The Democrats Hillary & Bernie Problem

Hillary Clintons eagerness to please Wall Street can be traced in part to that ideological split." By Karl Rove One of this years dominant news stories is how Donald Trump has roiled the GOP. Yet Democrats face an internal rupture that may be larger and more durable. That is my takeaway after reading The Split" the New Republics extraordinary June 14 symposium of liberal activists historians intellectuals political scientists & pollsters. The schism between Hillary Clinton & Bernie Sanders is knit into the DNA of the modern Democratic Party" writes historian Rick Perlstein.    In 1924 he recounts Klan supporters in the partys rightward wing dominated the Democratic convention. In 1937 opponents of FDR opposed the New Deal. Hillary Clintons eagerness to please Wall Street" he writes can be traced in part to that ideological split." Yale professor Jacob Hacker says that President Obamas failure to govern as a hard leftist heightened these tensions.

Theres a sense" he writes that supporting the Democratic establishment and going the conventional route hasnt been that productive." Duke Law professor Jedediah Purdy adds that the president promised transformative politics" but didnt deliver the substance."

The critique of Mr. Obama sometimes sounds vaguely Republican: The Democratic Party today engages in delusional happy talk about economic recovery" complains Princeton professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor while a staggering 47 million Americans are struggling in poverty." By contrast writer and left-wing activist Mychal Denzel Smith says young Democrats are unhappy with the ways economic inequality persists" and activist Astra Taylor bemoans the Democrats failure to follow through on the vision of Occupy Wall Street. Some of the symposiums participants also attack Bill Clinton. Mr. Smith doesnt name the former president but suggests that his anti-crime bill sustains systemic institutionalized racism." Mr. Perlstein adds that Bill and Hillary Clinton won the White House with the business-funded support of the Democratic Leadership Council which sought to downplay the big government solutions championed by FDR." At least political scientist Ruy Teixeira rejoices todays Democrats are no longer obsessed with the national debt." Mr. Purdy writes that:

Sanders supporters have no love for or confidence in elites Hillarys habitus. And why should they? Theyve seen growing inequality and insecurity the naked corruption of politics by oligarchic money total cynicism in the political class."

Mr. Hacker says: This may be the first time in my life that theres been a full-throated critique of the Democratic Party as being excessively beholden to money and too willing to work within the system."

These disagreements are diminished for now by Mr. Trump. As Mark Green former New York City public advocate says the programmatic differences" between Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton are dwarfed by the differences between either of them and the first proto-fascist president." Still the lefts frustration over the lack of radical change is undeniable. Young and minority voters feel a keen sense of urgency. Clinton and the Democrats in Washington dont understand the level of anxiety that Americans and particularly the young feel about their economic prospects" writes journalist John Judis.