The DNC’s Real Problem Isn’t the Right. It’s Themselves.
David Hogg, Vice Chair of the U.S. Democratic Party, on the verge of being ousted from his position for proposing reforms - 05/14/2025
The State of the DNC
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) continues to be its own worst enemy.
This week, Axios reported that the DNC is taking steps toward ousting David Hogg as vice chair. For those unfamiliar with Hogg’s background, he’s not just a political activist—he’s a Parkland school shooting survivor, co-founder of March for Our Lives, and one of the most principled and determined voices of my generation (Gen Z). He’s outspoken, direct, and what I would describe as a Reformer Democrat—someone who believes in reshaping the system from within rather than burning it down.
You would think someone like that would be celebrated, empowered, and protected by a party that claims to be the “big tent of the future.”
But no. Instead, the Democratic establishment once again shows us where its true loyalty lies: preserving its own power, not building a better party.
The Generational Problem
The party is still dominated by people who came of political age in a pre-internet, pre-Trump era. People who still believe bipartisanship with fascist-curious Republicans is a viable path forward. People who would rather slap a “Vote Blue No Matter Who” sticker on their BMW than listen to what working-class voters under 40 are saying.
The reality is this:
It is long overdue for Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to take the wheel.
We’re done waiting our turn while the DNC leadership continues to:
Pander to corporate interests.
Suppress grassroots energy.
Attack its own left flank with more urgency than it attacks the GOP.
The Democratic Party leadership—especially at the national level—still operates like we live in a “West Wing” episode, not the political horror show we’ve been living through since 2016. They behave as if we're in a pre-Trump world, where bipartisan handshakes, clever speeches, and moral superiority are enough to win hearts, minds, and elections.
But the rest of us are living in reality.
This isn’t the Aaron Sorkin fantasy where civility alone solves everything. We’re in the age of disinformation, creeping authoritarianism, and economic collapse for millions. And yet, the DNC’s decision-makers are still clinging to outdated strategies that presume good intentions on the other side of the aisle—strategies that lost us the courts, gutted voting rights, and nearly collapsed democracy itself.
Younger generations understand the moment we’re in. We know the stakes. And we’re tired of being led by people still playing political chess on a 1990s board while the rest of the world is in a knife fight.
David Hogg is just the latest in a long line of voices being told to sit down and shut up.
We Need a New Direction—Not Just New Faces
This is not about personal hatred for individuals. It’s about institutional failure and the willful refusal to pass the torch.
We need a Democratic Party that:
Elevates the Davids of this world, not exiles them.
Embraces the urgency of this moment instead of clinging to old strategy.
Treats its base like partners, not problems.
Because the longer we keep rewarding those who hoard influence, the more we alienate the very people who could save democracy: young, passionate, visionary leaders who don’t flinch in the face of real work.
The DNC is at a crossroads—and its leadership is steering the party in the wrong direction.
We’re done waiting.
Done asking politely.
Done pretending that “unity” means surrendering to the same outdated strategies that gave us Trump, gutted Roe, and handed over the courts for a generation.
If you push out people like David Hogg, don’t be surprised when the rest of us stop showing up for you—and start organizing around you.
If there’s any historical parallel to draw, it's this: the Democratic Party is beginning to resemble the political dinosaurs of the past—like the Whig Party in the 1850s, which collapsed under the weight of its own indecision, or Mexico’s PRI, which clung to power for decades until corruption and generational disconnect brought it crashing down.
At some point, you have to choose: evolve or expire.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the Democratic Party to stop trying to mirror the Republican Party of 15 to 20 years ago—safe, centrist, donor-approved—and start becoming what it was always supposed to be:
A true center-left party. Imperfect? Yes. Sometimes messy? Of course.
But one that actually reflects the hopes, fears, and values of the generations who are about to inherit it.
Because if you’re not building for them, what are you even fighting for?
