California’s Democrats Meet: Unfinished Business
This weekend, the California Democratic Party, the largest Democratic Party organization in the largest Democratic state, holds its annual convention in Sacramento. Approximately 2,500 delegates will chart their future in the wake of the debacle last fall.
The Problem
Unfortunately, the proceedings are overshadowed by followers of President Trump and his vanquished rival Hillary Clinton, who continue to trade charges about Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.
Trump’s people find it unseemly of Comey to request additional funding to continue an investigation of Trump’s political associates and foreign business interests. Mrs. Clinton’s supporters find it unseemly of Comey to investigate the discovery of Clinton’s classified State Department emails on the personal computer of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, husband of Clinton’s longtime lieutenant, Huma Abedin.
While both sides quarrel about the past, neither offers a vision for the future.
The Future
The CDP delegates in Sacramento will be previewing the 2018 candidates for governor and other statewide offices. Also, the US Senate seat of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is up for grabs next year. Gov. Jerry Brown is “termed out.” Feinstein has not declared her intentions.
A strong CDP performance in 2018 has national implications. Given Trump’s declining poll numbers, a few California Republican House seats might flip next year. The CDP convention will showcase the stable of Democratic presidential aspirants in 2020, all of whom will look to California for donors and grassroots volunteers.
The CDP delegates will also face unresolved issues from last year’s election including:
- Universal tuition-free higher education and improving public education for all
- Single-payer health care for all
- Raising the minimum wage
- Ending the death penalty
- Opposing trade agreements that export US jobs
Background
The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last year was plagued by the sleazy behavior of the Democratic National Committee particularly its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz cast aside the chair’s requirement of impartiality. Throughout the primary season, she tipped the scales on behalf of her favorite, Clinton, to the detriment of Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s primary California's Democrats Meet: Unfinished Business - LA Progressive: