There’s compelling evidence that voter disaffection with the Biden administration’s failure to confront Israel’s war on Gaza played a role in the Harris presidential campaign’s devastating loss in 2024. Polling data establishes that groups central to the Democratic Party’s base — young voters, voters of color and self-identified liberals — didn’t turn out to support Harris in 2024 in the same numbers that had for Biden in 2020.

These disaffected voters, however, have coalesced in 2026, supporting several Democratic progressive challengers who’ve ousted congressional incumbents across the country. While some victorious challengers self-identify as socialists, many do not. What most have in common is opposition to continued U.S. military assistance to Israel. In fact, the electorate’s negative attitudes toward Israeli behaviors in the occupied Palestinian lands, U.S. support for Israel, and the role of pro-Israel groups attempting to silence critics are so widespread that even some incumbents joined the critics to buttress their campaign electoral chances.

In the wake of these developments, a slew of articles have asked, “What will the Democratic National Committee do now to change its support for Israel and win back disaffected voters?” While the sentiment is understandable, it’s born of a misconception about what the Democratic Party is and what it can do.

First, it mistakenly assumes that the Democratic Party is a policymaking body providing direction for party members and candidates. But the party governs only its internal affairs and runs the delegate selection process for the quadrennial national convention.

Despite this limited role, there’s a persistent misconception that the DNC operates like European political parties in a parliamentary system which define policies and enforce internal discipline. In the U.S,. candidates run largely on their own, controlling budgets and staff, and defining their own policies.

Then there’s the role of money in our politics… Independent of the national party, entities like the Democratic congressional and senate campaign committees raise money to support candidates. And SuperPACs and “dark money” entities — funded by wealthy donors who aren’t required to report their contributions — make independent expenditures on behalf of candidates. The amount of money raised and spent by these entities combined far exceeds the money raised and spent by the party itself.

The recipients of money raised by party-affiliated entities, SuperPACs, dark money funds and individual campaigns are largely a few Democrat-leaning consultant groups who spend  billions on advertising, polling, digital messaging and even usurping roles once played by state and national parties. As receivers of donor largesse, they stick with conventional wisdom. They’re risk averse, out of touch with the electorate and as driven by profits as by electoral results.

The Democratic Party’s new chair has been attacked by some (including consultants and donors) because he doesn’t view the party as simply a conduit funneling money to consultants and has instead directed record amounts to building state parties.

With this background, it’s wasted energy to protest against the DNC for the 2024 failure or to change Middle East policy. The DNC isn’t the problem — or the solution. The problems are the consultants and big money funding their work and the candidates whom they advise and elect.

Nevertheless, as we’ve seen, change is coming and it’s being led by Democratic voters — who’ve defeated incumbents that maintained the failed pro-Israel policies of the past. Abdul El Sayed’s defeat of a pro-Israel, establishment-supported congresswoman backed by over $70 million in SuperPAC and dark money expenditures, and other similar victories, sent a clear message that change is afoot.

Making Middle East policy isn’t the DNC’s role, so calling on the party to pass a resolution on the issue is misdirected and wasted effort. Far more consequential are the victories of Brad Lander and Abdul El-Sayed. That’s where real change will occur. And energy ought to be focused on continuing these electoral victories.

And if Democrats want to push the DNC, here’s some suggestions for areas where the DNC can make changes:

• Campaign finance reform to get big money out of politics and eliminate the corrupting role of SuperPACs and dark money in elections
• Support for the DNC chair’s efforts to focus more resources on building state parties instead of funneling money to consultants 
• A resolution supporting the 40 (out of 47) Democratic senators who voted to curtail some forms of military aid to Israel.

– Dr. James Zogby is the founder and president of the Washington based Arab American Institute (AAI)