THE FAILING, AND FLAILING, DEMS – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party, despite all its drum-beating during Congressional hearings, is a weak, leaderless party that has been losing strength at virtually every level of government.  It is a shadow of the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy that we vaguely remember.  From The Hill:     

The Democratic Party has a leadership vacuum at the top, with many registered voters eager to see someone who is not currently on the scene become the party’s standard-bearer in 2020, according to a new Harvard-Harris Poll survey provided exclusively to The Hill.

When registered voters were asked whom they view as the leader of the Democratic Party, 40 percent said it has no leader.

Fifteen percent named former President Obama as the party’s leader. Twelve percent said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has gone out of his way not to join the Democratic Party despite running for the its presidential nomination last year.

Eleven percent view Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as the party’s leader, and 10 percent answered with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

On the question of who should be a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, Sanders led the field, at 14 percent, followed by former first lady Michelle Obama at 11 percent, Warren at 9 percent, Clinton at 8 percent, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo each at 4 percent, and television personality Oprah Winfrey and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) each at 3 percent.

Forty-five percent said they want to see someone not on the list of possible candidates in the survey.

COMMENT:  Not exactly a vote of confidence in the current party leadership.  I'm surprised at how low Barack Obama ranks.  He isn't a demigod after all.

The Democratic Party today seems more a collection of interest groups than a political engine with a coherent point of view.  It needs a Reagan, but no one on their bench comes close.

March 21,  2017