Democrats, rudderless, draw roadmap back to White House with primary picks

One of the most persistent, pernicious myths in politics is the idea that parties out of power have leaders anymore.

We’ve recently seen how a party with the White House can have nearly autocratic rule by a president or how a weak president can be done in by an insurrection. But a party without the presidency, especially with no majorities in Congress, is a rudderless ship.

That’s not to say that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer don’t have power in their respective chambers, just that it doesn’t go beyond that.

When analysts and politicos talk about “Democrats say” or “the direction Democrats are taking,” it is at best an effort to read the zeitgeist of some 70 million Americans who think of themselves as members of the party. It’s about as meaningful as saying “Yankees fans” or “dasch