As it turns out, the rifts in the Democratic Party that burgeoned from the 2016 presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still as raw as ever.
To try and fix that pretty obvious problem, Bernie Sanders – still a registered independent – went on a Democratic “Unity Tour” with newly-appointed DNC Chair Tom Perez. But instead of creating the image of a party tightly knit, the “unity tour” ended up highlighting the party’s many divisions instead.
On night two of their 8-state tour from Maine to Nevada, Perez and Sanders appeared together on MSNBC, where when asked point-blank, Sanders refused to identify as a Democrat, drawing a light but visible wince from Perez.
The ad then cycles through daytime news talk shows with pundits questioning who the leader of the Democratic Party is. “Bernie Sanders is out there,” one pundit says. “Is he the leader of the Democratic Party?”
“Bernie?” her colleague answers. “I mean; I think if you ask Bernie he would say no.” We then see a clip of Sanders himself saying on Face the Nation, “The model of the Democratic Party is failing.”
The ad ends with a clip that is just too good for the Republicans not to use in a political ad: an image of Tom Perez talking to the media as an American flag comes crashing down behind him.
And Republicans above all should understand this. In 2015, the political conversation often centered around how broken and leaderless the Republican party was. As a result, we saw 17 Republicans in all run for the presidency – each candidate boasting their own flavor of conservatism and their own definition of “Republican.”
The outcome of that, as the country now knows, is that the power in the party shifts to the largest plurality. And before you know it the popularity elects a populist billionaire and Brooklyn-born real-estate-mogul-gone-T.V.-star to the presidency.
Does the GOP really want to give legitimacy to that kind of situation in 2020?
To try and fix that pretty obvious problem, Bernie Sanders – still a registered independent – went on a Democratic “Unity Tour” with newly-appointed DNC Chair Tom Perez. But instead of creating the image of a party tightly knit, the “unity tour” ended up highlighting the party’s many divisions instead.
The GOP Takes Advantage of the DNC’s Awkward Attempt at ‘Unity’
The entire DNC “unity tour” kicked off in Maine, already on shaky ground. The audience roared at every mention of Bernie Sanders, and descended into a cacophony of booing at every mention – and sight – of Tom Perez.On night two of their 8-state tour from Maine to Nevada, Perez and Sanders appeared together on MSNBC, where when asked point-blank, Sanders refused to identify as a Democrat, drawing a light but visible wince from Perez.
The ad then cycles through daytime news talk shows with pundits questioning who the leader of the Democratic Party is. “Bernie Sanders is out there,” one pundit says. “Is he the leader of the Democratic Party?”
“Bernie?” her colleague answers. “I mean; I think if you ask Bernie he would say no.” We then see a clip of Sanders himself saying on Face the Nation, “The model of the Democratic Party is failing.”
The ad ends with a clip that is just too good for the Republicans not to use in a political ad: an image of Tom Perez talking to the media as an American flag comes crashing down behind him.
Should Republicans Be Careful with Their Jeers?
If all this “Disunity,” as the GOP calls it, is a sign of anything, it’s a sign that the 2020 Democratic presidential primary is going to be a tough one. But the rewards will undoubtedly be great – like the mandate to dictate the direction of the party from there out.And Republicans above all should understand this. In 2015, the political conversation often centered around how broken and leaderless the Republican party was. As a result, we saw 17 Republicans in all run for the presidency – each candidate boasting their own flavor of conservatism and their own definition of “Republican.”
The outcome of that, as the country now knows, is that the power in the party shifts to the largest plurality. And before you know it the popularity elects a populist billionaire and Brooklyn-born real-estate-mogul-gone-T.V.-star to the presidency.
Does the GOP really want to give legitimacy to that kind of situation in 2020?