Local opinion: Let's find a new way forward

Let’s not normalize this. The political headlines, and the words that routinely come out of this president’s mouth, are so over-the-top ridiculous and offensive that they drive the news cycle and preclude thoughtful discourse on any subject, which, of course, is just what he wants.

And let’s not engage in social-media-driven arguments full of false equivalencies that blame both parties for the dysfunction in Congress — which is how many conversations ultimately devolve. This current, alternative-fact reincarnation of the Republican Party has driven the political dysfunction and then tried to blame Democrats and voting machines and whatever else they can latch onto in order to stay in power. So far, it’s worked.

Instead, let’s ask the most important question: How do we change what’s going on so we can move forward in a productive manner? I think it’s time to radically rethink some of our political and social organizations to meet the challenges of the current reality and lay the groundwork to move forward once the tide turns.

Let’s start with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). This rethinking must begin with two realizations: that the only thing that currently unifies Democrats on a national level is resistance to our president, and there at least three legitimate competing blocs within the current Democratic Party. I think the DNC should focus on coordinating the resistance while simultaneously creating a different, more engaging and democratic process to help us all decide on the way forward.

Between now and the 2026 midterms, the DNC should have one goal: to coordinate resistance to the current administration. The DNC should publicly own the effort and ask for help from many sectors of society, while trusting state and local parties to select good candidates that fit their district. I like it that Gavin Newsom has been trolling and mimicking our president online, but I’d rather it comes from the DNC than from potential presidential candidates. The DNC needs a leader who can command media attention to create space for aspiring candidates to develop a vision for the future, without expecting potential candidates to also have to take on the current administration at every turn.

Concurrently, the DNC must urgently begin to plan for the 2028 presidential election. The current plan seems to be to wait around and hope for a charismatic, Obama-like figure to emerge from the chaos to save us all. But I think that plan is doomed to fail. Instead, with full recognition of the different voting blocs within the coalition, I think the DNC should radically change its 2028 presidential nomination process by instituting rank choice voting in the primaries and openly encouraging a multitude of candidates to enter (moderates and progressives, RINOs and Green Party candidates, libertarians and single-issue voters.) Let’s try to engage all the disaffected voters in America, along with the current Democratic mainstream, in an open, ranked-choice primary that includes everyone who is opposed to this current version of the Republican party.

I can already hear the naysayers. There are thousands of reasons why this won’t work. And the only response I have is: do you have a better idea?

Ranked-choice voting is one of the few systemic changes that will fundamentally transform our democracy and encourage bipartisanship. We can’t wait around and hope cities and states will eventually move in that direction, especially given the opposition of all those who benefit from the current system. We need daring leadership to make this happen, and I think the DNC is uniquely positioned to deliver.

Remember, Al Gore lost the presidency in 2000 because a couple thousand people in Florida voted for Ralph Nader, people who most likely would have voted for Gore over Bush as their second choice had they felt more engaged in the political process. The number of disaffected voters has only risen since then, and doing what we’ve always done will only hasten the demise of our democracy.