The Democratic Party needs to get its act together
Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile . (Joe Raedle/Associated Press)
On Thursday  former Democratic National Committee interim chair  Donna Brazile  made a surprising revelation: An August 2015 agreement gave Hillary Clintonâs campaign partial control of the DNC months prior to Clinton winning the nomination. The âagreement was not illegal â  Brazile  writes  âbut it sure looked unethical.â The news reignited a debate among politicos and activists over whether the DNC influenced the Democratic primary. Whether the primary was âriggedâ or just business as usual though  Brazileâs allegations are only the latest evidence of the Democratic Partyâs troubles  and why the party establishment is ill-equipped to solve them.
Start with something that  Brazile âs article doesnât touch on: the electoral record. At the federal level  Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress. The GOP House majority is at its largest in 70 years. Though two-thirds of the Senate seats contested in 2016 were held by Republicans  Democrats only gained two seats  losing races against very vulnerable GOP incumbents. At the state level  Republicans are at their strongest since the 1930s. Republicans control both the state legislatures and governorships in 24 states  compared with Democratsâ five. The GOPâs ruthless exploitation of gerrymandering â aided by its control of so many states â has helped increase GOP control  but much blame still lies with Democratic leaders.
Here is what you need to know about the political storm sparked by  Donna Brazile 's allegations against the Clinton campaign. (Amber Ferguson Melissa Macaya/The Washington Post)
Then thereâs the financial mismanagement. Money troubles for the DNC are hardly unprecedented  but the struggles appear to have worsened considerably in the past few years.  Brazile  says that the partyâs monthly expenditures had doubled in the previous five years  in large part because of former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and President Barack Obama keeping expensive consultants on the payroll. (Given Democratsâ electoral failures  what these consultants were doing is anyoneâs guess.) Of course  itâs in  Brazile âs interest to blame things on  her  predecessor. But a former senior party official independently confirmed the troubles to the Interceptâs Ryan Grim  adding that the DNC was unable to make payroll in August 2015 and was âapproaching the equivalent of bankruptcy.â
[TGT]  . (Joe Raedle/Associated Press)
On Thursday  former Democratic National Committee interim chair   [TGT] made a surprising revelation: An August 2015 agreement gave Hillary Clintonâs campaign partial control of the DNC months prior to Clinton winning the nomination. The âagreement was not illegal â   [TGT] writes  âbut it sure looked unethical.â The news reignited a debate among politicos and activists over whether the DNC influenced the Democratic primary. Whether the primary was âriggedâ or just business as usual though  Brazileâs allegations are only the latest evidence of the Democratic Partyâs troubles  and why the party establishment is ill-equipped to solve them.
Start with something that  Brazile âs article doesnât touch on: the electoral record. At the federal level  Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress. The GOP House majority is at its largest in 70 years. Though two-thirds of the Senate seats contested in 2016 were held by Republicans  Democrats only gained two seats  losing races against very vulnerable GOP incumbents. At the state level  Republicans are at their strongest since the 1930s. Republicans control both the state legislatures and governorships in 24 states  compared with Democratsâ five. The GOPâs ruthless exploitation of gerrymandering â aided by its control of so many states â has helped increase GOP control  but much blame still lies with Democratic leaders.
Here is what you need to know about the political storm sparked by  Donna Brazile 's allegations against the Clinton campaign. (Amber Ferguson Melissa Macaya/The Washington Post)
Then thereâs the financial mismanagement. Money troubles for the DNC are hardly unprecedented  but the struggles appear to have worsened considerably in the past few years.  Brazile  says that the partyâs monthly expenditures had doubled in the previous five years  in large part because of former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and President Barack Obama keeping expensive consultants on the payroll. (Given Democratsâ electoral failures  what these consultants were doing is anyoneâs guess.) Of course  itâs in  Brazile âs interest to blame things on  her  predecessor. But a former senior party official independently confirmed the troubles to the Interceptâs Ryan Grim  adding that the DNC was unable to make payroll in August 2015 and was âapproaching the equivalent of bankruptcy.â