Democrats are facing a time of choosing -- and it's not about Trump

The first Democratic presidential debates of the 2020 campaign provided a lot of material to absorb for the media and Beltway-chattering class. However, for most Americans who are busy going to work, paying their bills and carting kids around, the last thing they’re concerned with this far out from an election is a political contest with dozens of people straining for relevance.

A new poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 35 percent of Democrats were paying either “a good deal” or “a lot” of attention to the presidential campaign. According to a May Gallup survey, 30 percent of Americans identify as Republican, 38 as Independent and 31 as Democrat. So that’s 35 percent of 31 percent actually paying attention.

But the truth is more Democrats should start tuning in now, and it has nothing to do with President Trump.

It might come as a shock but not everything in American politics is a debate about whether you support President Trump. The question for Democrats to answer is not about any one candidate or even any of the social justice warrior issues that have dominated the discussion thus far.

It’s a simple, personal and profound question: If you registered Democrat in the pre-Obama era, do you still belong in the Democratic Party?