Democratic Disarray

While you were sleeping, the Democratic National Committee reversed course and allowed Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign to access the party's 50-state voter file after denying him access to it when a now-fired Sanders staffer infiltrated Hillary Clinton's private database (no jokes please, about him infiltrating Martin O'Malley's database and finding only the candidate's children's e-mails).  Sanders is now able to proceed with business as usual, but the damage to Hillary Clinton may have been fatal. Should she get the nomination, she'll have to win the votes of potentially thirty million Sanders supporters that her water carrier Debbie Wasserman (German for "water carrier") Schultz offended with her heavy-handed tactics to punish the Sanders campaign for violating the rules . . . even as Sanders and Martin O'Malley have been chafing under the debate rules and schedule she imposed on them months ago.        

The rift between the Clinton and Sanders camps, in addition to Wasserman Schultz's obvious attempt to crown Hillary as the nominee,  is only dividing the Democratic Party . . . even as Debbie has to answer for a track record as Democratic National Committee chairwoman that has left Republicans in charge of most state legislatures and governorships, with the smallest U.S. House caucus (to which she, inexplicably, still belongs) in 85 years and the second-smallest U.S. Senate caucus in history.  In an ideal situation, a third candidate could possibly unite the warring camps supporting Hillary or Bernie, but Martin O'Malley - largely because of Wasserman Schultz's ability to limit and suppress presidential debates - can't even get people to remember his name, much less examine his policy proposals or his record.  Still in the low single digits, he faces a monumental task of overcoming the roadblocks the Democratic National Committee has placed in front of him.  If Sanders wins the nomination, he may have a fighting chance in November 2016.  If Hillary is the nominee, it's over for the Democrats.  Sanders supporters don't respect her, O'Malley supporters - all three of us - hold her in equally low regard, and independents don't trust her. 

Meanwhile, the Republicans, with their frequent debates and their aggressive stance on the issues, have captivated the imagination of the voters more than the Democrats can hope to under the Democratic Party's current leadership and in its disastrous electoral ebb.  Donald Trump may not be the Republican nominee, but another Republican might emerge from the GOP's presidential nomination contest to be a formidable general election candidate.  Again:  The Democrats are going the way of the Whigs, and Hillary's nomination will only seal their fate.

For now, when it comes to politics, it's the GOP's world.  The Democrats simply lose elections in it.