So there are a couple of issues and solutions here. The first is that if they’re Democrats “in name only”, then the Democrats have failed to make their values and beliefs clear - and worse, that all members must support those principles.
The second is that they might pull the party to the right. That’s a failing of both party mechanics and party members. And the solution is to make clear the positions on issues, even if benefits take a long time to appear. That’s hard because it means articulating why the death penalty is bad (miscarriages of justice are a thing), why funding education is a long-term economic benefit (should the USA really aim to compete with India and China?), why abortion is a breach of the rights of a woman, and so forth.
I should state at this point that I’m not American. I’m British, and a Liberal Democrat. So I have no idea how well the Democrats do at making both their values and their policies clear. But I get the feeling that they keep it intentionally vague because they think it’s an advantage.
In the UK, the Liberal Democrats are a “broad church” and a centrist party. They’re also the third party in a two party system because of that. So I’m not exactly in a position to offer solutions - I’m very much just offering suggestions to start a discussion between Democrat members (of whom I’m sure there are a few here).
I would say that one thing that made me a Liberal Democrat is the pre-amble to the party’s constitution. It sums up my beliefs very well. The discussions within the party tend to be about how we achieve them, because our position is well articulated:
Now, that’s a fine set of words that can be interpreted in many ways. But I don’t believe it allows a small state (enslaved by poverty?) or defunding of education (develop their talents?), amongst other things. If I encountered any member of the party who was pushing such policies, I’d be asking them why they’re in this party and quoting that pre-amble to them.
(Full constitution here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/constitution)
I did try searching for the Democratic Party’s constitution, and the top hit was the Mississippi Democrat’s constitution. (Google search: “democratic party constitution usa”.) That right there suggests an issue. I saw Wikipedia articles, Britannica articles, and more - but if I google my own party’s constitution I get straight to the right thing.
So I suspect that the Democrats need to get off the damned fence, and understand that they can gain more by having principles than they can by being vague.
Hopefully these women knew what principles they were switching to, and will behave accordingly. It’s on the rest of the Democrats to make that clear.
