Washington Post: David Hogg Riles Democratic Party with Plans to Primary Incumbents
The Hill: Hogg's Democratic Party Shakeup Should Model AOC, Not Trump
It's been my observation of the Democratic party's reaction to Trump's 2024 election win and the subsequent attempt to overturn democracy through a stream of executive orders and pronouncements that have pushed the agenda of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 as if it were his own, that it is not anything like I expected from a party whose candidates I supported in 2024 with more time and money than I ever have before. I believed the rhetoric, because I could clearly see that Trump was an existential threat to American democracy, just like he was the first time he was elected, and because he came right out and told us so.
From the start of Biden's term in office, I was not pleased with the direction the party was going and with the things its elected leaders, especially in Congress were doing. I'm a Democrat who earns the right to speak up. I knock on doors for candidates and I contribute. I'm not silent when I need to speak up. I send communication to both Senators, my representative, and my state legislators.
Off the reaction to the January 6th insurrection, we got an impeachment with a dead end conviction that we knew would be the outcome in the senate. But we also got a Congressional investigation that produced a mountain of evidence, more than enough for a guilty verdict to many different crimes, including leading an insurrection against the government of the United States. That should have been followed up by some bold steps requiring some risk to be taken, but necessary for justice to be served.
And the justice department of the United States of America, in the hands of the Democratic party and the administration of President Joe Biden, failed to take the bold, risky steps necessary, dragged their feet, and let the opportunity to prevent Trump from ever taking office again, and most likely spending prison time justifiably, pass without taking advantage of the use of the power that they had.
No boldness, no risk, the Democrats in Congress chose to play the same political game they have always played. Fearing the risk of appearing political, there were those who were willing to risk some bold moves, like breaking the Senate filibuster, which has needed to be eliminated for a long time, and amending the judiciary act to pack the Supreme Court with justices who would rule based on Constitutional principle and American idealism, unlike the six Republican appointees who now hold seats on the court.
Doing that eliminates the ridiculous Presidential immunity ruling we got, it keeps Roe from being overturned, it would have expedited Trump's trials for insurrection and for stealing government classified documents, perhaps even gotten a ruling on that directly from them, and we would not be facing what we are now facing from his second Presidency. If we had leaders who would have had a little more boldness, and would have been willing to step outside status quo politics, take a risk, figure out how to deal with the change but make sure that the country was rid of the menace of Trump, we would not be where we are now, having Project 2025 crammed down our throats and watching our democracy evaporate.
So Trump was questionably re-elected, not because Democrats didn't do anything, but because they would not do what was necessary to stop it. Was that because they were afraid, or just didn't know, or put too much trust in a failed, broken justice system? Now, Democrats are the party whose congressional leaders seem more than willing to give Trump what he wants and complain about the fact that they are, indeed, a minority, using that to separate and raise campaign funds while their job approval rating in Congress is at 29%. The apologetic I got back from my Senator, Dick Durbin, explaining why he voted for cloture on the continuing resolution that kept the government operating, instead of keeping the filibuster going and letting Trump get blamed for the shutdown, was an eye opener. Senator Durbin has served the people of Illinois well, but if that's his approach to dealing with a second Trump term, then we are blessed that he has decided not to run for another term.
David Hogg is Doing What Supportive Democrats, Such as Myself, Want to See From Our Party
The opinion piece in The Hill, by Michael Ceraso, misses most of the point of why David Hogg got elected to the second highest post at the moribund DNC. He claims Hogg is doing this more to get headlines and boost his own media profile, than to do the work within the party of someone who "pays their dues," by rubbing elbows with the influential, the donor class, the movers and shakers, and then perhaps convincing enough of them that his idea of primarying some old liners is a good one to get their support to do it.
The fact that James Carville is one of his most vocal critics is enough to convince me that we did exactly the right thing by putting Hogg in the second spot at the DNC. If Carville thinks that something risky and bold is not as good an idea as the good ole boy politics as usual system, then Hogg must be on the right track.
Let's get real, here, OK? Where were those critics when the Democratic party fell into chaos and confusion following Joe Biden's first debate, when the big guns panicked, let the big donors call all of the shots, descend into ridiculous, uncalled for chaos and couldn't settle on how to choose a new Presidential nominee. The old guard still runs the party, which is one of the reasons why it often misses the point, has trouble sticking to the message and loses elections it should win. Biden did a great job at exactly what he said he would do, and that was be a transitional President. But politics as usual is what prompted what was an ill advised run as an incumbent for a second term.
And Carville's idea, that Hogg should play the old line political game, currying favor with donors and politicians already in leadership, building useful relationships, networking and playing the good ole boy games is the reason why Democrats can't stay on message and are running at a 29% approval rating right now. Resistance and opposition to Trump is opening up outside the Democratic party. If Democrats don't get on board and embrace what's happening on the left, they'll become as relevant as the Whigs.
People want things to get done, quickly. They don't want to drag things along until the right person has the chance to approve some idea or plan. Democrats turned off a lot of potential constituents by the panic and confusion that happened when the party couldn't get a handle on who was running the show, in the weeks leading up to Harris' nomination. The fact that the big shots and major donors had to put their stamp of approval on everything was a huge turnoff that drove a lot of voters away.
I think Hogg is on the right track here. He wants to cut through all of that partisan political goo, and get right to the point of finding leaders who will get things done and ignore the old line, old school protocol. He wants to find and empower leaders who will take risks and who will be bold enough to get things done without worrying about setting themselves up for future political success. He's looking for people who will represent the people, not the money interests or the influence peddlers. So he doesn't want to play the games, and that's brought out the critics whose power is vested in old school thinking, and threatened by something more popular than they are.
A reset of the Democratic party that will keep up with the Trump opposition and work to help it hold its ground in Congress will bring back the success that it will take to repair the damage done to this country by Trump. We need a movement that will end the GOP's agenda driven fascism, based on Heritage Foundation Christian nationalism. It's going to take a reformed Democratic party that thinks like those who are drawing tens of thousands to rallies cutting deeply into GOP support.
Anyone Should be Able to Run
I'm qualified to run for Dick Durbin's seat, and as qualified and competent as he is to do the job. By observation, I'm far less inclined to bow the knee to Trump for the sake of compromise. I'd have been a "NO!" vote on cloture when the issue of the continuing resolution and keeping the government open came up. I'd be a "NO!" vote on any appointee he makes to either the judiciary or to his own cabinet. I'd be in every red congressional district in Illinois, holding town hall gatherings to point out exactly where the Republican representative in that district is failing the people.
Had I been in the Senate in 2021, during the opening session of Congress accompanying the beginning of Biden's term in office, I would have made the motion to break the filibuster in order to pack the court, and I'd have a list of names of the most progressive, liberal judges in the federal court system, reliably committed to upholding the separation of powers, calling spades spades and insurrectionists insurrectionists, and willing to take cases out of the hands of slow movers and expitide their path to trial. I'd make sure they were committed to overturning Citizen's United, and preserving Roe, and defining the separation of powers, and to making sure no President is above the law. I'd expect court rulings making having been adjudicated of a felony, any felony, disqualifying in running for, or holding any office at the federal level, including cabinet level positions.
I'm sure David Hogg has similar qualifications in mind for those he plans to support.
I've heard his critics say he should focus on helping Democrats beat Republicans, not on primarying Democrats. But I think this route is the way to victory for Democrats. We need to win Congressional seats and our playing by the old rules isn't cutting it. The establishment has played itself out, and it is clearly not leading any resistance to Trump, that's being done by a whole different constituency. We are facing a constitutional crisis because Democrats weren't bold enough to take the political risks necessary to have Trump sent to prison where he belongs, instead of being re-elected to the White House, where he doesn't belong.
Let's give new leadership a shot at it. Thanks, David. Speak the truth to power.
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