Are We Doomed?

A question popped up on Facebook recently: Are we all doomed? The premise? That the Democratic Party isn’t doing enough to protect our nation, leaving us all vulnerable. Here’s how the question was phrased:

It’s a sobering choice—either the Democrats step up, or we all face catastrophe. And honestly? It’s hard to argue against that framing. There’s no chance a third party will step into the fight and save us. Our nation has unwittingly locked itself into a two-party system for nearly its entire history. Over the years, third-party movements have risen, only to be crushed by the two dominant parties working to preserve their control. That leaves us with just one option: the Democrats must be the ones to ride into town and clean up the mess.

But are they ready for this fight? Right now, the answer is a resounding no. Never before has one of our two major parties openly waged war on democracy itself. The Republican Party, now controlled by MAGA extremists, has gone full authoritarian, and yet the Democrats are still stumbling around, acting as if this is just another round of normal political gamesmanship.

The luxury of playing political gamesmanship is long gone. If democracy is to survive, the Democratic Party has no choice but to do what the Facebook commenter suggested—ask the hard questions, listen to the hard answers, and, I would add, purge the weak links. That means saying goodbye to the feckless establishment figures like Chuck Schumer and his gang of habitual cave-ins, who just last week folded during the funding vote out of fear of what Trump and his minions might do next. When you have courage, you make decisions based on a bold sense of what is right, not on the fear of what your opponent might do next. To date, the Democrats in Congress have failed miserably. They’re stepping into a boxing ring intending to play chess, and they’re too dense to figure out why they’re getting clobbered.

Is it any surprise that CNN senior data analyst Harry Enten this morning sounded the alarm on a variety of polls showing the Democratic Party's approval ratings falling to record lows.

America has two problems: A party that fights to destroy democracy and a party that won’t fight to protect it. Right now, the party fighting democracy is winning, and many folks, when evaluating their feelings toward the Democratic Party, are throwing up their arms in a sense of doom.

Here’s the brutal truth: Democrats don’t just need leaders who listen. They need warriors—people with conviction, spines of steel, and the guts to weather the storm. No more of this cowardly “move to the center” nonsense, which turns them into nothing more than Republican-lite. Moving to the center is a defensive move. If you’ve watched Lucas Kunce run against Josh Hawley in Missouri’s last senatorial election, you would have seen Kunce running toward the center throughout his campaign. The result? He was defeated with prejudice. The lesson? Playing defense never wins. Ever.

This country needs bold progressives to step up and go on offense. Why progressives? Because when a red state like Missouri votes on policies—not party labels—it always chooses progressive policies. Initiative Petitions for workers' rights, reproductive freedom, and expanding healthcare pass in this deep-red state, proving that the people want these policies. Yet, the Democratic establishment still refuses to fully embrace this reality.

The bottom line is that this isn’t about moving left for right on some meaningless ideological spectrum. It’s about breaking free from the spectrum altogether and fighting for real people instead of serving the corporate elites who bankroll both parties. To do that, the Democrats need to clean house—ditch the focus-group-approved, consultant-driven elites and start recruiting fighters who are ready to put everything on the line for the future of this country.

The choice is clear. The only question is—will the Democrats wake up in time?