Smart Democrats, please stand down

Jim Webb lasted in the Democratic primary for all of a cup of coffee.  But he sees and understands the problem facing the party - it's tilted so far left that it may have passed the tipping point (though he clearly believes it has not done so yet). Unhinged liberals are running the Democrat asylum.  This past weekend with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press, Jim Webb offered some important insights - which Todd, seemed to miss the importance of by focussing on the "they" part of Todd's comments.  The party and its supporters are flailing and they need insights like Webb's.  Todd, like many does not get it.  He says the center is hollowed out.  It isn't - it's occupied by Republicans.

Webb is not alone in his sentiment. former Democratic strategist Doug Schoen had this to say;

While the Democratic Party is driven left by anti-Trump activists, protestors [sic], and Senators such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, America itself remains a fundamentally center-right nation.

A fundamental belief in national sovereignty and individual responsibility, married to cautious skepticism of government and deeply held moral convictions, continues to govern how most Americans think about politics.

Trump's ascendance is rooted in America’s preference for center-right policy. As the Democratic Party shifted ever leftwards under Obama, it suffered net losses of 11 Senate seats, 62 House seats, and 10 governorships since 2010, as well as nearly 1000 state legislative seats.

The groups driving the Democratic Party to the left believe their only path to victory is mobilization. These forces are pushing the party away from the American public, which fundamentally is center-right, and channeling the concerns and priorities of the core Democratic coastal base...

While the Democratic Party's progressive and moderate wings clash with one another over their party’s future, Republicans are dismantling the blue wall and solidifying America’s status as a center-right nation.

And there's this from Allan Richarz;

With so much outrage and so little time, what is a socially conscious progressive to do? If the reactions post-election are any indication, the answer is to adopt a preening, self-righteous sense of moral outrage — an extremely counterproductive approach for those opposing the likes of Donald Trump et al.

If Democrats and progressives wish to serve as credible opposition over the next four to eight years, it is necessary to drop the self-promoting outrage theater popular among activists and develop a more mature, fact-driven approach.

The histrionics in response to President Trump’s election have been, in a word, unseemly.

Yes they have. And they've been counter-productive if you're a Democrat hoping to reclaim power at any meaningful level for the party. I am not one of those people.  I'd ask these smart, or at least observant, Democrats to stand down because it helps conservatives, it helps Republicans for the histrionics to continue.  I've said so myself.  But I don't think I have to ask moderate or centrist Democrats to stand down, because they're a very rare breed and will be shamed and shouted down by the like of Elizabeth Warren in short order.  Those centrists will either become disenfranchised or find a home in the Republican party.  Or maybe, they'll splinter and steal votes from both parties, although likely more from Democrats.  In any of those cases, Democrats aren't returning to power any time soon.  Oh, and meanwhile president Trump is not going away any time soon.