There seemed to be a lot less attention to my recent post about fighting between various Democratic coalitions than to the one about Preference Cascades. That's too bad because we are seeing that fighting right out in the open, and it explains a lot about why things are happening.
Exhibit A: the firing of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Sure, it was the Right Thing to do, but when has anyone in Washington DC done the Right Thing? Instead, let's look at coalitions and their current dynamics.
Cheatle was firmly in Biden's coalition, seemingly close to "Doctor" Jill herself. But now Sleepy Joe is gone and doesn't have the stroke to protect his coalition members. It seems that Kamala was key in pressuring Cheatle to resign - Kamala is constructing her own coalition and needs to show the world that she's the one with stroke. Also, she needs the assassination story off the front pages, so this kills two birds with one stone. Plus, it opens up a position in the bureaucracy that she can dangle in front of people she wants to join her coalition. It's a threefer.
Exhibit B: The Far Left coalition is throwing its weight around, rioting in Washington's Union Station and the Capitol, and tearing down and burning American flags:
Sansour was direct. She warned the Democratic Party might lose the Muslim and Far Left votes in November. “Let us be clear. Our votes are still to be earned.”The dynamic here will be familiar to Europeans, looking at smallish but influential parties like the Greens. Sarsour is looking after her own coalition, trying to maintain the money and plum positions she can offer to supporters in return for their support.
I think I need to update my list of the coalitions in the Democratic Party's ongoing civil war:
- The Bidens (fading fast)
- The Clintons
- Nancy Pelosi/Gavin Newsom
- The Obamas
- The Far Left
All of these are jockeying for power right now. We will see a lot of seemingly random events transpiring between now and at least the Democratic Convention that are anything but random. They are about power and coalition building - and tearing down an opponent's coalition.
Quite frankly, that last is the Democrat's biggest problem - none of these factions really like each other very much. The best that you can say is that they see the other factions as useful to their goal to get and keep power. As more and more backstabbing occurs (as it must, there's only a month to the Convention and the time to strike is now or never), there will be less and less loyalty that they can count on from other factions after the convention. 90 days from then to the election doesn't give a lot of time to rig the results.
That will take a deep level of commitment, which will be really, really hard for them to achieve. So enjoy the infighting. It will be going on for a while yet.
UPDATE 25 JULY 2024 11:53: This would be inexplicable without thinking about rival factions jockeying for position inside the Democratic Party:
House Republicans and six Democrats voted on a resolution condemning President Joe Biden and his border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, for failing to secure the border.
Which faction(s) do they support? Well, not Biden's or Harris'.