The Democratic Party is struggling. In every way a political party can be dysfunctional, the Democrats are careening toward an implosion.
Riven by poisonous factionalism, running out of cash, and devoid of purpose and plan, the oldest political party in the Western World is falling apart right before our eyes.
How bad is it? When the New York Times gives space to a 1,800-word, five-alarm article giving excruciating detail about your party's travails, you know it's not time to pop the champagne cork and celebrate.
To make matters worse for the Democrats, on the same day the Times aired the party's soiled panties for all to see, the other Democratic Party house organ, Politico, laid 1,600 words of criticism on party chairman Ken Martin.
The media couldn't be quiet about it. With 17 months to go before the 2026 midterm elections, the Democrats find themselves in an existential crisis. Half the party wants to abandon the radical left, while the radical left wants to give the heave-ho to anyone to the right of Karl Marx.
Let's start with Ken Martin as a point of contention. Barely four months into the job, he's already made plenty of enemies. Worse, those enemies aren't going quietly into that good night. They are sniping at him from the sidelines, drawing blood with criticisms no party chair has ever heard before.
The sideshow involving the anti-gun nut David Hogg, whom a majority of Democrats actually thought was grown up enough to take a seat at the adult table, is symptomatic of a party that cares more about symbolism and theater than anything truly meaningful.
Hogg threatened to primary veteran Democrats in 2026—not the best strategy for a minority party. He totally blindsided the party leadership, of which he was ostensibly a part.
The number one Democratic law firm, headed by super-lawyer Marc Elias, was actually working for Hogg's opposition group. What kind of outfit tolerates that kind of internal chaos?
Hogg feuded with Martin until the chairman was able to round up enough support to force Hogg off the DNC. But the barely-out-of-teens kid isn't going away. His apostate group, Leaders We Deserve, is raising money and will likely be a thorn in Martin's side—or whoever ends up in the unenviable position of succeeding Martin as DNC chair.
“This is worse than some high school student council drama,” said Wisconsin Democrat Representative Mark Pocan. I'd say that's right on the mark.
One DNC member told Politico that Martin looked “weak and whiny,” and another said he has been “invisible." Similar sentiments were expressed by other DNC members.
These aren't Republicans talking about their leaders. It's the supposed leadership caste of the Democratic Party.
Awesome, isn't it?
“I ran and won the race for DNC chair to get the DNC out of DC — because too many people in DC want to point fingers, and play the blame game,” said Martin in a statement to POLITICO. “They want to win irrelevant arguments, with no strategy involved, but the one strategic thing that makes us relevant is winning elections. I was elected chair to help our party win again, and we are.”
No political party can function without cash. The DNC is nearly broke and may even have to borrow money just to keep the lights on. Martin says he's not thinking about that right now.
“That’s certainly not our plan right now,” he said of tapping into a line of credit, adding, “I don’t know if we’ll have to at this point.” He noted that grass-roots fund-raising had remained strong, and the party said small donations in his first three months were the most under a new chairman.
Still, the party’s total cash reserves shrank by $4 million from January through April, according to the most recent federal records, while the Republican National Committee’s coffers swelled by roughly $29 million. A new report is due this week.
The party out of power often falls behind the one holding the White House. Still, the current financial gap is large: $18 million on hand for the D.N.C. entering May, compared with $67.4 million for the R.N.C. Hefty chunks sit in special accounts that cannot be used for operational costs.
The biggest blow to the party may have been the recent exit from the DNC of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME President Lee Saunders. Together, they represent millions of members and tens of millions of dollars in contributions.
“The DNC is weaker than I have ever seen it… They have shown zero ability to chart a post-24 vision for Democrats,” a Democratic strategist with close ties to labor unions, told Politico.
Weingarten and Saunders couldn’t “in good faith continue to rubber-stamp what was going on with the DNC,” the strategist said.
Instead of developing a strategy for 2026 and preparing the battlefield for 2028, Martin and the DNC are bogged down in the minutiae of organizational warfare. There's no plan, no purpose behind the DNC's pronouncements. Martin is too busy putting out political brushfires and soothing bruised egos to get anything organizationally done.
No one is going to wave a magic wand and put the party back together. Martin does not appear up to the challenge. Considering that the bruising fight to find a new chairman early this year damaged the party brand, it's an open question of who can lead the Democratic Party.
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