The debates roiling the Democratic Party, from the war in Gaza to how to discuss crime, were on full display during the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting this week.
Unable to resolve those disputes, some gathered here tried to shift the narrative. The ability to debate, discuss and disagree is a strength of the party, they argued, and part of what sets them apart from Republicans.
“There’s a division in my damn house and we’re still married and things are good,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 vice presidential candidate. “We can have our internal decision making, our internal healthy debates, but I refuse to believe we do not have the luxury to fight amongst ourselves while that thing sits in the White House.”
“That thing,” Walz implied, is President Donald Trump, whose aggressive second term has both roiled and, in some cases, united Democrats as they push back on his use of the military in American cities and efforts to redraw the US House map to benefit Republicans.
The question is whether the intraparty discussions are helping or hurting the party’s already diminished public brand, which has hit record lows in favorability.
A presentation on crime that emphasized a “serious about safety” message over a “tough on crime” approach drew criticism from moderates who’ve called on Democrats to stop using academic language in talking about public safety.
A vote to block a resolution to endorse an arms embargo with Israel was blocked in a committee, angering progressives who say the party is out of touch with voters on the issue. Supporters of the resolution said they plan to bring it up again Wednesday to the full DNC membership despite losing Tuesday’s vote.
“We will continue to fight for our voters,” read a petition calling on the DNC to support the proposal.
The meeting, in DNC Chair Ken Martin’s home state of Minnesota, comes nearly seven months after the former state party leader won a competitive race for chair. Since then, Martin has dealt with debates over how he’s spending and raising money, a neutrality clause that led to a feud with former DNC vice chair David Hogg over primary challenger endorsements, and questions about whether the party is meeting the moment.
The Minneapolis gathering is also a precursor to more potentially contentious discussions about which states will lead the 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar. The committee announced Tuesday that its rules and bylaws panel will meet next month to discuss and adopt a resolution creating a formal process for states to apply.
“Let me say this for everybody to hear: The presidential calendar process starts today,” Martin said Tuesday. “We will be holding a series of meetings this year. We’re planning for meetings throughout the fall and winter, and through the spring, to make sure that we have a rigorous, effective, and fair calendar process.”
During Tuesday’s rules and bylaws meeting, Martin introduced his reform plans, which increase the influence of state party chairs on key committees and limit the number of at-large members – appointed by either Democratic presidents or DNC chairs – allowed on those panels. His amendments, which will go before the full DNC for a vote Wednesday, also cement his decision to cede some power to members to elect some committee members.
Members also engaged in an extensive, and at times heated, debate over who should temporarily take over as party chair if the seat is vacant. The amendment ultimately failed.
Martin told members that he thinks the party has room for disparate voices.
“What I have always believed is the beauty of the Democratic Party is we are a big tent. We can agree to disagree,” Martin told members this week. “It doesn’t mean we’re not unified.”
Few issues have tested the party’s ability to have healthy debates as much as the war in Gaza. The split was clear throughout the 2024 presidential election, when pro-Palestinian activists called on allies to withhold their votes from the leaders of the Democratic party ticket over the Biden administration’s support of Israel. Progressives have argued the party’s stance – as well as the DNC’s refusal to allow a Palestinian speaker at the party convention – cost the party support among young voters.
The DNC’s resolutions committee considered two dueling visions for where the party should stand now: a proposal backed by progressives calling on leaders to recognize Palestine as a country and stop sending all weapons to Israel and another backed by Martin that echoed the party’s platform.
The resolution calling for Palestinian recognition failed, despite an attempt to amend it to only oppose offensive weapons and call for the release of hostages in Gaza. That amendment also failed.
Martin huddled with the sponsors of the proposal backing an arms embargo. Soon after, he withdrew his own to allow the debate to continue.
The chair then said he would create a task force to discuss the issue, dragging out the decision.
James Zogby, a longtime DNC member who said Martin’s amendment didn’t go far enough, praised the chair for allowing the discussion to continue.
“It was a politically smart and gracious move, because he’s chair of the party and wants to create unity,” Zogby said.
Allison Minnerly, a Florida DNC member who introduced the resolution calling for an arms embargo, said it was frustrating that DNC leadership was dividing the party from the large swath of the Democratic base that doesn’t approve of how the conflict is being handled. But she expressed optimism that activists would be able to push through changes they sought.
“If I’ve seen anything in Florida organizing as a young person, that when there are people on the ground that are willing to speak up, to stand up and to really organize, that we can see change, even if it takes a little longer than we want it to be,” she said.
Stephanie Beal, the Colorado DNC member who introduced the amendment, said she agreed with Democratic leaders who said debate’s part of a healthy process.
“My daughters fight more with each other than they do anyone else, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have each other’s backs,” she said. “You can have these discussions that seem argumentative or really high energy, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t your group, your family, who you love, who you support.”
The DNC isn’t just navigating difficult conversations within the committee, but with the party as a whole. The committee closed its opening general session with the presentation on crime messaging. The presentation urged Democrats to focus on a “serious about safety” message, over being “tough on crime,” amid Trump’s deployment of National Guard members to Washington, DC.
That argument was mocked by other Democrats online.
Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the centrist think tank Third Way, said Democrats risked further alienating voters by ceding ground on “tough on crime” rhetoric to Republicans.
“The bad news is the DNC seems totally lost,” Bennett said. “The good news is that doesn’t much matter, because they’re not really responsible for getting messaging out there. It’s not the job of the DNC. It never has been, and they’ve never been very good at it.”
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