Washington’s Democratic Party establishment keeps demanding that progressive members tone down their criticism of billionaire oligarchs and corporate autocrats. Why? Because the insiders want to rebrand the party as ideologically moderate. “Time to get serious,” they bark.

Two things: First, on the ideology question, I’m with Woody Guthrie: “Right-wing, left-wing, chicken wing,” he said. I think Woody meant that most workaday people don’t put 10-cents worth of faith in doctrinaire promises of political ideologues. Rather, they’re looking for honest answers to the old labor song: “which side are you on” – the bosses, bankers, and billionaires, or the rest of us?

Second, on the matter of seriousness, I find that both the Democratic party and the larger progressive movement have gotten way too serious. They’ve become lost in their latest 21-point plan, email “outreach” strategies, hourly fundraising targets, zoom meet-ups, and other digitalized corporate metrics of how-to-manipulate politics.

But wait – what is “politics?” My dictionary says it’s “The science and art of forming a community effort to seek and exercise power in public affairs.” Why would we try to make such a spirited, unifying, social pursuit into a rote, tedious, manipulative “game”? Instead, what if Democrats actually brought people together, not to recite pre-cut positions, but around community interests? And let’s create events that people (especially newcomers) might want to go to – mix the politics and issues with a little food, beer, and wine, live music, and… well, fun.

When I first ran for office, my lifelong co-conspirator, Susan DeMarco, came up with the perfect expression for such politicking. She said, “Let’s put the party back in politics!”

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