North Carolina Democrats now face Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches.
As a result, some long-time Democrat supporters are growing tired with Democratic policies.
Leftist groups like Occupy Raleigh have begun criticizing the Democrats — both local and national — citing a shift in the party toward more conservative policies.
Gene Messick, a member of Occupy Raleigh who moved to Virginia due to his dissatisfaction with North Carolina politics, believes the Democratic Party’s failure to gain North Carolinian votes is due to a lack of leadership and, consequently, voter turnout.
Failure to educate new Officers of their positions leaves new politicians without an understanding of the expected roles and responsibilities. They hope for reform of their party without clear knowledge of where to start.
Interparty issues often take root in power struggles and misunderstandings among issue pushers who aren’t familiar with the political process, Messick said.
“It’s the single purpose of the Party to elect those who will make decisions in Legislatures, Commissioner and Council meetings,” Messick said. “[Democrats] cannot get anyone elected because they’re turning voters off.”
Many voters consider President Barack Obama to be a centrist — between the Republicans and Democrats and always shifting. Messick believes the “center” is becoming more right-winged because of more conservative opinions from the Obama administration
“Obama continues to do things that no Democrat would even consider previously, like keeping multiple wars going . . . and like destroying the protections of habeas corpus for all Americans,” Messick said.
Both Republicans and Democrats have noticed dispersion and separation within their parties since the beginning of the century, according to Messick.
The Democratic Party contains social conservatives, progressives and socialists, while Republicans range from “core Republicans” to small-government Tea Party members, Messick said.
“My concern [about extremists] is that both are anarchists of the extreme fringes . . . tearing down based upon ideology, not changes based upon expressed real needs of citizens,” Messick said.