Aaron Huertas: The fact that it’s elected officials who think panic texting reporters is their best way to influence other people in the party also points to some deeply problematic structural issues they also don’t seem interested in addressing.

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The fact that it’s elected officials who think panic texting reporters is their best way to influence other people in the party also points to some deeply problematic structural issues they also don’t seem interested in addressing.

I wonder what their inspiration is. A lot of them seem to think the pundits are just their buddies

They want to be seen as the savvy insider so they can get a job in media. Republicans want that also but they do it through party discipline (so they will always have a seat on Fox News) while Dems want to stand out (by all saying the same anti-party message).

To horribly over generalized, Democrats think pundits are their friends, Republican me know pundits are their marks.

Yup.

But I just read a quote in Axios from an anonymous Democratic congresswoman who wants to parachute Gretchen Whitmer in, and much like @gothamgirlblue.com, I'm just kind of amazed at Democrats who understand so little about their own party. 2/2

Biden isn't congestion pricing, Dems can't just get rid of him on a whim.

The time to leak these stories was, like, a year or two ago. The fact that nobody was giving anonymous stories about how Biden is not there well enough to run again makes me think that last night was an outlier. I simply don't believe that the Dems are that cohesive and on-message

or he is in worse shape now

Do they even want to influence other people or do they just enjoy the ego boost of being on the reporters’ speed dial.

Or do they just want to vent their spleen? Either way I don’t think they’re actually considering how to proceed, they’re just reacting emotionally.

There is no “structure.” There is no “Democratic Party” or “The Democrats.” There is the DNC, and that is a fundraising operation, nothing more nothing less. And that revelation came to me via a prominent, successful Democratic elected who felt compelled to disabuse me of my childish notions.

Panic texts by Dem operatives to the media are a symptom of a larger structural problem: Dems don't have a unified comms operation & Republicans do. Dems who aren't in contact with each other will each say an independent hot take. GOP operatives march in lockstep, even if they're not in contact.

It's not just operatives here: it's elected officials. In my experience, operatives have been begging for a more unified structure for years. Elected officials -- and big funders -- don't want to put in the effort to create one since it would disrupt existing power structures.

I suspect that's definitely true. For Democrats, there are much stronger incentives to defect (e.g., getting goodies by "moderating" or otherwise undermining the party).

Yeah, assuming no context whatsoever, would it be great if one of 3-4 D governors had been the nominee in waiting since about April? Sure. Do any of those elected officials or strategists think that's what happened?

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