The Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election, lost the Congress, and effectively forfeited any influence they had on the Supreme Court. Many have been wondering how something like this could have happened and whether the Democratic Party can make some sort of comeback and save democracy in the U.S.

It seems likely that misogyny, racism, and MAGA’s radicalization of young men played some role in the Democrats’ losses. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) is also likely right that a good portion of the blame lies in Democrats' neglect of the needs of the working class, especially when attention to those needs amounted to little more than pandering.

Yet there is another factor that has been underestimated in the overall calculus of what went wrong and why the current Democratic Party will not save the U.S. from Trump and Republicans' embrace of MAGA fascism. In short, it’s the Democratic Party’s own undemocratic character.

The Democratic Party has doubled down on a losing strategy, and it has done this now publicly and shamelessly in the face of voters who recognize it for what it is.

In the 2016 primaries, the contest eventually narrowed to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In July of that year, WikiLeaks revealed that DNC insiders had been tilting the scales in Clinton’s favor. The DNC denied the report, but eventually then-Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned over the scandal. The aftermath? Wasserman Schultz was named an honorary co-chair of the Clinton campaign.

In October 2016, her replacement, Donna Brazile, also........

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