Join host Paul Roland with his guest Norman Solomon, as they dissect the moribund Democratic Party and its prospects for revival.
In October 2017, a team of progressive researchers published “Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis,” which probed the causes of the disastrous 2016 election defeat. The report came in the wake of the party leadership’s failure to do its own autopsy.
In a cover story for The Nation, William Greider wrote that the Autopsy is “an unemotional dissection of why the Democrats failed so miserably, and it warns that the party must change profoundly or else remain a loser.” La Opinión reporter María Peña summed up the findings this way: “To revitalize its base for future elections, the Democratic Party has to clean up the rubble of its defeat in 2016 and develop a strategy beyond condemning the actions of President Donald Trump.”
Now, “Democratic Autopsy: One Year Later” evaluates how well the Democratic Party has done in charting a new course since the autumn of 2017. This report rates developments in each of the seven categories that the original Autopsy assessed — corporate power, race, young people, voter participation, social movements, war and party democracy.
The upsurge of progressive activism and electoral victories during the last year has created momentum that could lead to historic breakthroughs in the midterm elections and far beyond. Realizing such potential will require transforming and energizing the Democratic Party.
Norman Solomon is a U.S. journalist, media critic, antiwar activist, and former U.S. congressional candidate. Solomon is a longtime associate of the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). In 1997 he founded the Institute for Public Accuracy, which works to provide alternative sources for journalists, and serves as its executive director. Solomon's weekly column, "Media Beat", was in national syndication from 1992 to 2009. He also co-founded the online activist group RootsAction.org in early 2011; six years later, it counted more than 1.5 million active members. More recently Solomon focused on his 2012 congressional campaign in California's 2nd congressional district. He attended the 2016 Democratic National Convention as a Sanders delegate.
Solomon lived for many years in Portland and was active with the Trojan Decommissioning Alliance, an anti-nuclear group. He spent 40 days in jail as a result of one protest. He wrote for the monthly Portland Alliance, a long-running but now defunct radical paper.
https://democraticautopsy.org/democratic-party-in-crisis-one-year-later/
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