Mediaboss Marketing

WINCHESTER, Va. - If Mudcat Saunders were running things, he would never have approached bringing his beloved Democratic Party together by uninviting one faction of the divided party.

"Well, that would not have been my tactics. If your party is divided, well how do you bring it together if you don't invite all sides?" he asks, confounded by the decision.

But that is exactly what they did to Saunders, a legendary Democratic operative with a deep Southern drawl, a commanding presence, and a fierce loyalty to his party, despite its sharp turn left beginning along the fringes with Al Gore.

Saunders is the Democrats' outspoken liaison between rural voters and progressive candidates who helps them soften their message to longtime Democrats who still like God and guns and find themselves in a church pew every Sunday. He was unceremoniously uninvited to the very event that was supposed to bring rural and progressive Democrats together ahead of the governor's race this year.

He said: "Like I said, not exactly the way I would have approached it. I think every voice needs to be heard. We are losing rural Democrat support and I think we really need that for this governor's race in order to win."

In short, Democrats believe that because of their populous numbers in the urban suburbs in Northern Virginia, they don't need rural voters. And they aren't showing any willingness to petition, engage with them, or win them over.

The party's beef with Saunders involves his unwillingness to vote for Hillary Clinton last year. It doesn't help that he was pretty outspoken about it.

"They don't have to. And this is why we are the minority party," said Dane Strother, a Washington, D.C.-based Democratic strategist with deep Southern roots. "If we remain uninterested in the rural vote we will remain the minority party."

Virginia Democrats are in the midst of a civil war that is only getting worse since the election of Donald J. Trump. Virginia did not go for Trump, but its rural voters, a decent amount of them Democrats, voted decisively for Trump over their party's nominee.

That civil war has escalated as the Democratic primary race for governor moves front and center. Candidates Ralph Northam, an Eastern Shore native, and Tom Perriello, who once represented the Fifth Congressional District, both come from rural Virginia.

Mudcat supports Northam. He said: "Perriello used to be pro-life, now he's not. Perriello used to be pro-gun, now he is not. He is running away from the moderate Democrats and right into the arms of the left of the party and it's disappointing."

Earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the de facto leader of the Democratic Party's progressive wing since he effectively harnessed the energy of the party's far left during last year's primary contest with Clinton, endorsed the former congressman in the governor's race.

The former Blue Dog-like Democrat came into the House majority one cycle after the wave of moderate Democrats swept Republicans into the minority.

Northam is the current lieutenant governor of Virginia, a position elected separately from the governor's office. He is moderate, populist, and liked by the state's Democratic Party. He also voted for George W. Bush for president - twice.

One of these guys will soon be the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, said Strother: "It is one of only two states, New Jersey is the other, that hold governor's races this year, I think this contest in a purple state will show us the direction my party is going. Will they go full progressive? Will they include blue-collar and working-class rural Democrats in a message that they can rally around? I sure hope so, or we are in a world of hurt."

Strother said the decision in Roanoke to disinvite Mudcat from the recent conference on recruiting rural voters and addressing cultural challenges was a "stupid" one: "This is a defining race for us. We have to have a developed, authentic message that reaches these voters and stop alienating them or we will remain in the wilderness."

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, those exact types of voters are turned off by progressive politics in the state, which has gone blue three presidential elections in a row. Those numbers for Democrats have softened in those cycles, not hardened.

The story to watch first is: Where do Democrats go in their primary race this summer? Do they continue to push out moderate voices like Mudcat? Do they find a way to bring them in with a message that appeals to all? Or do they march leftward? And, if so, does that march keep them in the wilderness, or do they find victory in the fall?

It is certainly the race to watch. Why? Well, because the Democrats need the Mudcats of this world in their party - not just here but across the country - and they need to let them have a voice. If not, they risk remaining the minority party up and down the ballot.

Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. For more information, visit http://www.creators.com.

Published: April 12, 2017 10:44 AM EDT The Philadelphia Inquirer

We recently asked you to support our journalism. The response, in a word, is heartening. You have encouraged us in our mission to provide quality news and watchdog journalism. Some of you have even followed through with subscriptions, which is especially gratifying. Our role as an independent, fact-based news organization has never been clearer. And our promise to you is that we will always strive to provide indispensable journalism to our community. Subscriptions are available for home delivery of the print edition and for a digital replica viewable on your mobile device or computer. Subscriptions start as low as 25 per day. We're thankful for your support in every way.

The rest is here:
Virginia's progressive Democrats push moderates aside - Philly.com