Identity

The Democrats didn't do well this fall.  A prominent Democrat writing in the Boston Globe says part of the problem is that Democrats need a stronger "identity."  Excerpt:

Members of Congress and chairmen of the 50 state party organizations are pushing the candidates to broaden the DNC's focus from its longtime fixation on winning presidential elections to building a long-term infrastructure. For too long, they say, the organization's resources have been devoted primarily to raising money and turning out votes for presidential campaigns, at the expense of virtually everything else. During the hiatus between national campaigns, the fund-raising, organizing, and communications apparatus in Washington have been underutilized, and state party organizations have withered on the vine.

Those pushing for this transformation are right. Whoever takes the helm must continue work begun under McAuliffe to transform the DNC from a presidential campaign-in-waiting into an effective marketing organization that works to promote Democratic values and advance the interests of candidates at the local, state, and federal levels.

While the DNC has excelled in fund-raising and get-out-the-vote organizing, it has done nothing to build a Democratic brand that clearly communicates the party's vision, values, and goals. That is one reason why so few voters understand what it means to be a Democrat. The lack of a strong party identity puts candidates at a severe disadvantage in the electoral marketplace.