General Discussion

For decades the Democratic Party ran on a spoils system, and that worked ok until the 1970s or so.

Jimmy Carter was an outsider who got elected despite disapproval from the party regulars. And they never stopped griping about him. (Granted, Carter made a lot of mistakes. As an old friend of mine once said, he was a spaz at getting anything through Congress, despite a Democratic majority in both houses.)

Carter's issues led to the election of Reagan, cast as another "Washington outsider." So was Bill Clinton, in many ways so was Obama, and so was Trump.

It doesn't matter that it's the Republicans who keep taking things away from most of us. Busy people don't pay attention. They see the ads on TV and what their friends-neighbors-pastor-PTA-HOA social club says.

If you've watched your family have less and less over the years, as a voter you're going to be drawn to somebody who says they're not like the others. Somebody from outside. (Never mind that this is often a blatant lie, as in the case of Trump. It's a very compelling lie.)

And at this moment of crisis... what is the Democratic Party doing? Pushing older, establishment figures forward.

There could not be a dumber strategy at this point in time.