Fallin' Hard

From the BBC:
"Obama leaves Democratic party a skeleton of its former self"

Following the inaugural ceremonies, Barack and Michelle Obama - private citizens once again - were whisked off by a military helicopter stationed behind the US Capitol.  They'll spend a few days on vacation at a California desert resort before, as Mr Obama tweeted from his personal account, getting "back to work". And, for Democrats, there's a lot of hard work to be done. With Mr Obama's departure, the party is only just beginning its long journey in the political wilderness. Democrats have lost Congress. They've been decimated in state legislatures. Their hoped-for liberal majority on the Supreme Court was blocked by intransigent Senate Republicans. And now the presidency is gone, as well.  In the days ahead, the party that thought it had time and demographics on its side, that saw Mr Obama's coalition of young, ethnic and educated voters as a durable governing majority, will try to figure out what, exactly, went wrong. Ironically enough, some liberals are looking at the Tea Party grass-roots conservative movement that emerged in the months after Mr Obama became president in 2009 as a model for their path back to power.  At the time, many on the left mocked the impromptu outbursts of conservative protest - which bedevilled Democratic politicians at constituent meetings - as ill-conceived, uninformed or ineffective. Now, they point to recent efforts to confront Republican legislators over attempts to repeal Mr Obama's healthcare reform as signs of life in a dispirited party.

Democrats face a tough challenge in the days ahead. They have to settle on a leader for their national committee - resolving an ideological battle between left-wing populists and those who preach continued Obama-style moderation and incrementalism.   They need to devise a strategy to win back Congress, complicated by the fact they have to defend 10 Senate seats in states that Donald Trump won in the upcoming 2018 mid-term congressional elections. And, before too long, candidates for the 2020 presidential nomination will begin jockeying for position. More than anything else, however, they need to begin rebuilding their party on the local and state level. Mr Obama's successes glossed over a party that is bereft of young leaders working their way up through the ranks.  At the moment, the Democratic Party is a skeleton of its former self. Until they put some meat on its bones, memories of the 2008 hope that Obama ushered in - that they were a party of destiny - will seem to liberals like a cruel joke.

^ Oh how the mighty and self-righteous have fallen and fallen hard. Before the Democrats can even hope to regain any power or influence at any level of government they first need to take a hard look at themselves, their policies and their supporters and then reality and make drastic changes. The first change should be their self-imposed belief that they are superior to everyone else and that anyone who disagrees with anything they say is evil. The second change should be to stop making excuses as to why they have failed. Sometimes you need to put your big boy/girl pants on and acknowledge you weren't in the right, accept responsibility and learn from your past mistakes. People may say that I am anti-Democrat and pro-Republican, I see myself as liberal on some issues and conservative on others (a mix of the two parties) and do not like when things are ultra-liberal or ultra-conservative, There needs to be a balance between the two. This time the Democrats have failed in that balance (as clearly seen in how they lost power in all levels of government throughout the country) as well as the balance in respect (by how they continue to cry and blame others for their own failings.)  I'm not saying that Trump or the Republicans are clearly in the right now, but that there is at least hope for a change for the better since they came into power. I do hope there will be a good balance made between conservative and liberal otherwise Trump and the Republicans will go the way of Obama and the Democrats have right now. We need a clearly defined domestic and international policy and that needs to be translated from pen to practice. Words are good, but actions are better. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38696853