In the dog days of Summer 2022, I attended the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh. I remember being surprised and pleased when political blogger Markos Moulitsas “Kos” made an optimistic forecast for Democrats in the midterm elections. In brief, he argued that Democrats were becoming “the freedom party” in the wake of the state-enforced “morality” of the Dobbs decision. Soon after, PA/NJ Republican quack Dr. Oz summed up the party’s rallying cry, “Abortion is a matter between the woman, her doctor, and local politicians.”
Tonight at Netroots Nation in Chicago, “Kos” mocked Republican disunity and sees Democrats as “arrayed” for the coming general election. I could not agree more. I have never seen Democrats so unified. The “misery index,” inflation rate plus unemployment rate, is at its lowest rate since the 1970s, 6.5. Nobody of stature is running against Joe Biden because he is doing a good and sometimes great job. Democrats have a broad progressive consensus. The perennial “Democrats in disarray” story is from the day before yesterday’s news, ancient. RFK Jr. will get a lot of media attention, but he still has no detectable support among actual Democrats, few of which worship Tucker Carlson.
Almost 55 years ago to the day, Democrats battled in the streets of Chicago over Vietnam, adjacent to the Chicago Hilton site of Netroots Nation 2023. 1968 was the most disunited, disarrayed convention ever. This year, the only mild sign of conflict was among the media jostling for the best camera position for the speeches by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and a wheelchair-bound but spirited Rev. Jesse Jackson. The torch is being passed.
A year ago, I felt gloom and doom in my home state of Missouri. Today I’m excited about the new leaders under 50, who are running for statewide office, especially Marine Vet Lucas Kunce against the unpopular Sen. Josh Hawley. The new generation of leadership is here. Missouri is still off the radar screen of national Democrats who believe that incumbents Sen’s Brown & Tester are safe. Anything could happen in West Virginia where GOP Gov. Jim Justice looks strong against mixed-message Joe Manchin.
Since its founding in 2006, a constant mantra at Netroots Nation has been that Democrats need a “50-state strategy.” We aren’t there yet. It’s been a long drive. Change in states such as Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, and the usual battlegrounds will only come from the bottom up.
Howard Park grew up the son of a preacher in the small town of Glencoe, MO (population 145) during the 1960s, before St. Louis suburbs enveloped Glencoe. A self-described “campaign junkie,” Park worked for the successful presidential campaigns of Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008.