The Democratic Identity Crisis: Is the Big Tent Too Small?

Nancy Pelosi speaking at a podium.
Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr. Creative commons license.
Author: Dan Sally
Published: 16 Dec, 2024
1 min read

Photo by Gage Skidmore on Flickr

After the bruising losses of November, Democrats have begun aiming their pointy fingers at each other. But the real question isn’t whether the party is too progressive or not progressive enough—it’s whether the so-called “Big Tent” can truly hold everyone.

In this episode, Dan and Shawn unpack the growing fault lines within the Democratic Party, from Nancy Pelosi’s behind-the-scenes moves to block AOC to Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s success with blue-collar voters in a Trump district. What do these tensions reveal about America’s two-party system—and can reforms like ranked-choice voting be the key to fixing it or are they just another band-aid?

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