The entire paid staff of the Democratic Party of Nevada has resigned following a leadership election that saw all but one candidate win who wasn’t a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
It’s the Democratic civil war in microcosm: Bernie vs. Biden, left vs. far-left vs. the Looney-Tunes left. It makes for a compelling show but how it will shake out in the end is a mystery.
Nevada Democrats had been on something of a winning streak in the last few years, winning at the presidential and state levels. But as the Nevada Independent puts it, “Say Goodbye to the Most Effective Democratic Party in the Country” after socialists swept to power.
The real irony here, of course, is that these revolutionaries have taken over a party that has been a well-oiled machine since 2008. With four straight presidential victories, two Democratic U.S. senators, three of four House members, five of six constitutional officers and both houses of the Legislature, what exactly is this revolution supposed to change?
If not for the dreaded Establishment that helped create an exemplar of a party organization, Dean Heller would still be a senator, Adam Laxalt would be governor and Donald Trump would have won Nevada. Vive la revolution!
An anonymous staffer added, “I knew I couldn’t work with her and watch her destroy the years of hard work so many operatives put into making our state party the best state party in the country,” the anonymous staffer said.
Judith Whitmer, the new party chair, doesn’t quite see it like that. She says the socialists were prepared for it: “But what hit us by surprise and was sort of shocking is that for a slate that claimed that they were all about unity, and kept this false narrative of division going on throughout the entire campaign — in fact they kept intensifying that — that’s what was surprising about it, was the willingness to just walk away, instead of working with us.”
Whitmer had run as part of the “The NV Dems Progressive Slate,” in opposition to the “The Progressive Unity Slate” run by the Democratic Party.
Except for Clark County, which is a Culinary Union stronghold, most of Nevada is and has been conservative Republican in the past. It used to be enough to give Republicans victory.
But the population explosion in Clark and Washoe Counties plus a strong union presence in the state has flipped Nevada from red to blue. Meanwhile, the state GOP has suffered from infighting and its own civil war between former Ron Paul backers and more establishment types.
As for the socialists, they will have no problem filling staff positions. But will they be able to maintain the party discipline that has brought them so much success? Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid maintained an iron grip on the party when he was in power but along with the iron grip came a velvet glove. His instinct was to smooth-over party rifts like this one by giving both sides something.
But that won’t work anymore. Politics has become a “take no prisoners” game and for the radical left, there is no compromise possible. It’s their way or the highway and dissent won’t be tolerated.
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