Democrats ‘leaderless and message-less,’ says former Clinton strategist

Democratic strategist Patti Solis Doyle lamented on Thursday that the Democratic Party remains rudderless, with neither a leader nor a message to unite around.

As Democrats continue to reel from their historic defeat in November and revelations about the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s purported decline while in office, many are still struggling to chart a new course for their party.

Solis Doyle, like other veteran Democratic Party strategists, vented her frustration to podcaster and commentator Mark Halperin on his “Next Up” podcast. 

“So, first, let me say that I have never been happier not to be actually in it, in the middle of politics, than I am right now, because it sounds really depressing, what’s going on at the party,” Solis Doyle said when asked for her take on the state of the party.

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In addition to how the Democratic Party is being criticized as any party would be after a devastating loss, she said another problem appears unique to the Democrats’ predicament. 

“The other problem that they have is that there’s no real leader,” Solis Doyle said. “You know, if your party holds the White House, the leader of the party is the president. If your party doesn’t hold the White House, the leader of the party is the last, you know, president of that party. So, right now for us, that’s Joe Biden, but he has completely — you know, he’s off the radar completely.”

“And as you opened with, Mark, the DNC chair really isn’t the leader of the party,” she added. “I mean, they’re supposed to keep operations going, they’re supposed to raise money, they’re supposed to make sure there’s stuff going on in the states, but they’re not really the leader of the party.”

This, Solis Doyle continued, is part of a larger issue showing the lack of guidance for the party to unite around.

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“So, right now, we’re leaderless, we’re message-less, we’re agenda-less, we don’t have any alternative ideas to the president and the Republicans right now. So, you know, I’m concerned, to say the least,” the strategist said. 

Solis Doyle argued that if history is any guide, Democrats will take back the House in the midterms. However, the underlying problems of the party will remain, she added.