Is the Democratic Party actually broken? | The Tylt
"Pod Save America" host Jon Favreau asked listeners to call in their answers to the question "What’s wrong with the Democratic Party, and how do we fix it?" Critics were not happy about it and say the endless "Dems In Disarray" coverage promotes a myth that the party is crumbling, when Democrats are actually fielding hundreds of new candidates and winning special elections. Others, like Independent Bernie Sanders, say the Democratic Party is a failure and in desperate need of a reboot. What do you think? 🌊

Here's the original tweet from Jon Favreau that was met with so much ire.
What’s wrong with the Democratic Party, and how do we fix it?
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 17, 2018
I’m launching a new podcast this summer that starts with that question.
Check it out: https://t.co/79IfFuuhXq
Though a minor firestorm erupted on Twitter after Favreau posted his question to listeners, he defended the query as well as the special series on the future of the Democratic Party he has planned, and warned against liberal complacency.Â
Maybe you’re buoyed by the surge in grassroots activism and first-time candidates, and believe the energy we’ve seen from the Women’s March to the March for Our lives will translate into the votes we need to take back Congress, and ultimately the White House. Are you sure?
I was sure once, right before Democrats lost history’s most winnable election to history’s most unpopular candidate. One poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe Democrats are out of touch—including nearly half of Democrats themselves. Not great!
But many Democrats disagree with Favreau's general premise. The party is actually winning previously unthinkable races for Democrats (Doug Jones anyone?) and has huge momentum.
Jon, the core of your thesis is “how do we fix the Democratic Party”, which necessarily insists, wrongly, as an unarguable matter of fact that the party is “broken”.
— CloudFactory (@Row_Boat_Cop) April 17, 2018
Your not realizing how insulting this framing is is problematic.
Some people didn't like it when Bernie called the Democratic Party a failure, but others say the truth hurts.
Bernie Sanders: “The business model of the Democratic Party the last 15 years has been a failure.”
— Ellahbie (@Ellahbie) April 7, 2018
How can ANYONE disagree with this? pic.twitter.com/iSXsvVsLME
But plenty of Democrats say Bernie needs to have a seat. He's not a Democrat. Why doesn't his revolution form a flaw-free Independent movement instead of always complaining that the Democrats are failures? Let's hear constructive criticism from people who are actually willing to join the party.
Since Bernie isn't a Democrat, why doesn't he run on an Independent ticket & quit telling the DNC how to run their organization. In the alternative, he can run on the Republican ticket next time, since he seemed to enjoy help from Russia as much as the GOP did the last election.
— Beth (@PghPASteelerFan) April 22, 2018
Mark Waldman points out that no matter what the Democrats do, it will never be enough for the Sanders wing. Hating on the Democrats and decrying their "brokenness" is the progressive left's brand. They're not here to fix anything: they're here to tear the party down. Democrats can and should work to be better, but pleasing Bernie Sanders shouldn't be on their to-do list, ever.
Sanders’ conviction [is] that the party is irredeemably corrupt and a collection of neoliberal corporate sellouts. This is the essence of the Sanders brand; it always has been and always will be. No matter how much the party moves to the left — and it has moved a great deal in the last few years — there will never be a point where Sanders says, “I’m really pleased with where the Democratic Party is right now.” Because once he said that, there would cease to be any need for Bernie Sanders to exist.
Plenty of voters on the right and the left say the "Dems in disarray" theme is no myth.Â
Democrats, your party is in disarray. Some of your Democrats brothers and sisters are fighting with each other. You are having a hard time to admit that Trump is making our country great again. You are welcome to join our party, the Republican Party. #MAGA #DemocraticParty
— John Rockwell (@JohnRockwell7) April 24, 2018
Many Democrats say the party cannot simply run on anti-Trump fervor. They need to be for something, not just against the current president. The Hillary/Bernie factions are still brawling all over Twitter. The party is indeed in disarray and needs to unite—unless they want to make Trump a two-term president.
That Democrats don't have a message outside of not Trump is ridiculously stupid and it is used to infer a Dems In Disarray storyline.
— Sheilah Hayden (@tsquared2001) April 19, 2018
Others argue bashing the Democratic Party will get you clicks from the right and the far left. It may be politically expedient to say the Dems are a disaster, but it's not true.
People who profit off of phony narratives of The Democrats in disarray can handle public opinions.
— Adopt-A-State (@WinTheStates) April 18, 2018