Democratic Party

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• 2/21/2021
  

  Neal Gabler's "Catching the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Liberal Hour"

  by James Thornton Harris

  Neal Gabler's first volume of a biography of Ted Kennedy praises the long-serving senator as the driving force of a hugely consequential period of liberal legislative success. Those looking for gossip or consideration of his personal failures may be disappointed.

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• How Democrats Lost the Great Plains

  by Ross Benes

  Ross Benes argues that the Democratic party has lost an entire political generation of influence in the Great Plains by forfeiting the region's legacy of farmer populism, making the Plains a Republican stronghold and a barrier to progressive legislation. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/29/2021
  

  What Should Drive Biden’s Foreign Policy?

  Columnist and Humphrey biographer James Traub says the former Senator and VP's interventionist liberalism in foreign policy is a model for Joe Biden's administration to reestablish American preeminence in world affairs. 

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• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  1/26/2021
  

  The Senate Has Used the Filibuster to Block Civil Rights Bills for Decades. That’s Another Reason for Dems to Ditch It

  When the Senate filibuster was used sparingly, it was almost always to stop civil rights legislation. Now, it's used as a matter of routine to stop legislation. Democrats can choose to keep the filibuster or pass laws, but not both. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  1/18/2021
  

  Warnock’s Election Reminds Us that Black Churches are Vital to Democratic Success

  by Robert Greene II

  Democratic politicians must recognize the historical role of Black churches not just as gathering places where visiting politicians may speak to voters, but as organizing spaces where political agendas are formed. Dems who wish to emulate Rev. Warnock's victory need to embrace Black churches in a deep way.

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• SOURCE: Jacobin
  1/2/2021
  

  Stop Worrying About Upper-Class Suburbanites

  by Lily Geismer and Matthew Lassiter

  Two suburban historians argue that the changing demographics and political composition of American suburbs mean the Democrats' strategy of courting white moderates will foreclose building the ethnically and economically diverse coalition they need to win. 

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• SOURCE: Boston Review
  12/9/2020
  

  How Did the GOP Become the Party of Ideas?

  by Lawrence B. Glickman

  The Republican Party's reputation as the "Party of Ideas" in the late 1970s and 1980s was generally created by Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who derided the New Deal and Great Society as stale and outdated in a struggle to push the Democratic Party to the right. 

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• 11/17/2020
  

  Where do the Democrats Go from Here?

  by HNN Staff

  The policy progress of the Biden administration had a setback as the Senate Parliamentarian advised that a minimum wage increase should not be part of a budget reconciliation bill to pass COVID relief. Will this revive the effort to end the filibuster?

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• SOURCE: The Hill
  11/13/2020
  

  Princeton History Professor Says Biden Won With Unstable Democratic Coalition

  Historian Matt Karp argues that the Democratic Party risks future defeat if it does not develop a strong economic populist message that appeals to Black and Latino voters. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  11/9/2020
  

  Voting Trump Out Is Not Enough

  by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

  The results of the 2020 election show that the Democratic Party will fail unless it is willing to abandon a futile effort to woo Republicans to the center and embrace popular policies that meet the needs of Democratic constituents. 

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• SOURCE: Esoteric Political History
  11/3/2020
  

  When Black Voters Went Blue

  Leah Wright Rigeur discusses the process by which Black voters shifted from loyal Republicans to Democrats. 

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• SOURCE: Made by History at The Washington Post
  11/2/2020
  

  Whether Biden Wins or Loses, Texas is Now a Political Battleground

  by James Henson

  "Ironically, the return of real competition to Texas politics stems from the very thing that originally opened the door for Republicans: the political and cultural changes tied to the growing diversity that fractured the old Texas Democratic Party."

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• SOURCE: Public Books
  10/23/2020
  

  Thomas Frank On How Populism Can Save America

  "The consensus intellectuals of the ’50s plucked the term from 19th-century obscurity and redefined it. It is their redefinition that is still with us today."

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• SOURCE: Politico
  10/18/2020
  

  Former Democratic power broker James A. Johnson dies at 76

  James Johnson's business, policy and philanthropy resume led a colleague to call him "the chairman of the universe." 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  9/29/2020
  

  Harry Reid on the Senate, the Supreme Court, and a Time for Major Change

  Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin interviewed former Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid, who suggests the time has come to remove the filibuster from the Senate rules in response to the undemocratic nature of the chamber. 

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• SOURCE: TPM
  9/28/2020
  

  The Democrats Now Face A Historic Opportunity For Structural Change

  by Gregory P. Downs

  Democrats have seen the consequences of their caution in 2009. In 2021, they may have the opportunity to learn from the boldness of the 1880s.

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• SOURCE: The Hill
  9/23/2020
  

  History Professor: Democrats Should Work Around SCOTUS Like Abe Lincoln Did

  Associate Professor of History at Princeton University and Jacobin contributor Matt Karp said on Hill TV’s “Rising” Wednesday that Democrats should learn from former President Abraham Lincoln to work around a conservative-majority Supreme Court. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/16/2020
  

  How the Black Vote Became a Monolith

  by Theodore R. Johnson

  Despite the political diversity within Black America, the political system's accommodation of bigotry and the political utility of appeals to white identity have pushed the overwhelming majority of Black voters to cast ballots for the same party. 

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• 9/27/2020
  

  Where Does the Democratic Party Stand on War, Peace, and International Relations?

  by Lawrence Wittner

  While moving from a party platform to a change in policy is difficult, especially where the Pentagon is concerned, the Democrats seem to recognize a broad-based desire to return America to international cooperation and allocate resources to other national priorities like public health. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/2/2020
  

  Disdain for the Less Educated Is the Last Acceptable Prejudice

  by Michael J. Sandel

  Joe Biden has a secret weapon in his bid for the presidency: He is the first Democratic nominee in 36 years without a degree from an Ivy League university. His campaign may test the pervasive belief that elite academic credentials are a necessity to govern.