By Edwin Cooney
Only three men, two of them jointly,
have ever successfully run the Democratic Party. The two were Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison. The two aristocratic Virginians
defiantly started the Democratic-Republican Party under the noses of Alexander
Hamilton and George Washington back in the 1790s. Their reign as national party bosses was over
with the close of the War of 1812. The
next and last national Democratic boss was Andrew (some called him “King”
Andrew) Jackson. As the crusty old
general and former president lay dying on Sunday, June 8th, 1845, he said that
his only regret was that he had not hanged his first Vice President, John C.
Calhoun, for treason. (Calhoun was perhaps the major force behind South
Carolina’s threat to leave the union over high tariffs in 1833. Now, that’s “bossism” at its bossiest!) Though the national Democratic Party has
contained many fascinating rogue municipal and state level bosses, it has been
nationally boss-less since that long ago 1845 Sabbath.
Some will argue that FDR clearly was
the national Democratic Party boss during the 1930s. However, his attempts to “pack” the Supreme
Court with the assistance of the Democratic congressional leadership in 1937,
and purge southern conservatives from their high positions from within congress
and the party in 1938 were disastrous to his domestic leadership. FDR wanted the Democratic Party to be the
party of political and social progressives and see the GOP be the party of both
industrial and agrarian conservatism much as it is today. Hence, he sought to support liberal
challengers over conservative incumbents during the party’s state primary
season in 1938. He failed
miserably. A short time later, Georgia
Senator Walter George observed: “They say that Roosevelt was his own worst
enemy in politics. Well! As long as I’m alive he isn’t!”
Lyndon B. Johnson was Senate Majority
Leader (some say boss of the United States Senate) but he was hardly boss of
the Democratic Party, especially as the depth of the Vietnam War and all of its
social implications took hold beginning late in the first year of his full term
in office.
The Democratic Party is the second
oldest political party in history, second only to Britain’s Tory party. Here’s an unvarnished truth for your
consideration! No political party, not
even the Republican Party, has committed more political, temporal and moral
sins than the American Democratic Party.
Post 1812 War westward expansion, Jackson’s
resettlement of Native Americans, the party’s call for manifest destiny and the
Mexican War were the forces that institutionalized Indian genocide and chattel
slavery. The Missouri legislature during
the 1840s even authorized the murder of Mormons. Ultimately, Mormons found peace and
prosperity in the Great Salt Lake region of Utah. Finally, there was treason. As post-Civil War Republicans used to put it:
“Not all Democrats committed treason, but all who committed treason against the
union were Democrats!” (One might also remind today’s “moral majority” that
they were also God fearing Protestant Christians as well!)
It’s equally true that no political
party has striven to do more good, secure more justice, and above all, seek
more opportunity and benefits for the people than has the twentieth century
Democratic Party. It all began with
William Jennings Bryan’s “cross of gold” speech during the 1896 Democratic
National Convention in Chicago. That
speech carried Bryan to the party’s presidential nomination and into the
unsuccessful but unforgettable silver campaign of that year. Although he received the Democratic
nomination three times and was undoubtedly influential in the party, Bryan
never was a boss in the dictatorial sense of the word.
“I don’t belong to an organized
political party,” asserted the popular cowboy, vaudeville performer and
political columnist Will Rodgers of the 1920s and 30s. “I am a Democrat.”
Three realities appear to have been
inherited by today’s Democratic Party.
The first reality is that if history
reveals any political likelihood, it’s unlikely that 2016 Democrats will elect
a president to succeed Barack Obama.
Should Hillary Clinton, Marvin O’Malley or Bernie Sanders succeed President
Obama in office next year, that will be only the first time since the first
Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, was elected in 1860. To put it another way, the last two
consecutive Democratic candidates to be elected president were Franklin Pierce
and James Buchanan in 1852 and 1856 respectively. (Remember, Truman and Johnson succeeded their
predecessors, FDR and JFK, via death rather than selection or election. As for FDR, like Lincoln and Washington, his
achievements and disappointments must generally be weighed on different scales
than are most presidents.)
The second reality is that the
Republican Party has the reputation of order and authority as masters of
industry, commerce and the will to readily use the military industrial
establishment immediately during an international crisis. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is
the party of the Philosopher King. The
Democrat weighs and ponders over who may be left behind or even the benefits
applicable to social problems. Democrats
are expected and expect themselves to effectively represent the legitimate
needs of the less powerful. When they
can’t succeed in so doing, Republicans replace them and seek to feed the
continuous appetite and the demands of the producers of wealth and authority. History appears to show that Democrats
generally succeed primarily when Republicans miscalculate.
The third reality is that the Democrats
have been strangling their political structure since 1968. The philosophic among us have a tendency to
theorize and compromise. For instance,
following the disaster of the 1968 presidential campaign, the Democrats took
the structure of their national party’s electoral process apart. State and regional bosses were defanged by
quotas of women and minorities. By 1972,
no group of party leaders had any authority over the party’s potential
nominee. Hence, Senator George McGovern,
honorable, intelligent, and well-intentioned,
but lacking political judgment, fell to
Richard Nixon’s Watergate lance. Meanwhile,
in response to Watergate-era abuses, mid-1970s Democratic “Turks” in Congress
began destroying congressional seniority and the system of chair prerogatives
in Congress. Next came Jimmy Carter, the
outsider, who was elected in defiance of politics and then lost in 1980 largely
because he’d never adequately learned to play politics when politics must be
played.
Today, the Democratic Party under
President Obama’s leadership has much to say for itself: the unemployment rate
cut in half, the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, and a healthcare plan that has
brought assistance to millions who have subsisted without any healthcare
whatever until Obamacare’s valiant but imperfect creation. Additionally, the president has begun to
respond to the demands of climate change at home and abroad. Still, no one trembles at the sound of the
Democratic donkey’s tread. After all,
donkeys, or, if you prefer jackasses, aren’t known for their teeth. Once upon a time, powerful senators,
congressmen, governors, and mayors assisted Democratic presidents in making the
choices that had substance and commanded party unity. Sadly, the days of Rayburn, Barkley,
Mansfield, Johnson and even Humphrey are gone and their offices have been
largely stripped of their authority and glory by the very party that once
anointed them with the capacity to govern.
So, can the Democratic Party win the
White House in 2016?
The answer, I think, largely lies in
the lap of the Republican Party. After
all, with their majorities in Congress, their vast gubernatorial and state
legislature majorities in 2016, it would appear to be theirs to lose. After
all, money, not men, is king in both parties - especially in the GOP. Then
again, there’s the historic reality. One
hundred and fifty years have passed since James Buchanan succeeded “handsome
Franklin” Pierce as the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington,
D.C. Ignore this bit of trivia as you
will, but the record is there for the wise to take note and through unity and
determination alter the course of history!
As to whether or not anyone can run the
Democratic Party, the answer is: of course not!
Donald Trump might have, but he ultimately didn’t dare to even try it!
That may well be the most promising
possibility the 2016 Democratic Party has going for it!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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