Can Democrats Stop Fighting Amongst Themselves And Unite Already?

Time for the party to get behind a single platform and go all-in on it

The Democratic Party needs to decide who it wants to be.

That doesn’t mean everyone has to agree on every issue. It doesn’t mean progressives and moderates and independents need to suddenly become best friends. It doesn’t even mean one side is necessarily right and the other is wrong.

But at some point, the party has to consolidate behind one direction, one message, and one platform, (and eventually, one candidate).

Republicans did it with Trump. Put all their differences aside and got him elected, twice.

Democrats are still fighting one another on everything. Do we go to the left on healthcare? The right on culture? Do we endorse the unproven outsider with forward-thinking policies or the establishment candidate who promises more of the same?

I myself have trouble knowing who or what to root for these days because there is no leadership at the top. No unified message. It’s a chaotic free-for-all.

And if that continues, it’s going to hurt us when it’s finally time to unite behind a nominee in both the midterms and the general.

Take Israel, for example

As a Jew spending time in New York City, I can honestly say that I do not find the politics of today particularly scary or antisemitic. I don’t want to diminish the experiences of other Jews who feel differently, but that has been my experience.

That said, I do think there are antisemitic supporters who have attached themselves to candidates on the left, just as there are antisemitic voters on the right.

That’s a separate issue, though.

What’s become clear, however, is that Israel is one of the core issues driving elections on the left.

Who can condemn Israel the strongest? Who will vote against funding Netanyahu’s war?

That feels like the key barometer for a lot of voters—as was demonstrated last night in NYC’s primaries, where the 3 Mamdani-backed candidates who condemned Israel won their elections, defeating and unseating incumbents like Dan Goldman—who led efforts to impeach Trump BUT supported funding for Israel (kiss of death).

Think about that

If New York City—one of the Jewish capitals of the country—showed up to support candidates who condemned Israel more than they did to support the face of Trump’s impeachment—that’s a data point.

And it’s obvious that whoever eventually becomes the Democratic nominee will be asked about Israel over and over again. Debate stages. Podcasts. Interviews. Town halls. Social media.

If a candidate can’t articulate a strong position against funding Netanyahu’s war, or speak out against what Netanyahu is doing in Gaza, they won’t hear the end of it.

There are of course separate national security reasons for funding Israel—but if I’m being honest, it’s just too damn complicated for lay voters to understand. And it’s too hard to ignore what Israel is doing to justify funding them for national security alone as a campaign strategy.

The challenge is finding someone who can navigate the nuance: someone who can criticize Netanyahu’s government while unequivocally condemning antisemitism.

Whoever can walk that line will be in a really strong position.

Beyond Israel, though…

There is another divide, and it’s killing the Democratic Party.

On one side, you have the more traditional faces of the party: people like Chuck Schumer, Amy Klobuchar, Hakeem Jeffries, the Clintons/Obamas/Bidens—figures who have become synonymous with the Democratic establishment and status quo.

On the other side, you have the progressive wing: Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mamdani (who can’t run for prez but holds a lot of political clout), and Graham Platner (campaigning in Maine, growing a cult-like following).

Then there are Dems who seem to sit somewhere in between—Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Ro Khanna, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Jon Ossoff. (Not too old, not too young, not too progressive, not too moderate, experienced but not necessarily establishment-establishment).

Moderates feel safer and more familiar to voters but more milquetoast. They struggle to inspire people.

Meanwhile, the progressives generate more excitement, enthusiasm, and are more authentic—but also feel more radical.

If anything, it’s the radical supporters that left-wing candidates attract that scare people more than the candidates themselves. Fringe left supporters’ rhetoric is extremely off-putting, but on the whole, I think we share more in common policy-wise with the candidates than we do with some of their fringe supporters.

The answer?

The answer is probably not pretending the different tribes don’t exist.

The answer is figuring out how to eventually hash it out and bring the factions together to pool votes.

Because if Democrats spend the next years primarily fighting one another and spending millions against each other in primaries, Republicans and Fox and right-wing media will happily take advantage of it—divide and conquer theory.

Time to consolidate and start campaigning

Voters across the left-wing spectrum care about basic things.

They care about rent.

They care about grocery prices.

They care about healthcare.

They care about corruption.

They care about whether their tax dollars are being spent responsibly (Israel, Iran, etc).

Recently I’ve found myself asking more often than almost anything else: Where the hell do all of my tax dollars go?

We pay enormous amounts in taxes, yet healthcare remains expensive, rent remains expensive, tuition remains expensive, homelessness runs rampant in major cities.

If you ask the average person if they see an ROI on their tax dollars, I’d guess the answer is no.

My answer is no.

I’d rather have my taxes make healthcare and housing and education more affordable—instead of blowing that money on another war.

That’s why I think any future Democratic candidate needs to be relentlessly focused on affordability, corruption, and corporate influence—and whether they like it or not—a stance against Netanyahu’s Israel (which is tied into corruption and affordability).

One more thing…

The anti-Trump lane was effective in 2020 but it didn’t work in 2024. And it’s working even less in 2026.

George Conway who ran for Congress in NYC spent all of his ads and messaging about how he will stick it to Trump if he wins—and he lost by a country mile.

We had our chance to arrest Trump for his crimes. We failed because Merrick Garland had no balls, or was corrupt. State prosecutors were way too late to charge him.

That ship sailed. It proved how corrupt we are. If anything, that failure to hold Trump accountable for his crimes lost Democrats some credibility in the eyes of voters.

Trump aside…

At some point, voters need something they’re voting for—not just something they’re voting against.

And when Democrats finally decide who they are, they need to stop fighting each other and rally behind a single vision.

Sending billions to bomb Iran, or billions to Israel to bomb Gaza, makes no sense to me. In the same way blowing millions on a reflective pool or a ballroom makes zero sense to me.

Making housing and healthcare and groceries more affordable, those things make sense to me.

If Dems can’t come together on these things, we’re going to keep having the same arguments while Republicans keep winning elections.

Frankly, I just want to beat MAGA. And we can’t beat MAGA if we’re split into two parties.

Let’s put the differences aside and unite already. It’s time to win.