The Democratic Party Must Change

I�m tired of talking about the election. But in order for the future to be better than the present it is something that we must do. I consider myself a democrat (sort-of). So November 10^thwas not a great day for me; neither was it for many Americans. One of the biggest shocks of that election night was that Wisconsin, a reliably blue state, went red for Donald Trump. This was a major loss for Hillary Clinton and signaled to the rest of the Democratic Party that something was seriously wrong.

            Wisconsin is a major blue-collar state and the fact that the Democratic Party (which has been a major friend to the blue collar community in the past) lost there should send a message to the party leaders that somewhere along the way a wrong turn was made. That wrong turn was abandoning the working class and becoming more elitist and less inclusive. The party became too confident and had forgotten about their base and instead catered to the super delegates that generated the money. Looking back to the primaries, there should have been alarms going off inside of the party over the divide of support between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and how hard the DNC worked to give Clinton the nomination. The super delegates had too much power and looked down on the Republicans who seemed to be on their deathbed with Trump and did not notice the wound that was threatening to put them on the same deathbed.

            The Democratic Party has to change in order to survive. These next two years should provide plenty of motivation for them to get more senators and representatives elected during the midterms. Having to live in a country where the majority of the government is Republican should wake up the Democratic Party leaders from their stupor and adjust to the 21^st century.

 It starts by reestablishing a relationship with the working class and minorities that make up the majority of the democratic base. After Clinton was inaugurated in August, she did not step foot in Wisconsin between then and the election. Find a way to reconnect with the workers. Hold town halls, help labor unions, fight to keep companies from leaving America. Trump and the Republicans realized that on the campaign trail and that may have been the difference between a win and a loss on election night. The next step is running young and fresh candidates for elections. Too many of the Democrats running in the past election were elites who had no connection on a socioeconomic level to their supporters. Barack Obama came from Southside Chicago; Hillary Clinton came from wealthy Upstate New York. See the difference? And see who got elected.

But before the party can do that, they must find a leader. It�s not clear at the moment who is running the Democratic Party. Is it Chuck Schumer? Elizabeth Warren? Bernie Sanders? Or is this the signal of the divide in the party? As somewhat of a Democrat, I do not want the party to be split up. The way to stop that is to recruit a new face to be the leader that can unite and refresh the party enough into winning the midterms and taking back the Senate and House of Representatives. My suggestion: Cory Booker. The senator from New Jersey, who gave a fiery and passionate speech at the DNC, stood out to me and I think has the potential to carry the party through these tough times.

In order for the Democratic Party to fix itself it must adapt by reaching out to the working class, running new and fresh faces in the upcoming elections, and finding a strong leader to unite the Party. But maybe it�s time for the Democratic Party to end. These next few years will determine its fate. But democracy and our government will continue to float on either way. That is why I am not too worried about the next four years. Our country has been in these uncertain situations before and has survived. As Cory Booker said at the DNC a few months ago, �Our best days are ahead of us� we will rise.�