The Surprising Division Among Democrats

While most people who watched last night’s convention are focused on Tim Walz’s moment with his son, Oprah Winfrey’s star power, or the SNL guy who tried to be funny, Bill Clinton had the line of the night that perfectly sums up the deep divisions within the Democratic Party.

In his usual folksy charm, Bill Clinton described Trump voters as neighbors who used to be “one of us.” Instead of demonizing the base of voters supporting Donald Trump, he humanized and identified with them as fellow Americans who simply held a differing set of beliefs. This fell on deaf ears because this simply is not where the party is at.

Bill Clinton was elected during a time when - while the parties were drifting apart - he was able to build coalitions with the right to pass budget reforms that allowed the government to function. Fast forward to Barack Obama who specialized in division and claimed Republicans were the enemy. This is the guy who forced Obamacare down the throats of Americans and then ruled by executive order when his congressional majorities were stripped away. He told supporters to bring a gun to a knife fight and told Democrats to get in their neighbor’s faces.

However, Barack Obama was a less effective president than Bill Clinton because Clinton’s bipartisan coalitions allowed him to get more accomplished in office that wasn’t ultimately undone by federal courts. There’s a lesson to be learned here by Democrats (and Republicans). Watch: