The West Virginia Democratic Party needs to do some serious soul searching.
The party of Robert Byrd, Jay Rockefeller, Joe Manchin, Earl Ray Tomblin and hundreds of other successful Democratic politicians over the years is on the mat of the political ring for a standing eight count, staggered and bloodied after Tuesday’s General Election.
As reported here yesterday, the election was a Republican runaway with top-to bottom victories in statewide and statehouse races. The GOP now enjoys its most significant political advantage in the state’s history.
Democratic Party registration has been on a steady decline. It will likely fall below Republican totals by the next election. The registration drop has been accompanied by losses on election day to the point where the Democratic Party is now where the Republican Party was thirty years ago—reduced to near irrelevance.
The question for the Democrats is, what now? What does it do to pick itself up off the mat and reengage its opponent?
First, there is a fundamental question: What is the West Virginia Democratic Party now?
If it is the party of Joe Manchin, then it tries to reclaim the political center that it has lost to the Republicans. That broad center is pro-business with room for social conservatives.
That tent used to be large, so large that even conservatives camped there because they knew that was where the power resided. Not that long ago, if you wanted to get elected and have some influence, especially at the statehouse, you were a Democrat.
Or is it the party of Stephen Smith and his band of progressives? Smith ran a spirited campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor. He fell short in the Primary, but he energized West Virginia liberals.
If Smith’s vision is the future, then West Virginia Democrats will be more closely aligned with the national Democratic Party, which has moved farther to the left.
Perhaps there’s room for both, but then the issue is, what is the message? What can the party and its candidates say or do that speaks to the needs and values of West Virginians?
The state Democratic Party has failed to clearly articulate a message. Instead, it allowed itself to be defined by the Republicans who brand Democrats as anti-gun, socialist acolytes of Nancy Pelosi, putting Democrats on the defensive.
The Democratic Party must also recruit, train and help candidates, starting with local races and working their way up. Republicans have outworked Democrats on that front, picking off opponents one at a time, slowly building their majorities.
And finally, the Democrats need money, and I’m not sure where that comes from in West Virginia. Donors like to be on the winning side, and right now that is not the Democrats. National money is an option, but that tends to flow to congressional candidates who have a legitimate chance of winning.
The good news for Democrats is that that there is always the next election. However, the party has a lot of work to do before it is competitive again in West Virginia.