The Observation Deck

Once upon a time, Lakewood had a two party system: Republicans and Democrats. The existence of two viable parties allowed for healthy debate, and provided a system of checks and balances.
As many of us can recall, the GOP disappeared in Lakewood in the late 1990s and 2000s. The national GOP drifted toward being an extremist, rural, and openly bigoted party....this made the Republican brand unsellable in Lakewood. In the past 20 years the only GOP win was Ryan Demro in Ward 2 in 2003.
Some of the local GOP (most notably Mike Summers) simply brought their corporate ideology over to the Democratic Club, where it met with an eager audience of neoliberals like Fitzy, Bullock, etc. Others simply started backing whichever Dem was "most Republican".
The result has been a one-party town dominated by big business interests. Republican Mike Summers and his pals seized control of the Dem party machinery, and are likely to cling to it for the foreseeable future. Much like the national DNC, the Lakewood and Cuyahoga County Democratic Machine is focused on fundraising and electioneering....not actual policy matters.

Is it possible for a second party to re-emerge in Lakewood?
There are three possibilities:

1. Resurrection of the GOP: The rise of Donald Trump pretty much destroyed any chance of this. Trump's reign of ignorance and loud bigotry will stain the GOP brand for at least another generation. (Note that I said "Loud Bigotry".....Lakewood's preferred style of bigotry is "quiet". see: Pit Bulls, "those people", etc). It's pretty much impossible for me to picture a Republican being elected in Lakewood, Cleveland or Cuyahoga County-wide for the next 20 years or so. Frankly, why should the GOP try......guys like Summers and Dan Gilbert are already using corporate Dems as puppets, so what's the point of running?

2. Rise of an existing third party: I tend to doubt this will happen......the Green Party has been around for decades, but has never gotten its act together. Theoretically, it should have been able to get people elected in very blue parts of the country by now.....but it hasn't. The Libertarians are now too closely identified with the GOP to gain traction in this area.

3. A split of the existing Democratic Party: We're already seeing the sharp divide between the progressive, New Deal Dems (which tended to support Bernie) and the neoliberal, "Republicans that support abortion and don't hate gays" brand of Democrat that currently dominates our City Council. Naturally, all these officeholders instinctively backed Hillary in the last primary....because incumbents are drawn to power.
The divide is widening on a range of issues.....the Q Arena has drawn the same contrast in Cleveland that the hospital issue did here in Lakewood.
The CCPC has grown tremendously over the past year, as more an more folks are turned off by "politics as usual". However, CCPC is not a party.....it works to advance causes.

Should local progressives explore setting up their own separate party? Would that be good for Lakewood and/or the county?
I'm curious to hear what folks think.

These are deep issues, I think, likely in a lot of cities as more people are drawn to living in a community with similar political leanings. As well as the substantial number of people who eschew any party affiliation, but usually still confront a field of candidates who align with one of the two traditional parties…

I'm probably the wrong person to suggest organizational alternatives for them. With Mike's permission, though, I will use this thread to post a couple of notes about the Lakewood Democratic Club.

For any who recall the club declaring last year that some members were not welcome, that decision was the subject of internal controversy and, in the end, withdrawn. At least one of the affected members is now chairing a committee, in fact, and I see others at meetings. Meanwhile, I have been open about my dissatisfaction with aspects of the group—and I'm now entrusted with charge of our formal communications. (Along with my irreplaceable co-chair, Paige.)

On that basis I can say: we want people to take interest, attend, feel welcome to participate. Drop by a meeting (I'll post details elsewhere, but this month's is Thursday the 25th). Join up with the new book club if that interests you; it's open to all. Hit us up with a question, lkwdohdemclub@gmail.com.