What Does ‘Democrat’ Mean These Days?

Delegates wave signs for First Lady Michelle Obama during her speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Monday, July 25, 2016.
Delegates wave signs for First Lady Michelle Obama during her speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Monday, July 25, 2016. Mary Altaffer/AP
Delegates wave signs for First Lady Michelle Obama during her speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Monday, July 25, 2016.
Delegates wave signs for First Lady Michelle Obama during her speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Monday, July 25, 2016. Mary Altaffer/AP

What Does ‘Democrat’ Mean These Days?

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Before the Democratic National Convention even got underway Monday, things were already going a little off track for the Democratic party. After Hillary Clinton announced Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, we soon learned through Wikileaks that party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz had long favored Clinton as the party’s standard bearer and that she never thought Bernie Sanders had a chance. 

The news highlighted the divisions in the party between Sanders and Clinton supporters and showed, yet again, how email does not seem to be on the side of the Democratic party in this election cycle. So, what does being a ‘Democrat’ mean at this complicated time for the party? 

Morning Shift talks to Georgetown history professor Michael Kazin about the emergence of the American left, its influence on the Democratic party, and where the Democratic party stands at this moment in history.