The Failure of the Democratic Party

By Izayah Morgan

Opinions Editor

I was introduced to politics at a young age. I was in the seventh grade when I woke up on November 8, 2016 -  right on the dot at six in the morning to catch my bus at 6:45 a.m.  

However, I remember this day was different. My mom seemed less energetic than she usually was - and not just because of my long gaming sessions the night before. As I looked throughout my classrooms, all my teachers and peers had a look of defeat.

I arrived for my social studies class near the end of the day, and our teacher stopped class to hear what everyone had to say on Donald Trump winning the presidential election.

Many of my peers were frightened, angry, and were at a loss for words. This was my first introduction to politics. It wasn't Obama, the Black man who had won back to back elections, who little me could have looked up to, instead it was someone who struck fear into the people I loved and cared for.

It has felt like the two-party system in America blended together more and more over the past decade. When I was young, I remember hearing the saying that the “Democratic and Republican parties are just two sides of the same coin.”

While this can seem even truer now as a lot of Americans refused to go to the poll because of the feeling nothing changes no matter the party. we need to examine what the Democratic Party was before to understand how they got to this point. 

The New Deal was an act under Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression and was a sum of many federal programs and reforms to circumvent the depression’s negative impact on Americans.

In an article by the LPE project, it is said that “beginning in the 1970s, Democrats moved away from their traditional emphasis on new policies towards a more market, friendly business, friendly agenda.” 

This marked a shift towards neoliberalism.

For those unaware, according to Oxford languages, neoliberalism is defined as “a political approach that favors free-market capitalism, deregulation, and reduction in government spending.” It believes in “free markets,” meaning the markets themselves, not governments, can best allocate resources. It minimizes the control the government has over each state and focuses on the individual more than the whole.

Largely this was a bipartisan deal and former President Ronald Regan was one of the main leaders of this movement. Regan had won the election in a landslide as according to The American Presidency project, every state had voted red except Minnesota.

The utter dominance of the Republican party throughout the ’80s caused Democrats to have to respond accordingly. The Third Way was their response. It was a movement that held a largely centrist position, which blurred the lines between Democratic and Republican ideologies.

President Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Jean Chrétien, and Gerhard Schröder were affiliated with the Third Way Movement and were in a large part why it became so popular.

This push inevitably led to the place we are in America currently, where Republicans are dominating and Democrats are struggling to get voters out to the polls. 

I find myself agreeing with the saying “Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the same coin” more and more.

It has reached a point where the question is not “Which side has better policies?” but instead, “Which side is a bit more progressive?” 

Virtue signaling and social grandstanding aren’t enough to convince Americans to run out to the polls - especially when everything feels so out of their control. 

President Obama always had a certain swagger during - and after - his presidency. He related to general people, whether it’s his love of basketball or showing his annual summer playlists, you never forget he’s a person, too.

He also brought compassion to politics, which is less and less common each passing day. When he responded to hecklers, it wasn’t to call them a lunatic or stick up the bird at them, but to meet them and respond accordingly.

Contrastingly, Trump's victory in 2024 marked a key difference in the country's thinking compared to when he won in 2016. 

His victory in 2016 shows a turn against traditional politics in favor of Trump, appealing to Republicans because of his business tactics. 

In his victory in 2024, on the other hand, what attracted Republican voters was Trump’s cult of personality. 

Unlike the 2020 election, many Americans were downright done with the Democratic party. They felt that the Biden administration was not so different from any Republican administration. This led many Americans to not even show up to the polls at all.

So how do we shift the narrative away from Democrats just being Republicans but blue?

Trump’s current administration has attacked basic human rights and sent ICE agents running through the streets. Democrats have to take initiative and show voters that they will respond to these attacks on American citizens.

We have to push back against what Republicans are currently attempting to make the norm. Democrats need to double down on their commitments to their party and to the American people.

We must continue to support the social and cultural rights of people regardless of their gender, age, religion, race, or religion. 

We must remain active in politics, running whenever possible.Democrats need to make their presence felt, especially in communities they aren't traditionally known to be popular in.

We must contrast the damages Republicans have done to this country. Democrats must explain how they are going to fix them. Make sure that when you're telling people how it’s going to be fixed, you focus on the person and how the change will fix their issue, not so much on the policy you're implementing.

I hope the Democrats can respond accordingly. We are at a time where people are scared, tired, and worn out, yet they still manage to protest to put the nation on notice.

Democrats, you got punched in the face during the election cycle. The question is: are you going to fight back, or stay down?