Most of the protest news you see these days is either crowds of sore losers declaring that Donald Trump isn’t their president or paid activists shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline. But there are other protests which probably won’t attract as many headlines and they are taking place inside the ranks of the Democratic Party. One of them popped up at the Washington D.C. office of Senator Chuck Schumer, the man expected to replace Harry Reid as the Minority Leader. A sit-in was held to voice the protesters’ displeasure with the current direction of the party and demand that someone new take the lead. (am New York)

On Monday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office in Washington, DC got a visit from some uninvited guests.

Chanting and clapping, holding a banner reading “Schumer: Grow a Spine. Our Democracy is On The Line,” a few dozen progressive protesters occupied a portion of the office to urge Democrats not to cooperate with President-elect Donald Trump. And, they called on Democrats to move away from what they called corporate, Wall Street values — starting with the appointment of Sen. Bernie Sanders as Senate minority leader, instead of Schumer.

“Establishment Democrats failed to stop Donald Trump,” said Nick Martin, a former field organizer for Sanders’ presidential bid and organizer for the group responsible for the protest, All of Us 2016.

Wait a minute… I thought it was the Republican Party that was supposed to be fractured and in danger of disappearing from the map? But the established (or shall we just say establishment) leadership of the Democrats is now under fire from inside their own tent. We shouldn’t be too shocked to see Bernie Sanders’ name being floated for Minority Leader since he’s become the face of a party deep in the throes of buyer’s remorse over backing Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.

There’s something of a parallel between the questions over the Democrats’ Senate leadership and the DNC. I would hope that none of them are looking to install the scandal plagued and dishonest Donna Brazile as the permanent chair, but I’m sure many of the members were expecting to see an old, seasoned hand on the tiller in the mold of Howard Dean. But the unhappy rank and file members are now pushing to have Keith Ellison take the position and he’s officially announced that his hat is in the ring.

As we prepare to enter the 2018 midterm cycle I believe conservatives can only be heartened by these developments if they come to pass. What many Democrats still don’t realize is that this is a center right nation overall and one of the things which likely doomed Clinton (once you get past all the crooked activity, criminal investigations and scandals) is that she was pushed too far to the left by Sanders’ primary challenge and the demands of the so called “Elizabeth Warren wing” of the party. If the Democrats turn over the rings of power to Sanders and Ellison and they propose even more radically leftist policies they could easily lose even more ground two years from now.

I remember hearing many complaints about the GOP being a “regional party” of the South. The new reality as seen in the 2016 election map broken down by counties is that the Democrats are the regional party, representing a tiny but highly concentrated group of urban centers on the coasts and very little beyond that. So you go get your protesting gear on, guys. We’ll be over here with our popcorn and Big Gulps watching the show.