The Democratic National Committee is collapsing under the weight of its own failures. The party’s national operation has just $14 million in the bank, while Republicans are sitting on more than $80 million. That money gap is not just a temporary embarrassment, it is a massive disadvantage as the midterms approach.
The shortfall comes from years of mismanagement. Kamala Harris’s failed campaign left the DNC buried in unpaid bills. Legal fees tied to Joe Biden’s scandals have drained even more resources. Donors, both large and small, are abandoning ship. Many who gave heavily in 2024 say they watched their money get burned through in record time with nothing to show for it. Grassroots enthusiasm is almost nonexistent, and the party’s supposed leaders have done nothing to inspire confidence.
At the center of the mess is Chairman Ken Martin. Elevated earlier this year to clean up the wreckage, Martin has already been branded “irrelevant” by party insiders. His small-ball strategies and half-hearted messaging have done nothing to stop the bleeding. A recent DNC video he pushed on X barely cracked a thousand views, underlining just how little influence the party has left.
The financial collapse has been matched by political division. For a brief moment, Democrats turned to David Hogg, the activist brought in to energize young voters. That experiment ended in embarrassment. Hogg, once hailed as a future star, proved incapable of raising money or bridging the party’s internal fights. Instead, he inflamed divisions between progressives and moderates, left donors cold, and eventually had to be replaced due to insane DNC rules about diversity in party leadership. His short tenure showed how desperate the DNC had become, elevating an untested activist when what the party really needed was an experienced leader with vision.
When Martin took over from that failed experiment, expectations were low. But even those low expectations have not been met. Leaked audio showed him admitting early in his tenure that “no one knows who the hell I am.” That line has come to define his time in office. Far from unifying the party, Martin has made himself invisible. Talk of a no-confidence vote swirled at the summer meeting in Minneapolis, but it fizzled before reaching the floor. The whispers alone, though, revealed just how little faith Democrats have in his leadership.
Some Democrats cling to history, pointing out that the party’s finances also lagged after Donald Trump took office in 2017, before Democrats rebounded in the 2018 midterms. But today’s situation feels very different. This time, the DNC is weighed down not only by the normal opposition-party slump but also by crushing debt, internal feuds, a failed Hogg detour, and a chairman who has failed to rally anyone.
Meanwhile, Republicans are unified and flush with cash. They have the money, the message, and the momentum. Democrats, by contrast, are broke, divided, and led by someone even their own insiders call irrelevant.
The bottom line is clear. The DNC is in disarray. Its flirtation with David Hogg was a disaster, and its current chairman inspires no confidence. Until Democrats find both money and credible leadership, the Republican advantage will only grow.
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