Will rank-and-file Democrats save their party from the elites?

As the news, the metrics, and public opinion polls continue to trend badly for the Democratic Party, it becomes clear that they have no Plan B. They have placed no one behind the “Break glass in case of emergency” window.

Their leadership appears to have lashed themselves to the mast of the “Woke identity politics before all” ship, with every intention of taking moderate, commonsense-thinking Democrats down with them.

Why? Multiple wrong-headed reasons but the main one is the most damaging to that brand: The Democratic leadership is simply too cowardly to tell the party’s far-left wing that they have gone too far and completely alienated tens of millions of Americans — including millions of voters who normally might side with the Democratic Party.

This week, former Democratic representative and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii encapsulated all of this with her announcement that she was leaving the party. Said Gabbard: “The Democrats of today are hostile to people of faith and spirituality. They demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans. The Democrats of today believe in open borders and weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents. Above all else, the Democrats of today are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”

At 41, Gabbard is a young woman of color who has broken glass ceilings. She enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003, served for 12 months in Iraq, and remains in the Army National Guard, having been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In other words, she is not unlike millions of working-class Americans who align with the Democratic Party. Now, she is gone from the party.

In the closing of her statement, Gabbard called for “independent-minded Democrats” to leave the party, as well. Now, while none may publically join with Gabbard in her public display, it is clear that, privately, something is going on. Most especially — if some of the polls are to be believed — with Black, Hispanic and other minority voters.

For Americans who are on the front lines of rising crime, runaway inflation, rising fuel prices, failing public schools, and supply shortages, the last thing on their minds is to follow the woke politics dictates of wealthy, entrenched elitists who have zero idea of the daily struggles many must overcome simply to provide for themselves and their families. 

None will make a public statement, as Gabbard did, but hundreds of thousands may be making a statement in the privacy of a voting booth — a statement that will tip the country dramatically toward the Republican side of the political scale.

On a weekly basis, I speak with senior-level, pragmatic Democrats who simply can’t believe this is happening to their party. As one told me: “Our leadership is being held hostage by a few thousand far-left Twitter trolls, unions in it for themselves, and uneducated Hollywood and entertainment celebrities.”

In other words, people who probably don’t have to worry about paying the bills. Many of them travel by private jet and vacation anywhere in the world — the “Do as we say, not as we do” elites who don’t even amount to 1 percent of the population of our nation.

And yet, these out-of-touch elites seem to have the leadership of the Democratic Party in their back pockets. Why are these politicians afraid to tell the elites that they have no clue about what is ailing most Americans?

Gabbard has left the party. Others likely will follow, especially if the Nov. 8 elections are a wipeout for the Democrats. If that happens, will rank-and-file Democrats finally figure out a way to wrest control of their party away from their elite-fearing leadership before 2024?

Perhaps rank-and-file Democrats will cast aside identity politics in search of candidates like former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who, back in 2013, said, “It is absolutely clear to me that Virginians want their next governor to focus on job creation and commonsense fiscal responsibility instead of divisive partisan issues.”

If the Democrats want to stage a revolt to save their party for 2024 and beyond, they need to reach out to commonsense-thinking pols like Bill Clinton, Terry McAuliffe, and Tulsi Gabbard. They not only have a plan but know how to speak to the Americans who are being left behind by the woke, identity-politics movement.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.