How the Hell We Got Here: Why the Democratic Party is Splitting

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By Walker Bragman | May 18, 2016 | 2:10pm
Photos courtesy of Getty

Last July I wrote an article titled “The Republican Party is in Shambles” for the Huffington Post. That piece was to be a turning point for me. Up until then I had spent most of my energy writing about the GOP, electoral strategy, realignments, and policy. When Donald Trump became the Republican front-runner I realized that the real race for president was the Democratic primary, and so I shifted focus. In other words, the 2016 presidential election was the Democrats to lose. To my dismay, that is exactly what they’re doing.

Right now, the Democratic Party is on the verge of nominating a candidate who would be the least popular presidential nominee since David Duke if not for her rival on the Republican side. It is about to run a candidate who, despite claims to the contrary, is currently being investigated by the FBI, and who, by all rights, would be at home as a Republican if not for some social issues. In a year of outsider insurgency, Democrats are about to rally behind the candidate who most exemplifies the political establishment, save for the fact that Hillary Clinton is not a white man. They’re about to stake the future on someone most people associate with the word “dishonest,” and who polls show is the weaker candidate; someone who is almost certain to lose her reelection bid in 2020 — a Census year in which down-ballot voting is essential if the Democrats want a chance to retake the House of Representatives before 2031. The establishment of the party has seemingly done all it can to guarantee this outcome.

The primary itself has reached fever pitch, with alleged and not-so-alleged incidents of violence cropping up. The ‘Bernie Or Bust’ Movement has grown so large it threatens Clinton’s victory in a close November race (if she is to be the nominee). The Democratic Party has unwittingly revived an old fault line in left wing politics between social and economic progressives, and is splitting as a result. Disunity could actually put Donald Trump in the White House.

How the hell did we get here?

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/05/how-the-hell-we-got-here-why-the-democratic-party.html

This is a rather long piece but a great read!