Desperate Democrats: Party has a long way to go to catch up to GOP

The Democratic Party is admittedly in shambles, from the local level to the national level, and unless party members learn to work together instead of against one another it will remain weak and ineffective.

The national Democratic Party chose its new chairman on Saturday, and Tom Perez's first action was to reach out to his chief intra-party rival and make him his deputy chairman -- a move intended to unite the disparate portions of a party that is trying to find a new identity in the face of repeated Republican victories.

Republicans hold the White House, both houses of Congress, most governorships and a majority of state legislatures. It will take time and much fence-mending within the minority party to bring it back to life.

The fact is, the country swung left with the election of Democrat Barack Obama to the White House eight years ago, and in those eight years a huge number of voters felt left behind by the Democratic Party and its leadership. They spoke their piece in November by electing Donald Trump president and giving Republican candidates nationwide an edge.

It will take a sea change in attitude among voters for the Democrats to regain the ground they lost. The country simply isn't as liberal as some people believe it to be.

Published in Editorials on February 27, 2017 9:50 AM