Democrats must move on from ‘crisis of acceptance’

Hillary Clinton’s “clinching” of the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party on June 6, 2016, one day before the California primary, signaled the downfall of a party already in turmoil.

Democrats just hadn’t realized yet. Whatever the party was before that primary, it would never be again. The independentturned-Democrat Bernie Sanders galvanized millions of people with his speeches across the United States into grassroots activism. Over the course of a few months, people everywhere started to believe that they had a voice in the political process. But there was one problem: He wasn’t an option for the voters.

A series of missteps and assumptions ensued. The most important of which was thinking that registered Democrats would turn out to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. Michigan and Wisconsin are probably the best examples. More than James Comey and the emails or a Phoenix, Ariz., meeting on the tarmac between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch, Hillary Clinton underestimated the influence of the Vermont senator — and the Democratic Party is suffering from the same problem today.

The Hillary vs. Bernie infighting and identity politics will likely result in more Democratic losses in 2018 and 2020, unless honest discussions take place within the party. The Democratic Party is strongest and most successful when they run on the issues, not personalities. Resisting and protesting Trump and the Republican agenda isn’t enough. Anger may bring people to yell, but it doesn’t drive people to vote. Democrats must now articulate what they stand for, legislatively, and how they will accomplish it.