When Democratic Leadership Undermines Democrats, Progress Pays the Price

When Democratic Leadership Undermines Democrats, Progress Pays the Price

By Shawn White Wolf

When Democratic Leadership Undermines Democrats, Progress Pays the Price

There are moments in politics when leadership is tested. Not when the room is friendly. Not when the polls look easy. Not when the party is winning by twenty points and everyone gets to smile for the camera. Leadership is tested when the road is rough, the odds are ugly, and people are watching to see whether principles still matter.

That is why Nancy Keenan’s recent public viewpoint supporting Independent Seth Bodnar over Democratic primary winner Alani Bankhead is so disappointing.

Keenan is not just any voter with an opinion. She is a former Democratic officeholder, former Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, former Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party, and a respected longtime Democratic leader. In her Missoula Current piece, she describes herself as a lifelong Democrat and says she will continue supporting Democrats. Yet in the same piece, she says she is backing an Independent candidate in Montana’s open U.S. Senate race because she does not believe there is a viable path for a Democratic victory.

That may sound practical to some. To me, it sounds like poor leadership.

Democrats cannot ask candidates to step forward, ask volunteers to organize, ask voters to participate in a primary, and then have prominent party leaders publicly walk away from the Democrat who won. That undercuts the process. It weakens the nominee. It discourages the people who still believe the Democratic Party should stand behind its own candidates.

Let’s be honest: Montana is hard ground for Democrats right now. Nobody with eyes open is pretending otherwise. Republicans have dominated many statewide races. Jon Tester’s loss showed just how difficult the political environment has become. But hard does not mean hopeless. And if Democratic leaders respond to every difficult race by abandoning the Democratic nominee, then they are not rebuilding the party. They are managing its decline.

That is not strategy. That is surrender wearing a clean shirt.

The larger problem is trust. Rank-and-file Democrats are told the primary matters. They are told democracy matters. They are told voters should decide. But when the voters do decide, and the result is inconvenient to influential leaders, suddenly the conversation shifts to viability, polling, and political calculation.

That creates a dangerous message: democracy matters unless insiders decide the outcome is not useful.

Democrats cannot defend democracy nationally while disrespecting the democratic process inside their own party. That contradiction is too big to ignore. If Alani Bankhead won the Democratic primary, then Democratic leadership should be helping her make the strongest possible case to Montana voters. They do not have to pretend the race is easy. They do not have to ignore political reality. But they should not publicly kneecap the nominee before the general election has even had a chance to breathe.

And let’s talk about the effect this has beyond one race. When someone with Nancy Keenan’s experience and stature says the Democratic nominee has no viable path, that does not stay contained. It echoes. It affects donors. It affects volunteers. It affects undecided voters. It gives Republicans a talking point. It tells every Democrat down ballot that even party leaders may not stand firm when the wind blows hard.

That is how morale gets broken.

It also sends a terrible message to future candidates. Why would strong Democrats run in tough races if they believe party leaders might abandon them after they win the primary? Why would grassroots supporters invest time, money, and energy if the party’s own respected voices are ready to move on before the campaign is fully underway?

A party cannot grow if its leaders keep pulling up the roots.

If Democrats in Montana are struggling, then the answer is not to run from the label. The answer is to make the label mean something again. That means showing up in rural communities. It means talking plainly about wages, housing, property taxes, health care, public lands, veterans, seniors, education, and the survival of small towns. It means listening more and lecturing less. It means rebuilding trust with working families who once saw Democrats as their natural home.

Nancy Keenan herself understands that history. She comes from labor roots. She has spoken about working families, public education, and the Democratic tradition in Montana. That is exactly why her decision is so frustrating. Someone with that background should know better than most that parties are not rebuilt by walking away from their nominees. They are rebuilt through discipline, loyalty, patience, and hard work.

Supporting an Independent candidate may feel like a shortcut. But shortcuts in politics usually come with a bill, and that bill gets handed to the grassroots.

To be clear, voters are free to support whomever they choose. This is America. Nobody owes blind loyalty to any party. But leadership carries a higher responsibility. When a former state party leader publicly dismisses the Democratic nominee’s chances, that is not just a personal voting preference. It becomes an institutional signal. And that signal says Democrats should not fully trust their own process.

That is damaging.

If the concern is that Republicans are too extreme, then Democrats should build a stronger Democratic case. If the concern is democracy, then Democrats should honor democratic outcomes. If the concern is electability, then leaders should help make Democratic candidates more electable instead of declaring them politically dead on arrival.

Progress is not built by giving up early. Progress is built by standing in the hard places and doing the work anyway.

Montana Democrats need leadership with backbone. They need leaders who can tell the truth about challenges without demoralizing the people still fighting. They need leaders who understand that rebuilding a party requires more than clever calculations. It requires commitment.

Nancy Keenan has every right to her opinion. But Democrats also have every right to say that this kind of public abandonment undermines the progress of all Democrats. It weakens the nominee, confuses voters, discourages volunteers, and reinforces the belief that party insiders will always have a separate plan.

That is disappointing. It is short-sighted. And yes, it is poor leadership.

If Democrats want people to believe in the party again, then Democratic leaders need to believe in Democrats first.

Read More Here: https://missoulacurrent.com/viewpoint-independent-democracy/