The Democratic Party must undergo a dramatic transformation to lead America into the future

As the saying goes, when we enter a new year; “out with the old and in with the new”;  in this case, the old Democratic Party has seen its day and now it needs to be transformed into a new, dynamic progressive party that will turn this country in a new positive and exciting direction.

Ronald Reagan may have been on the right track when he said, “”In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Let me alter that quote somewhat and state that government in itself is not the problem, but a highly dysfunctional, corrupted, do-nothing government and this current Congress, in particular, is `the problem.’

The Democratic Party has allowed itself to become a part of that problem and now it’s time that it and its members break away from that dysfunctionality and return to a strong liberal/progressive agenda.

The departure of Hillary Clinton gives the Democratic Party the great opportunity to truly reinvent itself and move into the future with a new sense of purpose and direction. The same can be said of Barack Obama who presented himself as an agent of change but most certainly wasn’t up to the task by any stretch of the imagination. These two should be like the last of that breed of politicians within the Democratic Party.

The new Democratic leadership that emerges after this transformation must assure the American people that it will never again, as it did under the President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s tenure, take misguided military actions against nations such as Libya, conduct relentless bombing in Syria, and launch unjustifiable drone attacks on the sovereign nations of Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan, The Democratic Party must totally renounce that form of extreme foreign policy.

Here’s an excellent observation about Mr. Obama’s very aggressive use of drones that continues to cause havoc and misery in these countries and the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. These attacks are greatly tarnishing America’s image around the world and creating many enemies who are motivated to seek deadly revenge; and then we wonder why we are facing this terrorist threat.

In this process of transformation here’s what, in my opinion, the Democratic Party must do:

• Attack GOP voter suppression; and I mean attack! Do it now, don’t wait until the next election when it will be too late. It is absolutely incomprehensible how Democrats, time and time again, have watched the GOP prevent qualified voters from casting their ballots and just haven’t found the ways to put a stop to this politically evil process. How incompetent can they possibly be?
• Expose the Republican Party for what it is; an albatross around the neck of America, a party with no vision, possessing a badly damaged moral and directional compass.
• Stop the current Democratic movement toward the Right and move back to the center left where Democrats do best; acting like a more liberal version of Republicanism is certainly not working. Ask Hillary Clinton about that, see where it got her.  This is, in reality, a liberal/progressive party and it’s way past time that the Democrats returned to that role. That’s what the majority of the American people want and they will respond with their increased support.

One thing that Democrats need to do is to find the ways to flush out of their ranks those party members that we might refer to as pseudo-Democrats, those who call themselves Democrats but, in reality could never be called liberals or progressives.

• Never, ever allow someone like the overly aggressive war hawk, Hillary Clinton, to be the party’s candidate for president. When the people can see that this country’s most critical problems are not being solved they don’t want to listen to someone who keeps telling them that everything is just fine and we just need to stay the course.
• Democrats must be far more proactive in connecting with the American people; communicate, communicate and communicate. Speak to them constantly about how Republicans are hell bent on destroying Americans’ social safety nets.

Question: what kind of pathetic politicians “lick their chops”, as has been reported in the news, as they, the Republicans, prepare to destroy the medical coverage of the 22 million Americans currently enrolled in Obamacare, rather than fixing its problems and making it better for them?

Answer: low level, sociopathic politicians of the highest order.

• Never again let someone like the incompetent Debbie Wasserman Schulz head the DNC; pick someone like former Gov. Howard Dean who used his “50-state strategy,” to strengthen the Democratic Party’s infrastructure and recruitment of solid candidates in all levels of organization in every state. It worked back then and will work again if someone with real leadership skills leads the efforts.
• Develop key goals and objectives that relate to America’s most critical problems; concentrate on those that are the most important, put all resources to work on them exclusively and do not waste any time at all on non-issues. Monitor the progress being made on these objectives and do not let up on the efforts needed to be successful.
• When Democrats return home on one of the many congressional recesses they need to be constantly talking directly to their constituents, arranging town hall meetings, discussing problems and solutions; how to make things better for all Americans.  This Congress averages only about 140 days in session per year which gives members of Congress plenty of time to connect with people in their states and districts.
• Democrats must take the people’s political revolution that Sen. Bernie Sanders started and shift it into high gear, getting fellow Americans excited about the movement so they get off the sidelines and become personally involved. The people are thirsting for real change and they are tired of that term being used as a political promise that never comes to fruition.

Sanders has to be deeply involved in leading the efforts to bring new,  dramatic, progressive changes to this government so that it does the will of the people rather than that of the Corporatists.

Democrats need leaders who can offer Americans a clear vision of the direction that this country needs to take going into the future, someone with conviction and integrity, who they feel they can trust and not lie to them as so many of these presidential candidates have done in recent times.

Bernie Sanders connected in that way with people; he should be the leader of this movement but he needs to surround himself with some knowledgeable, very energetic individuals who have the promise to rise to leadership roles in the party.
For the next president, Sen. Elizabeth Warren would be a great candidate and could well be the first female president. On the male side of the equation I just don’t know who that might be but someone needs to emerge before too long in order to establish a connection with the American people. This eventual candidate for the 2020 presidential election for the Democratic Party has to present a new, positive and constructive agenda for the future.

The Hill reports that “President Obama is heading to Capitol Hill to meet with Democratic lawmakers to discuss a strategy to fight the Obamacare repeal effort” with the meeting to last for one hour.” One measly hour; with a problem of this magnitude it should last at least the entire day if not more. But that’s an example of typical Obama action; it’s called a lick and a promise and is just another example of how this president just can’t rise to the occasion when this country needs a show of strength in a troubling situation.
Democrats need to make this current Congress and administration the “last hurrah” for the Republicans; America must move on, it cannot continue to be held back, and its creative and innovative capabilities stifled by a Republican Party full of Stone Age thinkers.

Here’s the strategy I would present to the Democrats and it’s very simple; Take off the gloves, pull no punches, get ready to fight for this country and its people. Stop being so defensive, start being proactive rather than reactive, go on the offensive, be very loud and clear; point out to the people all the things that the Sociopathic Party is doing to damage this country by its continued tactics of obstruction. Show them examples of Republicans have done to block important legislation that is needed to address this country’s many problems.

Scores of Democrats need to be talking with reporters day in and day out and constantly doing interviews on CNN and MSNBC, telling all who will listen about their ideas for solving this country’s problems. They should make clear to people what will happen to many of them when these very necessary social programs are torn apart. The media will provide them coverage because they love the controversies and it increases their ratings.

Right now the Democratic Party is being trampled by the Republicans and Trump. Its leadership and members better wake up to the fact that if their party doesn’t “reinvent itself” through this extensive transformation process then it has no future. Continuous rule by Republicans will tear down the foundations of this nation and that must not be allowed to happen.

So this transformation needs to get underway right now; out with the old and in with the new. This situation is not just an election setback, it’s a political crisis.