Nina Turner on How to Make the Democratic Party Great Again

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Last edited Fri Dec 9, 2016, 12:47 AM - Edit history (1)

Nina Turner on How to Make the Democratic Party Great Again
Gabby Bess
Broadly

"They lost because they lost their way. They lost their message, they lost their focus, and they forgot why we really were—or are still, I hope—the party of the working people," she told me over the phone. Her voice was emphatic, and the grave post-mortem somehow seemed like the most uplifting thing I've heard since November 8. Turner was a staunch voice for progressives during the election, and she will be a crucial voice now.

As it stands, the Democratic party is the largest apparatus with the power turn the country away from the dark path that Donald Trump, along with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, is leading it down. But to realize that potential, the Democrats have a lot of work to do. Turner, who now serves on the board of Sanders' Our Revolution, puts it more bluntly. "We need to give a shit about the people," she said.

It is in bad faith to blame them for it: They felt disenfranchised, and stayed home. According to Slate, the Democrats lost 1.17 million people with incomes under $50,000 in the Rust Belt states who voted for President Obama in 2012.

"We have to pay attention to [Trump] voters, but we can't throw away the coalition of progressive people of color and progressive whites who really make up the majority, about 51 percent," she added. "Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately impacted by income inequality, but the white working class has lost a lot of economic ground, too. Both can be true. We need to pull in everyone who is suffering and acknowledge their pain, not continue to bombard them with stats about how the unemployment rate is down and Obamacare is the best thing since sliced bread."