A "schtick"?
That was former DNC chair Jaime Harrison this week, on MS NOW's debate stage, waving off the voters who have given up on both parties as a gimmick. Nearly half the country now refuses to claim allegiance to either party, and the former chair downplays that reality as... theater.
You don't have to be an independent to notice what that reveals: a leadership more comfortable mocking voters than trying to understand them.
Across the table, independent veteran Paul Rieckhoff wasn't buying it. "Most of the Democratic Party should be fired," he shot back, pointing to independent candidates like Montana's Seth Bodnar as the actual future. IVN has the exchange.
Here's what the "schtick" line really tells you. The establishment doesn't mock independents because they're a joke. They mock independent-minded voters because they still control the rules of the game, and it intends to keep it that way.
This week alone, South Carolina Republicans asked a judge to close their primaries so independents don't have a voice. Buffalo's charter commission told 80% of voters who backed a new election reform proposal, "No." And Maine Democrats ran out the clock so there was no special election at all: Graham Platner got "Joe Biden'd" at the last minute, so voters never got to weigh in.
If independent voters really are a "schtick," party operatives sure are scared of the punchline coming for their charade.
Check out more stories that go outside the two-sided narrative below.
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Former DNC Chair Ridicules Independents — Calls Them a 'Schtick'
On MS NOW’s debate stage, former DNC chair Jaime Harrison dismissed the independent movement as a “schtick” — and Paul Rieckhoff fired back that “most of the Democratic Party should be fired.” Watch the clash over whether independents are a gimmick or the Democrats’ real problem.
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Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley has challenged his Democratic opponent, former state senator Dr. Richard Pan, to five debates in California’s redrawn 6th District — arguing voters, not attack ads, should decide the race. Pan won’t commit to a single one, apparently betting the district’s blue lean carries him in November.
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