Bitter feud threatens to doom Dems — and entrench GOP in power for decades: insider

The Democratic Party is failing to deal with an existential crisis that could entrench the GOP in power for years to come, a party activist and ex-candidate warned.Establishment politicians are so desperate to dismiss a surging progressive wing of the party that they risk destroying its next generation — and effectively leaving Republicans with little opposition at elections, said India Walton, a leading Democratic Socialist.“If we don’t get it together, we’re left with the Republicans, she said.“This is like, you have a nest of birds and, instead of helping to feed them and teach them how to fly, you kick them out of the nest. Eventually, you don’t have another generation to take over.“There’s no succession planning. There’s no training of people.”Walton was commenting on her party's reaction as incumbent candidates were ousted in Democratic primaries in New York City and Denver last month. It was coupled with the demonization inside the party of candidates, such as now-NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who identify as Democratic Socialists. Many in Mamdani's party refused to support him, with the city’s Senator Chuck Schumer making no endorsement while Rep. Hakeem Jeffries reluctantly backed him just days before the election.Mamdani went on to win with more than 50 percent of the vote.In May, Democratic Socialist Chris Rabb beat his nearest competitor by 15 percentage points to become the Democratic candidate to represent Philadelphia in the House. The city's Democratic Party, its mayor and its delegation in the U.S. House had all endorsed other candidates.The party's cool reaction to the emergence of left-leaning competitors was summed up by former Chicago mayor and rumored presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel, who told CNN, What the socialist wing has decided to do is turn blue districts dark blue.The way you create a majority, either in the legislative body or win the presidency, is moving red areas to blue, not blue areas to cobalt blue or to midnight blue. And that's all that happens.And yet, Walton said, there’s a massive sway among Democrats — particularly younger voters — towards progressive causes.Walton herself beat longtime incumbent Byron Brown to win the Democratic Party's primary for mayor of Buffalo in 2021. She ultimately lost the general election after Brown, who had held the seat for four terms, launched a write-in campaign with support from the city's police and Republicans.She now serves as a senior strategist for RootsAction, a grassroots platform dedicated to furthering progressive issues.And she said the message that the establishment is sending a massive wave of voters is that they're not a welcome part of their own party.I'm a Democrat, she said. I've always been a Democrat, my entire life. And the shame in all of this is that we should vote blue no matter who — until it's someone who has a more progressive value than the Democrats who are controlled by the oligarchs, the corporations in the big lobby? Right? Then it becomes, well, those people are no longer blue. We're going to just say they're red, so to speak.And that's not going to fly. ... These establishment Democrats, many of them, they just don't have much in common with working class Americans. They're millionaires. They're, you know, stock traders. They're not struggling, so they can't identify with our issues. ... People are becoming frustrated and are starting to see Democrats and Republicans as two wings of the same bird, so to speak. “They’re going to start being voted out,” she said about establishment Democrats.Either they’re going to vote for an alternative, if there is one. Or they're not going to vote at all.”Asked for comment, a Democratic National Committee spokesman shared congratulations that had been sent by its chair, Ken Martin, to all the progressive candidates as they won their primaries. He also shared examples of the DNC highlighting Mamdani's work.Walton went on, We know that polling tells us that this generation of voters is far more progressive than previous ones. This is the first generation of voters who get more progressive as they age instead of more conservative.” She said they're coming out in huge numbers to support candidates representing a platform of healthcare for all, relief for people strapped with student debt, affordable housing. You know, simple practical things that are going to relieve the suffering of everyday people.And the existing Democratic Party is being seen as reluctant to truly represent them, Walton said. Instead of tapping into enthusiasm for those ideas, the Democratic Party is criticizing President Donald Trump — yet offering nothing new.The whole strategy is flawed, she said. They are unable to motivate voters. They're unable to motivate donors. I think that the best strategy and highest use of our time right now is to build a broad coalition that doesn't just become how we defeat the Republicans. It has to become how we defend our democracy and how we take care of our people“... Your American dream, where you could buy a house with one job? It’s not what young people are experiencing. They want to know what’s in it for them, what kind of future they have? We’ve seen this generation of folks not be able to accumulate wealth, who are beginning their lives with debt. And it’s going to show up at the ballot box.”Walton urged the Democratic Party to wake up now — before it falls too far out of touch.“I think that what is happening is not that people are moving more to the left, but people are moving more toward a populist message, a populist platform plan that prioritizes working-class people — which people are finding out more and more is all of us.“The Republicans have a plan for their people and they’re implementing it. They are taking away our rights. They are cutting benefits and Medicare and SNAP and child food programs. They are accomplishing all of the things that they set out to do.“And the Democrats are doing nothing but using Republican talking points to instill fear in voters and saying, well, if you don’t vote for us, you’re either going to have more Republicans or you’re going to have these radical socialists.“And that line of narrative, it makes absolutely no sense. What they should be saying is [the progressives] are winning the primaries; that means the messaging is working. That means we’re seeing higher turnout among younger voters who we’ve been unable to reach. “So perhaps we should be building a coalition with these people and not, you know, demonizing them and making people afraid that they’re going to be some sort of communist takeover, which is actually ridiculous.”