That’s what Democratic strategist Robin Biro – a former State Senate candidate from Georgia – sees as the party faces its first big decision since losing control of the White House and the Senate in last November’s elections. The DNC vote for a new chairman is scheduled for Feb. 1.
Outgoing DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, whose term expires at the end of February, has come under fire for choosing to run the party from his home base in South Carolina. But the sharpest knives in a weekend forum of DNC chair hopefuls were reserved for a faceless group: the "D.C. consultants," Politico reported.
In short, Democrats do not appear ready to back down from radical social policies that many believe contributed to Kamala Harris’ failed presidential run against Donald Trump or to Republicans flipping the Senate and retaining control of the House, Biro said on American Family Radio Monday.
“I've always told you the truth. I'm a godly man. I tell the truth. So, I'm going to tell you a hard truth, which is that we've not learned the lessons,” Biro told show host Jenna Ellis.
Loudest voices in the room
The unwillingness to change comes down to the loudest voices in the room, many of them belonging to members of “The Squad” – a cadre of House Democrats who have become poster children for the party’s extreme positions. The group includes New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar and others.
“If anything, anytime we have a loss, there's a part of the party that thinks that the reason why was because we weren't 'left' enough – and those voices are usually the loudest ones in the room, unfortunately," said Biro. "You can see that just with our Congress people, right? The ones who get the most attention are the Squad members, the very loudest in the party. That’s what’s happening again.”
Those voices are winning out again, he explained. But DNC leadership candidates are looking at consultants.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said “leaders lead from the front, and they have to be present in the center of the circle,” according to Politico.
New York State Sen. James Skoufis vowed to “kick to the curb” those pesky consultants, and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said he’d have “no commitments to anyone who’s been on a campaign payroll before.”
Skoufis, the only sitting elected official in the mix, promised to resign his New York State Senate position if elected “because the next DNC chair must be fully committed.”
Saturday’s forum was the first of four such meetings scheduled ahead of the Feb. 1 vote, Politico reported.
Biro believes the November losses were due more to poor messaging by the party than to its extremist positions.
“They were talking about all these wedge issues and social issues and abortion and things like that. Sure, these are issues that are of concern to Americans," he acknowledged, "but people are much more concerned with what's happening in their wallets and pocketbooks and banking accounts right now. The recession, the inflation affected us all. That was at least a unifier for us.”
Lots of white 'dudes' vying for DNC chair
Some Democrats say the current eight-member field of candidates – mostly white and mostly male – doesn’t reflect the diversity necessary for the party. The only women are former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Quintessa Hathaway.
“When you look at our party, and you look at the elected officials who have actually, like, gotten stuff done and accomplished difficult things in difficult states, none of them are involved in this conversation,” noted Democratic campaign veteran Caitlin Legacki through Politico.
“All of our biggest, most high-profile pundits are dudes. All of the senators who are writing op-eds about the future of our party are dudes. And then you’ve got these candidates for DNC are dudes.”
Biro sees O’Malley as a “serious” candidate for DNC chair but says Williamson could get some attention too. “She is a spiritual person," he argued, "and we need a spiritual reckoning right now in the DNC.”
