The future of the Democratic party begins with cleaning house at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Without a dynamic progressive committed to a year-round 50-state strategy leading our party and a DNC staff committed to humble outreach and genuine advocacy for peoples needs we are doomed to repeats of 8 November .
Hillary Clintons platform may have been the most progressive in American history, but the American people felt it wasnt enough to have a good plan on paper. We now have the chance to build a DNC that truly, wholeheartedly supports that platform and turns it into our partys guiding principles.
Whoever our next leader is, the middle-of-the-road thinking and dont-rock-the-boat strategies that have defined the top levels of Democratic politics have overstayed their welcome, both with the party faithful and with the country as a whole.
We cannot rely on the same tired, inside-the-Beltway social media messages and stale talking points that got us here. Nor can we fall for the dangerous notion that if only shed talked more about privatizing social security, Hillary Clinton might have won over more moderate voters. There is no evidence that such triangulation has any credibility with the American people, and our party needs to recognize that once and for all.
If Donald Trumps unusual ideology has taught us anything, its that many of the political fights ahead of us have nothing to do with the arguments of the past 20 years. Party leaders need to recruit candidates with a genuine understanding of the issues that matter today, from economic insecurity to the future of rural America to social justice to education affordability.
We need to work with grassroots organizations to build a fresh party for the future. Just putting fresh paint on the party that lost the White House is not an option.
Bakari T Sellers: We have to make a positive case to voters of color
The Democratic party was dealt a body blow in this election. Non-college educated and non-suburban white voters especially in places along the Rust Belt have fled the Democratic party. They voted for Donald Trump in record numbers. To make matters worse, 6 million Obama voters chose to stay home as Hillary Clinton underperformed with virtually every Obama coalition demographic. The Obama coalition, we learned, is not an easily transferrable block.