By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
Your silence will not protect you. – Audre Lorde
Local Democratic leaders, like a groundswell of those across the country, are getting scorched at town halls, rallies and community forums. Surprisingly, the heat is coming not from political opponents but from their base, the very voters who helped put them in office.
That frustration is boiling over in Lucas County, where grassroots organizers, residents, and disillusioned supporters and allies demand more than “polite politics” from their leaders.
At a recent Democratic town hall in Lucas County, a room packed with over 100 people came to demand answers. “We’re looking for leadership. You better get up off your ass and do something,” as one attendee passionately put it.
It wasn’t a joke.
It was a warning to politically complacent Party leaders who, like the biblical character Lot’s wife, looked back with divided loyalties rather than urgency after being told to leave a burning city behind and move forward to safety. The scriptural account indicates that at a critical moment that called for bold action, Lot’s wife became irrevocably frozen, petrified and stuck.
Can divided loyalties cause Party leaders to become permanently disengaged and indifferent to the needs of supporters who have, for too long, unquestioningly accepted whatever the Democratic Party promotes and thus doom a political relationship?
If so, the local town hall was a last-ditch effort to reignite political leaders’ passion and purpose by those who feel taken for granted by what they deem as a Party desensitized to their needs.
Specifically, Democratic leaders are being challenged for “playing it too safe, too quiet, too middle-of-the-road.” Without question, Toledo voters haven’t watched closely enough or demanded better, but now, like many others, they are calling out what they see as complacency masquerading as strategy.
For example, Judge Nicole Khoury, a Republican who has publicly allied herself with LGBTQ+ and equity organizations, has come under fire for attending and supporting right-wing political events and candidates whose platforms directly threaten those very communities. “We see you, Nicole,” one protester’s sign read at a recent demonstration outside a Republican fundraiser. The grassroots translation is: “We peep you out here playing dress-up with the movement, fronting like you care, but the community is watching, and no amount of feel-good work will erase where you stand when it matters most.
Yet, the backlash coming for Democratic officials is not just about Trump. It’s about a failure to meet the moment. It’s about a Party—and, in many cases, a generation of leadership—that has grown so complacent in its relationship with its constituents that it feels comfortable violating its partner’s boundaries and has ceased considering their concerns.
But it’s not just Khoury. Longstanding, beloved Democratic leaders like Rep. Marcy Kaptur are no longer immune from criticism. Community voices are starting to ask hard questions of all the Democratic Party leaders: Where have y’all been? Why haven’t you pushed back on misinformation? Why have you allowed power to corrupt without resisting with more vigor? What does loyalty to the Party establishment mean if y’all don’t show up when policies threaten our kids’ education, school lunch funding, our community’s health, or our fundamental rights?
The parallels to the growing movement around the nation are hard to miss. We are tired of leaders who try to please everyone and ultimately stand for no one.
In Arizona, constituents demanded their Democratic senators “fight dirtier” in the face of Republican aggression. In Maryland, voters called out Rep. Glenn Ivey for lacking Mitch McConnell’s strategic toughness. In Nevada and Illinois, voters asked their elected officials what the plan was—not in the future, not next election cycle, but now.
What is clear in Toledo and around the country is that people are fed up with political leaders who are more afraid of rocking the boat than responding to the people who put them in their seats. They are done with those who stay silent while Ohio legislative leaders talk about defunding school breakfasts and passive while rights and programs are being gutted in real-time.
One frustrated observer remarked, “We’re going to find out who is where. You’re either with us or against us. If you’re going to walk with Republicans and take cover while the community burns or walk down the middle of the road hoping no one notices, don’t expect to be carried like a champion of the people.”
Although local and national media coverage has been sparse, the grassroots have spoken and are keeping receipts. The sentiment on the street is that there’s no longer an appetite for lukewarm politics in the face of white-hot policies. The voters want action — not performance. They want someone willing to stand up, even if the outcome isn’t guaranteed.
Lot’s wife looked back to what was comfortable instead of ahead and, because of her divided loyalty, was transformed into a pillar of salt.
Let that be a warning. The people of Toledo and across the nation are moving. Who’s moving with them, and who’s being left behind?
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at drdlperryman@enterofhopebaptist.org