Cynical and craven

by | Jul 27, 2022 | Editor's Blog | 6 comments

Democrats often are their own worst enemies. At least the ones who make up the political committees are. At a time when the Republican Party is beginning to be defined as authoritarian, dishonest, and extremist, the Democrats are defining themselves cynical and reckless. 

In Michigan, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the DCCC, has funded a large ad buy helping a Trump-backed, electiondenying candidate against a Republican incumbent who voted to impeach Trump. The $425,000 ad buy is supposed to help nominate a Republican who will be easier for a Democrat to defeat in a district that Joe Biden won by nine points. If they can’t win in a district that favors them that much, then they have bigger problems than Republican primary candidates. 

It’s not the first time Democrats have played in GOP primaries promoting weaker GOP candidates. They’ve been doing it for years. However, they haven’t been helping anti-democratic authoritarians who are more loyal to a cult of personality than the Constitution. And they haven’t done it in the wake of the an insurrection that seems to be ongoing. 

The DCCC is feeding the narrative that both parties are corrupt and that both parties only believe in power. They are ceding the moral high ground that Democrats should be owning. They can’t say that Republicans are an existential threat to the nation and then help nominate candidates who claim the election was stolen and vow to promote anti-democratic measures. But since they have, they’ve killed their own credibility, defining themselves as cynics who are only interested in winning. 

The party committees have long been insular operations run by people who have spent their entire professional careers inside the bubble of electoral politics. To them, politics is a game. They look for short term wins with little concern for long term consequences. 

The battle today should be for the soul of America. We need choices that will leave the country safe regardless of which candidate wins. The DCCC is setting up winner-take-all contests where a Republican victory strengthens the Trumpists who would end our democracy as we know it. It’s a terrible risk and a disservice to the country. It’s a cynical and craven strategy that weakens the party’s already damaged brand.

6 Comments

  1. Paul

    Seems that NC had a candidate for Senate just a couple of years ago that checked all sorts of boxes and was running decently. And then the zipper dropped. High level strategery doesn’t always work out as planned.

  2. Norma Munn

    I agree with your comments and am even more disappointed than usual in the “Party.” It is idiotic and will, I suspect, backfire. Young voters and independent voters are critical to this race. I seriously doubt either will bother in the races in question. Why should anyone?

  3. Ranty Boy

    This s*** is exactly why the DCCC should just go away. I’m not naive, politics is a blood sport, but JFC what deskbound rocket scientist thought that funding extreme opposition candidates was a path back to normality? Why not help the good guys (who believe in this dying thing we call democracy) who had the moral courage to take a stand against Trump?

  4. Greg Duncan

    You are 100% Correct! That’s why I’m an Independent and give nothing to either party. Term limits is the only cure. And that goes for the SCOTUS Too.

    • Steven Alexander Jones

      We have term limits for Congresspeople. They’re called elections. We don’t need term limits for SCOTUS. They’re unconstitutional. They will ensure that court vacancies are inextricably tied to every presidential race. And they will leave the country scorched.

      • PETER DRUMSTA

        Tying SCOTUS picks to presidential elections? Exactly right, that’s what’s needed. And as for leaving the nation scorched – what do you call what the current court is doing?

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