I don’t know if you’ve ever attended a local Democratic meeting. I’ve been to a bunch, and my experience is a little different. Predominantly white and definitely reasonable but mid to upper five figures at most. Not wealthy, not friends of the wealthy. Teachers. Electricians. Insurance salesmen. Sears salespeople. Those were not just party members but also our elected Democratic officials until the Republicans gerrymandered them out or until they switched parties to stay in office.

The problem is that people who run the local and state parties want to be big fish, and their goal is to keep the pond small, rather than expanding the pond to defeat Republicans. It actually benefits them to lose elections. As you say, they’re not an opposition party. But they’re not the party of the fatcats either. They’re the party of inertia (which benefits the fatcats and harms the disadvantaged and disenfranchised of course). In spite of their control, it’s possible to change the system by outnumbering the big fish and replacing them with pro change activists. That will require a lot more work than casting a vote in the primaries and general elections. Once that happens, you reform the DNC and kick out its big fish. Then we can and will be a diverse party that effects justice for everyone.