Politico: “The culture wars are back, but this time with a
significant twist: the left is picking the fights and, for the most
part, enjoying being on the right side of public opinion.”

The Democratic National Committee, “which borrowed more than $20 million at the end of the 2012 election, continues to fall further into the red at a time when it is supposed to be paying off its debt,” the Washington Post reports.

“The committee, which was $20.6 million in debt as of Nov. 26, has actually added more since then. Its total obligations rose to $21.9 million at the end of February… In addition to taking on more debt, the committee has seen its cash on
hand reduced by more than half since Nov. 26, from $9.7 million to just
more than $4 million.”

The New York Times says House Democrats are starting to appreciate “a new political reality that few of them expected: They matter.”

“It is one of the more notable aspects of the current House of Representatives, which is still controlled by Republicans and more deeply partisan than ever. With Democrats now in control of 200 seats, a handful more than they had in the last Congress, and Republicans often sharply split on big issues like spending and taxes, Democratic votes have been decisive in getting major legislation through the House.”

“Other issues that are equally threatening to Republican unity like gun laws and immigration changes will likely be on the agenda early this year, giving Democrats what they hope will be an even bigger opportunity to play a pivotal role both in shaping legislation and in deciding its fate.”

Bill Clinton spoke to House Democrats at their retreat today and told them to “come up with a plan,” Politico reports.

Said Clinton: “I think we’re going to be fine, but we’ve got to learn to compare ourselves to the competition in a way that is not threatening and is not negative. We have got got to have a jobs agenda that seems affordable and realistic. We need a 10 year budget plan that doesn’t overdo the austerity… Do it all in a same spirit that you took out there in this last election.”

He added: “This last race was a referendum in large measure on what the American people did not want, we have to create a future that they do want.”

Charlie Cook: “Liberals enthused by President Obama’s soaring inauguration rhetoric and conservatives fearful of an impending socialist takeover should all take a deep breath. Much of what liberals passionately want and conservatives deeply fear is unlikely to ever make it to a vote on the House or Senate floors.”

“For the past two decades, one of the least understood but most important unwritten job requirements for congressional leaders has been to protect their members from difficult and potentially politically costly votes, either in committee or on the floor. Some of the most pressing policy issues of the day are never voted on or are so diluted that one would be hard-pressed to use voting records to nail down how any member feels about anything of real consequence.”

National Democrats “are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state,” Politico reports.

“The organization, dubbed ‘Battleground Texas,’ plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles. Two sources said the contemplated budget would run into the tens of millions of dollars over several years – a project Democrats hope has enough heft to help turn what has long been an electoral pipe dream into reality.”

Beth Reinhard:
“Even as Democrats relish President Obama’ second inauguration, some
party leaders are worried about whether the campaign’s decision to form
its own advocacy group will hamstring future generations of Democratic
candidates… Some activists foresee a power struggle between the national
party, which aims to elect Democrats above all else, and the new group,
which aims to build the president’s legacy — and may have to pressure
wavering swing-state Democrats to tow the unapologetically liberal
agenda laid out in his inauguration speech.”

Mother Jones reports that a month after President Obama won reelection, “top brass from three dozen of the most powerful groups in liberal politics met at the headquarters of the National Education Association, a few blocks north of the White House.”

“At the end of the day, many of the attendees closed with a pledge of money and staff resources to build a national, coordinated campaign around three goals: getting big money out of politics, expanding the voting rolls while fighting voter ID laws, and rewriting Senate rules to curb the use of the filibuster to block legislation. The groups in attendance pledged a total of millions of dollars and dozens of organizers to form a united front on these issues–potentially, a coalition of a kind rarely seen in liberal politics, where squabbling is common and a stay-in-your-lane attitude often prevails.”

A new Gallup survey finds “an average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they were independents who leaned Democratic in 2012, compared with 42% who identified as or leaned Republican. That re-establishes a Democratic edge in party affiliation after the two parties were essentially tied in 2010 and 2011.”

BuzzFeed: “For Democrats, there may be few things more entertaining than watching the Republican Party self-destruct and fight with itself these last few weeks. But it may be time to put away the party favors – because a Democratic internal war may be on the way.”

“Just as Republicans were so divided over taxes – from failing to pass their own “Plan B” bill last week, to their leaders splitting votes on last night’s legislative package – Democrats are about to endure an emotional debate about one of their own bedrock principles: the protection of programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”

Charlie Cook: “While the vast majority of major corporate leaders either backed Mitt Romney last year or stayed neutral, they don’t really see the Republican Party as the good guys and Democrats as the bad guys. They see the whole political and governing process as dysfunctional.”

The Washington Post says although liberals “rejoiced over their strongest election showing in decades” many are now worried that “what seems like a liberal ‘morning in America’ could turn out to be a false dawn.”

“The focus of their distress is none other than Obama, who many left-leaning Democrats fear will go too far in reaching an accord with Republicans on the “fiscal cliff.” Liberal groups are gearing up media campaigns aimed at pressuring Obama and congressional Democrats to hold the line on proposed GOP cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.”

Former Ron Paul aide Eric Dondero says the only recourse to President Obama’s re-election is “outright revolt” and is launching a “personal boycott” of Democrats.

He writes: “All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them. They are in short, the enemies of liberty. They deserve nothing less than hatred and utter contempt.”

“I strongly urge all other libertarians to do the same. Are you
married to someone who voted for Obama, have a girlfriend who voted ‘O’.
Divorce them. Break up with them without haste. Vow not to attend
family functions, Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas for example, if there
will be any family members in attendance who are Democrats.”

Take the Political Party Quiz from Pew Research: Answer 12 questions and it pinpoints you on a chart along the political party spectrum. 

Joe Klein: “The Democrats have a serious problem. It is a problem that stems from the party’s greatest strength: its long-term support for inclusion and equal rights for all, its support of racial integration and equal rights for women and homosexuals and its humane stand on immigration reform. Those heroic positions, which I celebrate, cost the Democrats more than a few elections in the past…. If the Democratic Party truly wants to be a party of inclusion, it must reach out to those who are currently excluded from its identity politics. It needs to disband its caucuses. It needs to say, We are proud of our racial and ethnic backgrounds, our different religions, our lifestyle differences. But the things that unite us are more important than the things that divide us. We have only one caucus– the American caucus.”

Jonathan Martin notes that populism — “with its rowdy zeal to brawl against economic elites on behalf of the working classes” — was for decades the Democratic party’s defining cause but it’s now largely been abandoned.

“The recent convergence of setbacks on the left has activists and historians alike pondering anew how the modern Democratic Party has severed its connection to its own history — a tradition that many liberals wrongly imagined was about to spring back to life in the Obama years… These days, it’s possible to count on one hand the number of unapologetic populists in the U.S. Senate and, besides Elizabeth Warren, there are few more on the horizon.”

“For the fighting left, it is a frustrating puzzle. If ever there was a moment for a good, old-fashioned class war, at first blush it seems now should be the time. Yet even after the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, there are few politicians preaching, or practicing, the old-time religion.”

Democrats are “considering canceling their political convention’s kick-off event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, as party planners grapple with a roughly $27 million fundraising deficit,” Bloomberg reports.

Earlier this year, Democrats announced they were shortening their convention from four days to three, “to make room for a day to organize and celebrate the Carolinas, Virginia and the South and kick off the convention at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Labor Day,” Sept. 3.

Blue Dog Democrats representing the conservative wing of the Democratic Party are close to extinction, reports Politico, as the 2012 election season promises to further thin their ranks.

“Of
the 24 remaining Blue Dogs, five are not seeking reelection. More than a
half-dozen others are facing treacherous contests in which their
reelection hopes are in jeopardy. It’s a rough time to occupy the right
wing of the Democratic Party… Redistricting is at the root of the Blue
Dog problem. The once-in-a-decade line-drawing has forced some of them
to compete for seats that have become even less friendly to Democrats —
and those seats weren’t very friendly to begin with. Utah Rep. Jim
Matheson, Georgia Rep. John Barrow and North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre
are among those who have been thrust into deeply Republican territory
after being targeted in GOP-led redistricting efforts in their home
states.”

“For Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Holden, another Blue Dog,
redistricting has created another kind of problem. When Republicans
redrew his central Pennsylvania seat, they created a district far more
liberal than Holden’s old one — one at odds with the conservative record
he has compiled during his two decades in the House… For a few Blue
Dogs, the problems presented by redistricting are compounded by the
challenges of running in conservative Southern states during a
presidential election year. Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler, McIntyre and
Barrow must run in states where President Barack Obama’s unpopularity
threatens to trickle down the ballot and damage their reelection bids.”