Democrats Are Playing Too Nice

Jamelle Bouie: ““I think there’s a deeper divide, between a politics that sees the grass roots as an asset to use and cultivate versus one that treats it as a complication to manage. It’s a ‘leader knows best’ approach that may squander the Democratic Party’s advantage of enthusiasm and drive against a corrupt and unpopular president.”

“Then again, Pelosi and Schumer are shrewd politicians with decades of experience. Perhaps their resistance to grass-roots Democrats, and to impeachment in particular, will pay dividends. But we should consider the reverse as well: that a Democratic Party that plays with excessive caution — and keeps its base at a distance — is one that might demobilize its voters and produce the same conditions that helped Trump win in the first place.”