By Robert Buccellato

 The Democratic party is a large and fractured institution. To believe these divisions can be quickly mended by a balloon drop at a National Convention is profoundly naive. We are approaching an era when the parents vote for party establishment and the kids vote independently. The 2016 election was a revelation in showcasing how willing young adults are to vote against the Democratic nominee. Trump’s victory can be chopped up to the small margins of voters in the Midwest who voted green instead of blue.

The party is losing its way and the kids are losing their patience. Moderate and conservative Democrats who fought for civil rights are terrified of the notion that the election could be thrown away due to the pitfalls of Medicare for all. The under 40 crowd think  Biden would be nothing more than status quo, setting back important reforms for another decade.The party is losing its way and the kids are losing their patience.The only way forward is for the younger voters to become a bit more pragmatic and the older voters to be  more empathetic. Remember  our differences are in inches not in miles. Moderates and conservative Democrats are far more liberal than most moderate Republican counterparts. We all desire change and are endeavoring to work towards it. If the younger generations can only grasp the communal bond between all Democrats things can improve.

 Likewise older Democrats need to stop treating millennials as phone obsessed teenagers, the oldest member of this generation just turned 40. They are parents with jobs, often multiple jobs, and mortgages. They do not want free stuff, they want a healed social system and reformed economic landscape. Millennials  must accept that they have burdened themselves with a strict political dogma that must be more flexible. Generational acceptance and responsibility sharing will payoff handsomely.

The younger generations need room to grow, older generations must accept that it is the future’s turn to shape the present. But, the younger generations have to realize they still need guidance. Ignoring the economic realities of younger generations is not a winning strategy for Democratic elders. Voting Green or not at all, because a nominee is moderate will not create the new future Millennials desire either.

These steps forward are hard, owning up mistakes and flaws always is, yet the path to victory is going to lined with humility. Change needs to come and it may only come in inches. This maybe the last general election featuring baby boomers. The younger generations have to start acting like leaders. Democrats must heal their bloodlines and the electoral college will be a blue wall for a generation.