens back to an imagined better period when there were men's jobs, before Title IX, before affirmative action, and when the default "normal" American was a white Christian nuclear family.

Trump sets the agenda.

Culture, not economics, explains Trump-ism and his electoral victory. 

A Democrat will emerge with an alternative comprehensive view of things. It will incorporate the progressive message, it will add a biographical back story, and there will be an overarching cause-and-effect explanation about how we got here. They will have a story about immigrants and taxes and inclusion and how they all fit together They are writing books now and getting onto talk shows to promote them. They will be visiting Iowa and New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, it is about Trump, 24-7, for good or ill, filling the news and the political consciousness.  Frequent blog commenter Rick Millward responded to the blog post  yesterday with a longer, more complex comment than usual, so I am presenting it today as a continuation of the discussion.

Rick Millward is more consistently liberal than I am, more insistent on women candidates, more dismissive of Republicans.  He calls them "Regressives," because he sees them as obstructionist to the reality of the current culture, people longing for an impossible--and unjust--past.

Guest Post by Rick Millward

"Trump has a cult. Democrats don't."

In the coming elections states with sufficient numbers will likely flip seats, others will hold on and divisions will solidify. The wave is real but lacking a single unifying issue. Obama's election was a strong reaction to an economic crisis and protracted war. Neither of these issues are currently prominent leaving Democrats with anti-Trumpism. I think the values based narrative you discuss is likely lost on most voters who aren't necessarily looking for a reason to vote Democratic. 

Rick Millward

Whatever problems the country is facing Democrats don't have a message or messenger to address them. The Obama coalition was a outlier and would need a similarly charismatic candidate(s) to regroup and put Progressives back in power, but that would also be a return to the gridlock of the Obama administration. Regressive resistance, intellectually stunted, fundamentally racist, is not going away anytime soon. It is a generational scourge that will take decades of concerted effort to eradicate.

The two components of Trump's cult...

1. His and their interests intersect and he shares their beliefs - this is a personal adoration

2. He is fighting to right wrongs inflicted on them

In the first case, revelations of criminality and personal digressions, could erode support as it becomes widely known (and proven) that Trump's motives are purely personal and selfish, something imminently clear to the majority. Without this information the cult will find justifications for continuing to worship the carefully nurtured image of the brilliant tycoon, and even then many will simply refuse to believe the evidence, since doing so will shatter their world view. 

The second case is more difficult because Trump is positioned in a wider movement against immigration, science, etc., as the leader of the Republicans and in command of the majority of their voters. In order to hang on to power the GOP has accepted many Regressive policies they would otherwise avoid. It's hard to imagine a president Jeb Bush abolishing the EPA, or ordering ICE raids.

To turn the tide the first, Trump' personal fall, is a necessary element to allow the second, a return to "normalcy", to occur. Democratic gains in Congress may not be enough to move the needle, but there is a possibility that fed up Republicans could find the courage to begin to regain their party by supporting more bipartisan policies, and importantly, exercising their constitutional duty to check the Executive.

Finally, one can point to particular lawmakers, mainly older white male incumbents, who value the power they have and who have no problems with an aberrant executive taking the heat while they quietly reap the benefits of a legislature held hostage by Regressive special interests. Dislodging these characters is another necessary step in restoring order.