Bizarre, Media, Politics

Steep Learning Curve: DNC Staff Rally Behind Brazile As Democratic Leaders Reportedly Groom Chelsea For Congress

220px-donna_brazile_1chelsea_clinton_dnc_july_2016_croppedFor even the armchair political commentator, the results of this election were not surprising. The voters made two things clear from the outset of the election: they wanted a change from the establishment and they did not like Hillary Clinton. The Democratic leadership responded by engineering the selection of perhaps the greatest establishment figure in politics and someone with a record level of unpopularity with voters. On election day, voters followed through on every poll: they voted against Clinton and the establishment. Only the mainstream media and democratic insiders seemed bowled over by the news — shocked that the voters would reject their sage advice and lopsided coverage. Indeed, as someone who contributed to the coverage that night, I was shocked how shocked everyone was. While the odds favored Clinton, her low popularity with independent voters and high polling figures on dishonesty made the election uncertain at best. As we began to discuss years ago, the “remaking” of Clinton seemed disconnected from voters who continued to view her and the Clinton family as the personification of the establishment. It showed how entirely out of touch the core Democratic leadership (and media) has become. Now, that thick cloak of denial appears firmly in place as Democrats blame FBI Director Comey for the loss despite the fact that Hillary was declining in the polls before his late disclosure to Congress and the fact that Hillary set records on dishonesty in poll after poll. Two stories this week have brought this home. One was the rallying behind Donna Brazile by DNC staff last week with the notable exception of one man who confronted both Brazile and his colleagues. The second is the report that Democratic leaders immediately turned form Hillary Clinton’s historic defeat to start grooming Chelsea Clinton for political office. The problem it seems was that the public was not given enough Clintons. Faced with a populist uprising, the Democratic leadership seems to be offering more of the same like an actor who cannot move beyond one script and one role.

We have previously discussed the unethical actions of interim DNC chief Brazile and the conspicuous failures of the media to investigate her claims of altered emails. While CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker called Brazile’s actions “disgusting” and others have denounced her actions, the DNC has stuck with Brazile and she recently appeared before staff to given them a pep talk.

The event however did not turn out quite as planned when one staffer had had enough. According to The Huffington Post, a staffer named Zach asked “Why should we trust you as chair to lead us through this? You backed a flawed candidate, and your friend [former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz] plotted through this to support your own gain and yourself.” He continued by saying “You are part of the problem. You and your friends will die of old age and I’m going to die from climate change. You and your friends let this happen, which is going to cut 40 years off my life expectancy.”

He then left — a personification for millions of independents and Democrats who abandoned the party to elect Donald Trump.

Nevertheless, the rest of the DNC rallied behind Brazile and gave breathless accounts of her inspiring leadership. A DNC staffer told HuffPost that there was “overwhelming” support for Brazile and that her words “had some staffers in tears.” That would be welcomed news for Republican strategists. It is also worth noting that, after emails showed that Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (Brazile’s predecessor) had worked to rig the primary and dealt dishonestly with Sanders, she was overwhelmingly reelected and embraced by the DNC leadership.

The second story is even more curious. Many viewed the election as the ultimate rejection of the Clinton dynasty that has controlled the Democratic party for over a decade. The Clintons put their family and its “brand” front and center in this election . . . and voters rejected it. However, within hours of the defeat, Democratic leaders were reportedly turning to Chelsea Clinton as the new flag bearer. Clinton, 36, is reportedly being groomed by the same leadership to replace Rep. Nita Lowey, 79, in representing New York’s 17th District. Of course, Chelsea does not live there but the district covers part of Westchester County, including Bill and Hillary Clinton’s hometown of Chappaqua.

Chelsea was previously given a high-ranking media position with disastrous results — a move that was denounced by journalists as political connections overwhelming journalistic merit. Her role in the Clinton Foundation has come under fire. However, the greatest problem is that her resume is largely the result of her family and foundation ties.

The question is whether the Democrats are going to spin the result of this election and deny reality when, in two years, they will be facing the inverse of this election: more Democratic seats will be up for grabs and Trump could receive a super majority in Congress, including a veto-proof margin.

I am an independent and do not have a horse in this race. However, in speaking with my Democratic students, they express complete separation from the Democratic leadership and the establishment politics that it has come to represent. I come from a long-standing Democratic and liberal family in Chicago. When I was raised in that environment, the Democratic party was the populist party — the voice of the outsider and emerging constituencies. Now it is viewed as the party of insiders and establishment power brokers. There may be enough unhappy members (particularly Sanders people) to change the party, but these stories do not help with that image.

It seems to me that, if the Democrats want to resurrect their party, it will require entirely new leadership and a new vision to fit an increasing independent populace.

What do you think?

299 thoughts on “Steep Learning Curve: DNC Staff Rally Behind Brazile As Democratic Leaders Reportedly Groom Chelsea For Congress”

  1. The Democrat party is dead. They will try to ressurect it, probably with Chelsea and other neoliberals like her because that is what Wall Street and the military industrial complex wants, neoliberals. Austerity for thee, riches for Chelsea. But it won’t work next time, nor the time after that (assuming there is a next time). True, there may be a backlash against the Trump administration, for it will have an almost impossible time breaking free of neoliberalism and of highly lucrative arms sales and military spending – assuming it wants to. But it is highly unlikely that people will again choose the mirror image with the only difference being the D instead of the R and a few identity issues for dog whistles.

    1. As Churchill probably didn’t say, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.”

    2. Good points BB. I would hope, like your responding post says, now that they’ve tried everything else, and all they have now are ashes, they need to realize they have hit rock bottom… the good news is–if they do it right this time–there’s know where else to go but up. I would like to see it.

  2. By the present big city protest, I would guess your a little slow on understanding that a lot of Americans are fed up with “fair and balanced” alleged channel.

      1. Congress is reacting accordingly since Trump won. Also, the Syrians are very happy that Trump won. “The first significant step of the new administration comes while Trump is not even in offices. Obama, selfishly concerned with his historic legacy, suddenly makes a 180 degree turn and starts to implement Trump polices.” re: funding “moderate rebels” aka AQ and Nusra.

        Trump wants to work with Putin and stabilize Syria – great news for the Syrians who have been forced to flee or living a hellish existance.

        http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45832.htm

    2. Yup, best video ever.

      I must confess, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching heads explode.

      They just got too big.

  6. The Clintons, esp. Bill, are dumber than I thought if they pursue this. I think they are in the denial stage. Eventually, they’ll reach acceptance.

  7. The fact that Donna Brazile (and the DNC, etc) cannot see right from wrong, ethical from unethical, or their own utter lack of moral principles shows how deep the ideological subversion and demoralization process has penetrated. She cannot see it, refuses to believe it, even though it has been proven in black and white in the WikiLeaks emails. And the DNC, the Clintons – and much of the mainstream media – cannot see it or are unable to accurately assess the information. The cold hard facts still mean nothing to them. It’s illogical.

    Trump’s campaign was about bringing back American patriotism and common sense to act in the best interests of America and her people. He challenged the contaminated, programmed, demoralizing, leftist groupthink head-on with American patriotism. And the psychological shock and subsequent meltdown of those living in a liberal/progressive groupthink bubble is on full display. Like JT said, it’s shocking to see how shocked they all are.

    Trump’s win signals a turning of the tide back to common-sense, patriotically-minded thinking — where we return to acting in favor of and in the interests of America – land of the free, land of liberty.

      1. Power corrupts. How many years have the Clintons been in power? This was a change election. President Trump will now lead the GOP in a new direction. He’s not a Hitler, he’s not a bigot, he’s not a partisan, he’s not going to kick 14 million people out of the country, and he’s got a huge ego and wants to be a GREAT president so let’s see what pleasant surprises he has in store. Or look at it this way: putting the Wall Street bank owned, big corporation funded, foreign funded, donor class funded, corrupt Clintons back in the White House? Now THAT would have been the epitome of being taken for a chump.

  8. The Dems discounted enthusiasm — Bernie brought out tens of thousands of people as did Trump at his rallies. There is 0 enthusiasm for the Clintons. And if the Dems try to run Chelsea they are dumber than I thought. Bernie or busters — and many Conservatives — will not forgive her for lying about Bernie during the primaries. PLEASE Clintons – just go away. Y’all are a national blight on the nation.

    2. There might be enthusiasm for Chelsea in that wealthy house district. Beyond that I don’t see any..

      1. I don’t know. NY already handed a senate seat to Hillary on a silver platter and she wasn’t even a New Yorker. (We won’t go into the primary shenanigans this time.) I would imagine the NY Democratic machine would do the same for Chelsea.

        2. Judith – it appears that Chelsea would be replacing an aging Democratic seat.

      2. SWM – is that the same district that defeated Dem progressive Zephyr Teachout? If so, yeah, it’s a shoe in.

      1. What are the chances? Is this America? It’s like I’m in the twilight zone. I don’t recognize who the adults are with all these crybabies everywhere.

        Sorry rant over.

  10. If the DNC does not learn from this experience and overhaul its establishment, they will have lost my vote but, more importantly, they will have lost the vote of the youth. Without the youth, there is no future for the DNC and we need another party. To say that I am tired of the Steep learning curve of the DNC is an understatement. There is a lot of energy to be directed at this moment in time and it would DNC cannot prove itself worthy comma we will have to find another container or vehicle for transformation. The person who confronted Donna brazile spoke for millions and millions of people.

    1. The problems are clear. This is a HUGE opportunity! Clear out the deadwood and get some people of substance involved. If you need to start something new because the old refuses to be smushed under the bus, go for it.

      1. Though voters ages 18-to-29 are more liberal, more than a third did not vote. : Fifty-five percent of young voters chose Clinton, down from the 60 percent that backed Obama in 2012, while 37 percent chose President-Elect Donald Trump and now those young voters that did not vote are out protesting.

        1. swm – those yutes (and in some cases thugs) paid by George Soros are out protesting.

            1. I need help understanding what they are protesting? And what is their objective? I thought Hillary had a whole lot to say about how important it is for us to accept the results of our democratic elections? Women, blacks, hispanics all crossed party lines to vote for Trump.

              And also, last I heard, they are still counting millions of votes which means the tally on popular vote has not been finalized – as much as the media wants to hide this, there is still a possibility that Trump takes the popular vote as well. A longshot perhaps, but still possible.

    3. They also need to recognize the reality that after eight years of Obama, their party has been decimated.

  11. Turley

    Now, with the short memories of your mob to develop your veracity, you ‘knew it all along’. What hypocrisy, what unmitigated gall; never a prediction but only criticism and you place yourself up there with all the experts. Turley, you are now a mobster, not yet a mob leader but a mobster. I suppose I will be banished from your private media site, you know, just like the media sites you criticize. Go back and revisit your blog when you were first starting out and see the deplorable transformation.

    You are the leader of the ‘I told you sos.’ In reality no one was not shocked and Trump was the most shocked of all.

    On another note, true to form after selling the illusion it seems that he just may not be so dangerous. He will tank the economy for a third Republican time but probably not build a wall and bill Mexico, totally wipe out all the good parts of the ACA, but will fortify the established oligarchy with all those he vowed to eradicate from Washington. We need those oligarchs, right?

    1. issac – in JT’s defense, he does not make political predictions on this blog. What he said to his friends and family is unknown to us. Personally, I have noted on this blog that the polls were over-sampling Democrats

      1. Paul,

        I’d say the news media spent too much time talking about polls instead of discussing important issues.

    2. @IsaacB

      You just said “deplorable transformation” !

      Yes! That is exactly right! Us deplorables have also just transformed the country! Oh, what ever are you going to do when things start getting better in the country for the next few years? What excuses will you make? My guess is you will say, “Obama set all this in motion for Trump!” or something like that. Meanwhile:

      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cw2mMoZUkAAyeaK.jpg

      Squeeky Fromm
      Girl Reporter

  12. I wouldn’t say that the results were not surprising. Given Trump’s negatives, it seemed quite possible to me that Hillary would win. (And although Trump won the electoral college, Hillary did win the popular vote.)

  14. The Dems are not grooming Chelsea Clinton but Chelsea Manning to be Mayor of Frisco. He has a song coming out soon. Sorry She has one. Itis called: When You Are Bent, You Are Bent. You Are Bent All The Way. The Dems went North with the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the RepubliCons went South. But it is no longer a regional division. It is all about gender.

    1. Feel free to live your own beliefs. We’ll see how well they serve you. The people who voted in a black man twice refused to vote in a horribly corrupt individual, male, female, or whatever. You know what the people didn’t vote for, and there darned near as many people who didn’t vote at all out of disgust for the whole thing. Twiddle your thumbs and stay angry. It feels good. Don’t bother getting busy putting forth effort to try again.

  15. There is a core group of Hillary Clinton supporters who, sincerely, have absolutely no idea why anyone would not vote for Hilary Clinton unless they were a racist. Absolutely no idea. I know some of them. After hearing me complain about the various corruptions and explaining the evidence behind pay to play, Election Day came, and they still have absolutely no idea. It’s just inconceivable.

    The actions of the DNC has soured me this past year, after I was already bruised from their behavior in pushing Obamacare. Now, rallying behind people who engaged in fraud further alienates me, and perhaps others.

    Modern Liberals seem entirely unacquainted with the definition of Classic Liberalism, which is entirely compatible with conservatism. The Liberals on the street, advocating for the Electoral College to engage in fraud and go faithless, threatening employees, family, and friends with the loss of relationships and jobs, and those rallying behind those who engage in fraud to win at all costs, wouldn’t know the foundation of Classic Liberalism if it walked up wearing a placard.

    From Wikipedia, the lazy man’s research tool:

    “Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties and political freedom with representative democracy under the rule of law and emphasizes economic freedoms found in economic liberalism which is also called free market capitalism.[1][2]

    Classical liberalism developed in the 19th century in Europe and the United States. Although classical liberalism built on ideas that had already developed by the end of the 18th century, it advocated a specific kind of society, government and public policy as a response to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization.[3] Notable individuals whose ideas have contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke,[4] Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo. It drew on the economics of Adam Smith and on a belief in natural law,[5] utilitarianism,[6] and progress.”

    The emphasis on individual liberty and limited government ensures the nature of our free country, which set it apart from every country in the world, where tyranny was the norm.

    But upon the start of the 20th Century, Liberalism changed its character into one promoting the very feature our founders had escaped: big government. How many dictators and kings have arisen out of gathering power from the people and promising to take care of them, if they will only hand over their personal freedoms? Inexplicably, they expect a different result from the same experiment that has been tried for 30,000 years.

    1. Well said Karen. I tried to make the case on the last page for them to rally against the growing scourge of Neoliberalism. I sincerely believe we need a strong argument from a well-run left. Argument is necessary. Outside of Issac, whose arguments always lead to him to a philosophical dead end (which he refuses to see), I like to see alternative viewpoints. It was just upsetting that this election was NOT about politics hardly at all, and the left would not attempt to understand the points being made. Remove the Clintons (who were neither left or right, just followed the winds of opportunism) and let’s argue based on issues.

      1. You have some of the bits and pieces but forget the most telling parts. James Carville some time ago slipped when he said “Anything done that promotes the Democrat Party is the truth.” The unspoken following phrase is “, and we can change it as needed.”

        The originators were a combination of two sources. One can find the same sentence alluded to or almost word for written word spoken in the writings of National Socialist Adolf Hitler, Fascist Party leader Benito Mussollini, Goebbels and Lenin, and on down through ill-luminaries such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, LBJ, etc. to modern day George Lykoff (Yoda) and George Soros. I exclude Looney Clooney. As an actor he will say anything that’s in the script if the paycheck is a large enough as will M&M the fatboy movie maker aka liberal for hire.

        It’s a common trend in left wing fascist socialism to the point they really believe it is the truth.

        What it is not is the truth as understood by everyone outside of the tightly controlled secular progressives, liberals etc. It is not the truth as it is held to be by what we would call decent people.

        And don’t expect to find it in the public school systems or the lame stream media.

        All of them are truly deer in the headlights mystified, confused and confounded. But to be otherwise requires independent though and reasoning.

        There is no reason in Radical Reasoning. No thought no reflection much less anything approaching morals, values, ethics and standards.

        They lost one day, whined the second moaned the third and decided on another Clinton.

        Absent a completely safe Left wing fascist District swuch as the one that elected Hillary to the Senate or in elections with electoral colleges Chelsea stands no chance – that is providing the IRS investigation doesn’t impoverish the family.

        IRS has no sense of humor AND no morals values, standards nor ethics. Think of them as the Terminators. They will find you Chelsea and they absolutely will not stop.

        Can’t think of a better target at the moment I wish them a successful prosecution.

  16. Just FWIW, Joseph Goebbels speech in April 1945, on Hitler’s birthday.

    http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/unser45.htm

    It’s a great read about how partisan propagandized people see what they want to see in events. Thus it was, and thus it will always be. I do not think Goebbels could have given this speech:

    “Uhh, I been talking to Adolph Hitler, and you know what. He thinks maybe he made a little bo-bo attacking the whole dang world. He says he might have been wrong to try to knock off the Commies before he finished with Britain. And that he was premature in declaring war against the United States when they would have had their hands full with Japan. And that maybe we should have just stopped after we took over the Sudetenland. Sooo, in short, Hitler said us Nazis are pretty stupid, and if we get thru this alive, you should never vote for a Nazi again. ”

    I do not think any political party can ever give this speech.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. Funny and relevant. I tried to motivate the Democrats to address the things that have caused them to alienate so many people. I’m afraid, because they are flawed humans as well, will follow the same sort of path. Like Olly said, if they keep this whole thing up, they may become the third or fourth party down the list. Or they may just vanish and become a source of jokes like the Nazis….

      BTW, that’s my favorite cry when things are going poorly, “while we’re at it, let’s invade Russia too!”

      1. The problem with your democrats like most of the political aristocracy they care for no one but themselves. They view the various minority groups purely for their block vote. Black Americans continually go down the democrat road with nothing to show for, maybe a boost in welfare checks or a couple extra food stamps. They get just enough to keep them unmotivated to get meaningful work to sustain themselves and their families. They talk about “fair share”, “distribution of wealth”, “racism”. I hear nothing about keeping a tight family network, avoid fatherless pregnancy, sitting with your child and helping to do homework, respect of teachers in the classroom, off the streets at night, respectful the police, take a job any job as a stepping stone to a better job. So now they see another voting block the illegal alien, we will give automatic citizenship, housing, food stamps, free healthcare.

        Notice whatever they do it’s at the expense of the working class guy. They’re creaming in their pants now with the new mantra “he’s not my President”, “he didn’t win the popular vote”. If Hilly would have won everything would be great the system works fine. The dems would do well to clean up thier house and show the exit door to the socialist, marxist and closet commies in their ranks.

  18. Reports like this might lead some persons to suspect the RNC finances the DNC. Surely, in any subsequent Federal election, on average, Donna Brazile and Chelsea Clinton (AKA spawn of Satan) shall net at least several points in favor of the RNC.

    You go girls!!!

  19. Reblogged this on Robin A. D'Andrea and commented:
    Professor Turley you have made a direct hit to the battleship DNC. And, to all American politics for that matter. I spent 12 hours as a RNC representative at my polling place in Carversville PA, Bucks County, and an additional 4 as a county Vote Count Observer. What I saw from the 77% turnout was a sharp turn to the original ideas of our founding. Trump lost by only 50 votes, but the seed was planted for not so much change but RESTORATION.

  20. Pingback: Commentary – What Is Going On? | Loren Berg's Blog

Comments are closed.