Budowsky: Democrats after the deluge

Ted Kennedy, one of the greatest senators who ever served, once said this:  “Sometimes a party must sail against the wind. We cannot afford to drift or lie at anchor. We cannot heed the call of those who say it is time to furl the sail.”

When applying Kennedy’s credo to Democrats after the deluge that elected Donald Trump on Tuesday, the irony is that Democrats would probably have prevailed if they sailed with the winds of public opinion made clear by the fact that in most polls, over many months, Bernie Sanders would have defeated Trump by landslide margins.

{mosads}There is widespread public anger and resentment, across the nation and throughout the democratic world, against economic injustices and political corruptions caused by political and financial establishments and elites.

Sanders brilliantly spoke to this.  Hillary Clinton, whatever her talents and imperfections, never fully understood this. She gave Sanders the respect of adopting many of his plans in the Democratic platform but when it mattered, her speeches and campaign ads appeared as little more than endless drone-like attacks on Trump without visions, dreams or aspirations that respected and addressed the anxieties and anger of voters.

Going forward Democrats should realize that from the passage of Brexit to the election of Trump, the world is challenged by a global crisis of democracy.  Democrats should remember that important Democratic presidents such as FDR, Harry Truman and JFK offered inspirational leadership for change at home and built alliances with enlightened democratic leaders abroad.

Today democracy is under attack from external influences such as Vladimir Putin and internal failures most recently witnessed in South Korea, the Philippines and Turkey.  Internationally and domestically there is an epic battle between a progressive populism and a reactionary populism embodied by Brexit, Trump, and far right nationalist and sectarian parties whose next bid for power will be in France and other European nations.

In American politics Democrats must now sail against the wind of powerful institutions including a GOP president, GOP Congress, and the coming battle over the Supreme Court.  Liberals are not tired; witness the huge surge for Sanders.  But many Democratic leaders are tired, stale and preoccupied with triangulating between activist and idealist grassroots Democrats and establishment sources of insider money and power.

What next for Democrats?

First, there will soon be talk of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillebrand (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and others potentially running for president in 2020.  Good.  This will bring excitement, ferment, enthusiasm and new ideas to the party.  Democrats must now think and act like a bold, principled and fighting loyal opposition.

Second, Democrats should find an exciting public figure to be chair of the Democratic National Committee to become an appealing public voice and organizer for grassroots workers and small donors.  Any of the leading names mentioned above would qualify.  So would next generation figures such as Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) or Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, an inspiring rising star who was almost elected senator on Tuesday.

Third, Democrats under a new DNC chair should bring back the national midterm convention in summer 2017. This would mobilize the party, promote new leaders, generate revived enthusiasm, and powerfully help recruit first-rate candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.

Fourth, Congressional Democrats should aggressively promote next generation members to high ranks in the Congressional leadership, especially in the House.

Fifth, private donors should dramatically increase support for Democratic-friendly think tanks to work closely with Democratic members and candidates to generate and promote exciting ideas to answer the rightist populism of Trump, Brexit, and far right European extremists.

And sixth, Democrats should promote a wave of highly popular state ballot initiatives for 2018 to mobilize Democratic turnout, such as raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women, legalizing marijuana, restoring voting rights and cleansing politics of dirty money.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.