The DNC has created a "Trump War Room" with everything it can find on Donald Trump, including personal stories from people all over the country who have been hurt by his policies. If the 2020 Republican candidate turns out to be Mike Pence, it would put a major snag in Democratic plans. On the other hand, a Stacy Abrams v. Mike Pence race would be really exciting. Like Trump’s 2016 victory, it’s highly unlikely, but not impossible.
Unlike the Republican Party, the Democratic Party is composed of constituencies. These have changed over time, but they have their own agendas. At the winter meeting, fourteen different Councils and Caucuses met separately for 90 minutes each. I went to five: Senior (which met jointly with Disability), Labor, LGBTQ, Women’s and Black.
At each of these meetings, I heard how important each group’s 2018 vote had been to the Democratic wave — even when a little "interpretation" was required. For example, seniors continued to favor Republican candidates in 2018, but not as much as in previous years.
Even though the number attending the Labor caucus was low, unions are the 800-pound gorilla in the Democratic Party. DNC Chair Tom Perez said there are more union members on the DNC than ever before. Subgroups such as the Alliance of Retired Americans was founded by the AFL-CIO to focus on Social Security and Medicare. ARA prepared a slide show on "How Seniors Voted" for the Senior Caucus. Election work by retired unionists is one reason seniors were more likely to vote Democratic in 2018 than in 2014.
The LGBTQ Caucus was addressed by Annise Parker, former Mayor of Houston and current President of the LGBTQ Victory Fund. She bragged that "the blue wave was a rainbow wave" by identifying all of the offices now occupied by LGBTQs.
The Women’s Caucus met at a different time than the Black and various ethnic caucuses so that women could go to both. Both caucuses were among the first to be formed, many decades ago. Under Perez, the DNC has put even more emphasis on diversity than before. The number of African-American DNC officers has doubled and those on staff have increased by 36 percent.
There were multiple celebrations of February as Black History Month throughout the winter meeting. No one said a word about February 15 being Susan B. Anthony’s birthday.
© 2019 Jo Freeman for SeniorWomen.com
(Editor's Note: Jo Freeman has been to every Democratic national convention since 1964. She has been to only a few DNC meetings between conventions. She has written three books and dozens of articles on women and politics. )
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