THE DEMOCRATS – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  The Democratic Party now has a new chairman.  Oops, a new chair.  Non-gender.  A chair. 

He is Tom Perez, a man of the left, the former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under Barack Obama, and later Obama's secretary of labor.  Even though he's way out in left field, he's considered "establishment," an ally of both Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Perez defeated, by a very narrow margin, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, an African-American and a Muslim, a man who represents the Bernie Sanders flakeshop within the party.  Ellison, whose controversial history includes a stint as a follower of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, becomes deputy chairman.

Okay, that election is over.  The white smoke rose from the Oppressed Persons Center and Grill in Atlanta, and the chair has been named.  Now what?

The Democratic Party is in terrible shape.  It is essentially leaderless, short of the distinguished senators and governors who led it to victory in many critical elections past.  It is often seen, by millions of Americans, as arrogant, aloof, obsessed with race, gender, and ethnicity, and vaguely hostile to the nation itself.  It has shown contempt for some of our most cherished institutions – the military, religion, law enforcement, innovation. It is a party out of touch.

What must the party become?  In reply to that question, we can think back to a story told by Doris Kearns Goodwin and other historians about an incident that occurred the day FDR died, April 12th, 1945.  A reporter saw a soldier at the White House gate, crying.  The reporter approached the soldier and asked, "Did you know him?"  The soldier answered, "No, but he knew me." 

And that's the idea.  A political party must know its country.  In recent decades it has been the Republican Party, once seen as little old men in green eyeshades, that has been closest to the American people and its ideals.  Far from a perfect party, it has still embodied the spirit of the free American.  Ronald Reagan became the modern FDR, the man who spoke for us.

If the Democrats are to succeed, they must first relearn their country.  Many don't want to.  They live within themselves and believe their lives are defined by their College Board scores.  Given what the party has become, I think it has only a 40 percent chance of success.  It is not easy to change people who spend too much of their time celebrating their wonderfulness.

Good luck, Democrats.  But don't be shocked if a new party comes along to replace you.

February 26, 2017