The Democratic Party, with Thomas Perez as its new chair, vows to seek unity, transparency,  Trump resistance, grassroots participation, and most importantly, “make sure we talk about our positive message of inclusion and opportunity… to that big tent of the Democratic Party.”  

But this message is shrouded with myths that must be challenged if we are to take back the country from financial and corporate elites….and from Trump.

Myth #1: Party Unity

For the Clinton Democrats, party unity means that the Sanders forces recognize that they lost.  For the sake of unity, the  Sanders rebels should moderate their relentless attacks on the super-rich and runaway inequality so that the party can concentrate its fire on Trump. 

The goal must be to win back the moderate suburban Trump voters who may soon suffer from buyers’ remorse.  Now is not the time to scare voters with anti-corporate rhetoric and broad social democratic programs like free higher education and Medicare for all. Uniting against Trump is all that matters.

Not quite. 

The energy of the Democratic party comes precisely from those who cherish the hard- hitting vision that Sanders put forth. There is a reason why the Sanders’ rallies were ten times the size of Hillary’s campaign events. Sanders and his followers want to take on the corporate elites both inside and outside the Democratic Party. It would be a disaster to bury that battle under the milk-toast mantra of party unity.

Myth #2: The moderate middle is the key to victory

The party establishment is still clinging to the triangulation model perfected by Bill Clinton as he cuddled up to the Wall Street. Ever since, the Democratic Party has tried to tailor its program to independent suburban voters and wealthy donors. 

That model no longer works.