CT Blue

Donna Brazile has seen fit to reopen the wounds of the 2016 primary season in any apparent attempt to sell her new book.

We really don’t need this, and I find it hard to believe that she is so hard up for money that she has to try to destroy the Democratic Party in order to make a few bucks.

I agree with much of what Josh Marshall has to say here. I was a Bernie supporter, and I agree that the loathsome Wasserman-Schultz put her finger on the scale as much as she could to help Hillary, but the fact is that Hillary didn’t need the help, she would have won the nomination anyway.

What Brazile has done is simply add fuel to a fire that’s been tamped down; there is a fraction of Bernie backers who remain focused on this issue, and they are now yapping again. We shouldn’t forget this is exactly the sort of thing the Russians were trying to foster, on behalf of Trump, in the ads they targeted to Bernie backers. I should add that there is a fraction of Hillary supporters who still blame the “Bernie or Bust” crowd for her loss, though there’s not an iota of evidence for that position, and you certainly can’t claim that Bernie himself encouraged it.

This is not to say there’s nothing to be learned from the actions of the DNC and the other Democratic Party committees (the DCCC and the DSCC). The DNC, under new leadership, is still, perhaps, an open question, but the other two remain committed to the type of politician and message that has gotten us where we are today. Whenever possible, they push the most right wing of Democrats forward as candidates. We are not selling the message that, despite his loss, Bernie proved can sell in this country. I don’t know what will happen in Virginia on Tuesday, but polls are tightening, partly due to the lies and slander being spread by the Republicans, but also partly due to the fact that our candidate is trotting out the tired old “moderate” Democrat bullshit that inspires absolutely nobody. I highly recommend daily reading of the Down with Tyranny blog, which daily documents the determination of the Democratic elites to quash the enthusiasm of the resistance.

But, back to the larger point. We may have to do it in spite of the institutional Democratic Party, but we’ll get nothing accomplished if we fight old battles that have no relevance to our current situation. The Republic is on life support. We have to focus on that fact and put trivialities aside.