Must-read from McClatchy DC: “The Democratic Party is a mess”

From McClatchy’s DC bureau, and David Lightman:

The Democratic Party is a mess.

One group of party leaders sees 2014 as simply a bad year, requiring just some tweaks. Others regard 2014 as a disaster and want an overhaul, and fast.

Leading the tear-it-up side are liberals, the party’s most loyal constituency. They’re angry because they saw no clear economic message pledging to help people with middle- and lower-class incomes.

“The first thing the party has to do is stand for something,” said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal activist group...

...Then there’s the South, where Democrats were crushed last month. Getting even a quarter of the white vote was a struggle in most state races.

“The national Democratic Party is just too liberal for us,” explained Richard Harpootlian, a Columbia, S.C., attorney and former South Carolina Democratic chairman.

Read more here.

This story was originally published December 10, 2014 at 11:12 AM.