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The hardest lesson for the left-liberal spectrum to absorb is that winning one election, even the White House, while important, is less so than winning the war and building a coalition and a national machine capable of winning consistently at the local, state, and federal levels.
The Democratic coalition is inherently diverse, but unfortunately, whites with no skin in the game otherwise have always felt free to stay home, agitate, and flirt with third parties and cults of personality rather than protect the coalition and its interests as a whole.
Conservatives are unlikely to harm straight white men, after all, and in fact serve their interests frequently, and so white radicals, moderates, and so-called allies have predictably splintered into niche factions opposed to the Democratic Party and its more vulnerable members.
The white radical, whatever his ideology may be, feels he is being strong-armed by the Democratic Party machine and the need to serve its interests on behalf of the entire coalition because he places his ego, ideological purity, or whatnot above everyone else's well being.
White people aren't the only ones who do this, of course, nor is the Democratic Party all wise, all knowing, or immune to criticism by any stretch of the imagination, but you certainly can't expect to steer the party's ideological direction from outside of it in any case.
More to the point, if you're the kind of "ally" whose vote or cooperation is conditioned on the party and coalition's adherence to an ever shifting goalpost position, you're not actually interested in "progress" so much as control, which is mighty white and male of you.
Obviously, we can't stop you from being an asshole, but you will never get what you want either.
The GOP is extremely effective because its members vote in lockstep to protect white, male, Christian supremacy in this country even if individuals and factions don't always get their way. They are well organized and well funded from the local school board to the presidency.
It's a useful lesson. We shouldn't be just like Republicans, of course. We can't by virtue of our sheer diversity. That said, Democrats and the Left have almost universal agreement on liberal-progressive policy principles but we keep killing ourselves over the details.
Socialism versus capitalism is just noise. It's theoretical, academic. IT DOESN'T MATTER. It's absurd that we spend so much time having that argument when everybody wants basically the same thing: better jobs, better wages, better healthcare, a better standard of living.
I could level the same charge at any stupid policy disagreement of the past 10 years. Single-payer versus Obamacare, for example. How we get there doesn't matter, particularly compared to whether we can do it in the first place, and we can't unless we win elections. Lots of them.
You will never achieve transformative progressive policy until you win the courts, legislatures, and executive offices across the nation and hold them for a generation, at least. Sitting on the sidelines sulking about your preferred candidate or policy is fucking worthless.
No one election, no one candidate is going to save this country or single-handedly change the course of history. A progressive messiah who is friendless in Congress, the courts, and state legislatures is doomed to failure.
