TheAtlantic: Can Millennials Save the Democratic Party? (2016 analysis)

[Ronnie]

Technocratic Timmy, if I hadn't known any better, after reading your post, I would think that the same party elites that elected Tom Perez to be the DNC chair will choose the Democratic nominee in 2020.  They may very well prefer a centrist economic agenda and "identity politics", but as we've seen in 2016, the base does not necessarily always listen to party elites.  In addition, there are many factors that the elites will not be able to control in the 2020 presidential primary process, such as the ratio of "establishment" to "Berniecrat" candidates, as well as the candidates themselves.

I think the grassroots will shape the discourse over the next four years that will ultimately decide the party's fate.  Top-down thinking from the establishment just won't work in this kind of heated environment, especially when the establishment's choice this past election let us down in a big way.

[Ronnie]

I don't think the populist left movement can be seen as a direct analogue to the tea party because they already have a framework for their political ideology and grassroots mobilization in Bernie Sanders' primary campaign, whereas the tea party had to build everything from scratch.  A more obvious point is that there is no Democratic parallel to Mitt Romney, who was a pretty clear frontrunner even before the primaries began.  If there's a similar figure around which the Democratic base can consolidate early in the process, I really don't see one right now.