What the Failures of the DNC Says About the Democrats

The Democrats just don’t get it. The tacit betrayal of both our Judeo-Christian history and our ally, Israel, is fraught with problems. While the simple fact that they purposely left these terms out of the Party platform is troubling enough, how they handled (or, more appropriately, mishandled) the whole situation serves as a perfect illustration of the lack of inspired leadership qualities the Democratic Party brings to the table.

If I asked you to describe the DNC and it’s events in 15 seconds, what would you say? While some would say flattering things and others would not, most would agree that the “Godless” fiasco - where the mentioning of God and an acknowledgment that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel- has overshadowed the entire convention.

The Democrats stepped in it when they left the aforementioned phrases out of their platform. They should have known that even though they are oh-so-”progressive,” they would still alienate certain sects of their constituency and fuel the right’s long-held assertions that the more secular Democrats look to gradually eradicate long-held beliefs infused within our society.

However, they even managed to make matters worse when they “flip-flopped” on God and Jerusalem. Begrudgingly reversing their previous position, the Democratic Party did not satisfy those who objected in the first place. They even managed to make things worse for themselves by arming the GOP with the ability to rightfully claim that the Democrats are just flip flopping.

Apparently, they were against God before they were for Him.

When Democratic National Convention Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa held the vote to amend the platform, he needed a 2/3 majority. As he called out for the “ayes” and the “nos,” it became obvious that there was, at best, a room evenly divided. After he stuttered and tried to figure out what he was going to do, he held another vote. He got the same result. He held a third vote, and received the same (if not more) amount of “nos,” but passed the amendment anyway. By ramming it down the throats of the delegates,  Villaraigosa illustrated the kind of not-so-representative politics we saw in the healthcare debates and the thuggish tactics for which the Democratic Party has become known.

Then came the boos…

While it would be unfair to say that all of the delegates were booing God, himself, it was still a public relations nightmare to have this sensitive issue being so badly mishandled, and then to have the inclusion of God in a platform booed. While America prohibits the establishment of an official religion, it also offers religious freedom, and America has many people of many faiths that would prefer not to see the mentioning of God booed. The boos just validated the reputation for Godlessness and militant secularism the left has become known for in recent decades.

Furthermore, the booing of the inclusion of the acknowledgment of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has rubbed many people the wrong way. The Obama administration has wavered in their support for Israel and this fiasco has done nothing but reinforced the uneasy feeling in Israel supporters on both sides of the political spectrum, not to mention the Jewish population.

As if enough damage had not been done, Villaraigosa spoke to the L.A. Times and defended his handling of the vote. He stated, “It was a lot of ado about nothing.”

When the reporters told him that they did not hear a 2/3 majority, the surly mayor said. “That’s nice to know. I was the chairman and I did, and that was the prerogative of the chair.” He continued,

“Not one person objected. It’s more a media concern than a delegate concern. I can tell you this- the President of the United States said, ‘Wow.’ The president said, ‘You showed why you were speaker of the California Assembly.’ The president, the vice president, Mrs. Obama, all of them acknowledged the decisive way I handled that.”

Oh, well, if the president says so, then it must be true. This is the same president that tells us that we are better off than we were four years ago and that his stimulus package would work. Saying it does not make it so…

Villaraigosa then laughably tried to create a false narrative by labeling the convention a success. He claimed,

“I’ve had individual after individual come up to me who have gone to multiple conventions saying this was the best convention ever. The messaging was so consistent and strong… and things went smoothly.”

Shameless self-promotion aside, this statement is an absurd distortion of reality. Aside from the Godless fiasco that overshadows the entirety of other events, the president’s speech had to be moved because there was not enough attendance to justify the huge stadium, the DNC planning ran over $27 million and the speakers were a who’s who of maligned nobodies sprinkled with an occasional loathed high ranking Party official, sex-crazed former president or a video chat with the biggest failed president until this current one.

The Democrats just don’t get it. While this whole fiasco is not the biggest political misstep in the history of politics, it does signal a much grander problem; in this one brief saga, we saw that the Democrats are willing to bypass the will of its constituents, flip-flop on issues, ram an agenda down the throats of the people and then purposefully distort reality to make it fit their narrative. If the purpose of the DNC was to show why the Democratic Party should lead America, I think it’s obvious that they missed their mark.
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