Is the Democratic Party viable or does the Party have no clothes??

Do the grass roots Democrats think the Party machine represents them. Does Nancy Pelosi represent the grass roots when she arrogantly commands that impeachment is off the table?

Can California grass roots Democrats replace Sen Feinstein? It will be tough and a good test of the system. I think most Democrats at the grassroots level think DiFi is detrimental to the Democratic Party and the country. But will the Democratic Party machine back the grass roots or the incumbent DiFi?

If the California grass roots can not replace DiFi, then IMHO it proves that the Democratic Party is not representing the people and therefore not viable.

Why will no one address this? This goes to the heart of our problems. If our Representatives and Senators will not represent us then what kind of a half ass representative republic do we have?

Currently you have no choice at the primary if an incumbent is involved. And at the general you have the Party machine choice (incumbent) or republican.

Ranting is good, i love to rant, but it isn't effective in fixing the system. We must embrace a strategy to change the system to be able to replace incumbents that have gone astray.

And you're right, it'll be a test to see if California voters oust Feinstein. imo we'll soon see whether or not the party is still viable.

I don't know how many meetings I have gone to where everyone sat around and bitched about how bad things were and then left the meeting with no strategy for correcting the problems. That's what I see here at DU.

Better to get involved with people on the ground to support Congressional candidates who are willing to agree to some kind of "progressive check list" ~ maybe Dean's 50-state strategy group, Move-on's candidate support projects, or something completely new.

Critical mass is just around the corner!

2006 begs to differ. Voter-ID and generic-matchup polls for '08 also disagree with you.

Note to netroots/progressives/grassroots/however you prefer we be defined: we are a tiny minority. We are outnumbered even by conservatives in our own party. The inclusion of other views in the party's platform does not mean we are not being represented.

We are not "the People." We are a small faction of the People. And when our politicians do not do everything we ask, it is often because most people do not actually want it to be done. No, Nancy Pelosi does not represent us. She represents the Democrats. And believe it or not, the Democrats represent the people at large--not just the netroots.

Thank you.

is to defeat Democrat incumbents that do not represent Democrats, like DiFi. When 70% of the Democrats of this country want impeachment and Nancy doesn't, who exactly does she represent?? And if 100% of her constituents want her out, how exactly do they do it. How do they find someone that will buck the Democratic machine and run against her without the party support???? How?? And if they did manage, which is very, very rare, how will they get big money donors to give to them the challenger over the incumbent? It never happens. Therefore Nancy doesn't have to pay attention to her constituents. They are powerless to replace her unless they vote republican.

Yes, we helped. We were a small part of a greater whole. If 100% of her constituents want her out, they'll vote for someone else. Good luck with that :eyes:

In the primary there will not be a choice. That is my point. The Party will strongly discourage a challenger. So that means they will have to vote against her in the general. How likely is that. Better of evils you know. Your words sound good but just don't fly.

in policy from the republicans than there really is and the activists know better. That's why they'll vote the least of change as an option. Those in charge of the party will seek to keep it that way it seems.

It's only active in a few states so far, but I know grassroot activists who have stopped working for the DNC and work for them now ~ hopefully it will spread to other states quickly. They "build locally to win nationally."

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