There is no story line in American politics more beloved than Democrats in Disarray. It’s an ancient narrative that was first and best captured by Will Rogers, who said in 1933: “I don’t belong to any organized political faith. I am a Democrat.” And even though the Donkey Party no longer contains Ku Klux Klan members cheek by jowl with civil-rights activists, as it did in Rogers’ day, it remains a coalition party. And while the GOP has its own divisions, Republicans enjoy pointing out Democratic infighting nearly as much as Democrats enjoy engaging in it.

Democratic disarray is especially understandable when it’s the “out” party with no president (or for that matter, Speaker of the House or Senate majority leader) to serve as a national rallying point and message-distributor. According to a hoary precedent, the last presidential nominee is sometimes referred to as the “titular leader of the party” until the next national convention, but the recently vanquished Kamala Harris is more of a controversial contender for future power (and for some, a punching bag) than a unity figure. Nobody expects the DNC to keep everyone in line, and at the moment, that entity appears to be even more hapless than usual, as reflected in its badly botched 2024 “autopsy report.”

Organizational issues aside, Democrats have truly been divided for much of the 21st century between a center-left Establishment that has dominated presidential-nominating contests (dating all the way back to 1972, according to some accountings), governorships, and Senate Democratic caucuses, and a........

© Daily Intelligencer