Typically Democrats are a lot better than Republicans at closing ranks and whipping votes. Republicans tend to be more independent thinkers and less afraid of bucking party leadership, whereas Democrats tend to be more okay with sacrificing their principals for the “greater good” (i.e. the party line). The Democrat infighting that occurred during the 2014 legislative session, however, completely bucked that trend. The Colorado Statesman explains:
Democrats continued to squirm over bad blood within their political family after several lawmakers on the left battled it out over controversial bills.
While the mainstream media attributes the Democrats’ infighting to their razor thin one-seat majority in the state Senate, that is only part of the story. While Senate President Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) is concerned with keeping her party in power, individual members were clearly more interested in grandstanding and making headlines.
But why?
It’s because Carroll has done nothing to breed loyalty among her own caucus or inspire them to believe she has what it takes to retain control of the Senate. The handful of Senate Democrats worried about losing their seats would have behaved better and listened to Carroll if they thought she was strong enough to help them achieve victory in the fall.
The infighting that marred Democrats going into the election is more about Carroll’s poor leadership skills than anything else.