Elected Democrats at local, state and federal levels would be wise to pay close attention to what is happening to the Republican Party. It is coming apart at the seams and imploding on itself because voters are not just angry but they are completely fed up with politicians and politics as usual.

They are fed up and they are doing something about it. What they are doing about it might not be the right thing to do – personally, I find what they are doing to be quite scary – but politicians have forced them into action.  They have forced them into action because they have continued year-after-year and election cycle-after-election cycle with the same old worn out, run-of-the mill politics; smiling at both the everyday American voter and big money constituents but only listening to the voices of the latter and acting on their wishes while ignoring the voices and wishes of the former.

This is a phenomenon that has already caught up with the Republican Party and is in the process of destroying it, and it will succeed if the Republicans do not immediately take intervention measures, but it is lurking at the doorstep of the Democratic Party. One would think that elected Democrats would learn from the Republican Party’s dilemma and begin to make any required changes now.  However, not only is there no guarantee that this will happen but because most politicians seem to have become so brainwashed from practicing boilerplate politics, the odds would suggest that it is more likely that it will not happen.

Under these circumstances the odds would suggest that elected Democrats will eschew the opportunity to learn by way of a vicarious lesson and be forced to learn by personal experience. They will likely be unable to come up with a workable balance between their big money constituents and the everyday American voter so they will opt for their big money constituents.  They will then count on their charisma and the sleek ads that they purchase with the money that they receive from their big money constituents to charm everyday American voters and get their votes.

They will be unable to accept that this does not work until they experience what the Republican Party is now experiencing. Is this a cynical way to think?  Maybe.  Is it an unreasonable way to think?  No.  As a matter of fact, I hope that this will not occur and that Democrats will take the vicarious route to learning this particular lesson.

To be fair, it is hard to blame politicians for choosing this route with the way that our election system is set up. This system can only be changed with the insistence by voters that it be changed and with their help to assure that it is changed.  As I have mentioned many times before – and will continue to mention for as long as it takes to get the attention of voters and move them to act on this issue, we need to stop assigning such a small value to our collective power as voters.  We have been subliminally trained to do this by those rich and powerful constituents who do not want us to recognize and exercise that power.

During the recent Democratic debate, Senator Bernie Sanders asked the question as to whether or not we want to be a nation run by the people or one run by an oligarchy consisting of the rich and powerful. It is obvious that we are not an oligarchy but a democracy.  But in order to assure that we do not operate like an oligarchy we should always exercise our right to vote.

It is important to note that not all of those who are rich and powerful are trying to suppress the power and input of those who are not among their ranks. And it is just as important to note that the large majority of those who are not rich and powerful are not opposed to the rich and powerful.  The fact is that many of us would someday like to be counted among their ranks.  The point is that we all should have an equal voice in our democracy and that the majority should prevail.

Regardless of the actual outcome of the interesting occurrences that are taking place during the current Democratic and Republican debates, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents we must continue the march forward as everyday American voters to assure that big money constituents do not have an outsized influence on our elected officials; we can do that by way of voting. And always remember, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis