A poll from The New York Times and Ipsos recently found that the voters see the Democratic Party as prioritizing issues that are not priorities in their own lives. That view was only likely reinforced this weekend in the selection of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Democratic Party. The Democratic leadership doubled down on the very issues identified by the Times as leaving voters disassociated from the party. As someone raised in a liberal Democratic family in Chicago, the continued emphasis on identity politics and far-left policies is bizarre and baffling.
The New York Times published a story titled “Most Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities” that notes:
Asked to identify the Democratic Party’s most important priorities, Americans most often listed abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and climate change, according to a poll from The New York Times and Ipsos conducted from Jan. 2 to 10.
The issues that people cited as most important to them personally were the economy and inflation, health care and immigration, the poll found. The kinds of social causes that progressive activists have championed in recent years ranked much lower.
That was evident from the start of the DNC election, highlighted appropriately by an MSNBC host.
Notably, Kamala Harris is reportedly consulting with Hillary Clinton on how to address her defeat. It was a telling turn since Clinton seemed to blame everyone from James Comey, self-hating women, Russians, Bernie Sanders, and misogynists for her defeat. That comes after many of us noted that Harris was re-running the same Clinton campaign with identity politics at the forefront and refusing to answer questions on key issues.
It appears that Harris is not the only one relying on the Clinton handbook for spinning defeat with more identity politics. At the outset, MSNBC host (and Washington Post writer) Jonathan Capehart asked who “believes that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris’s defeat.”
Every single candidate declared that the election was indeed the result, at least in significant part, of “racism and misogyny.” That included Marianne Williamson, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, DNC Vice Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democrat party Chair Ben Wikler, former Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Nate Snyder, and Newton, Massachusetts Democratic City Committee executive member Jason Paul.
Not one noted that Harris was an awful candidate who refused to do anything other than the most favorable, controlled interviews. Even James Carville (who predicted Harris would defeat Trump) had an increasingly rare moment of clarity after the election. Carville called for a moment of “honesty” and said “We ran a presidential election, if we were playing a Super Bowl, we started our 7th string quarterback. That’s what happened, okay?”He added that it would have helped to have a presidential candidate who could “actually complete a sentence.”
Even the outgoing DNC chair Jaime Harrison declared last week that it was a mistake to go with Harris and that they had a better chance just sticking with Joe Biden despite his obvious mental decline. That is brutal.
However, it went from bad to worse as critics lampooned the DNC as becoming a parody of itself from a singing pitch for Chair to an explanation of gender rules that left many perplexed.
The DNC then elected a chair in Ken Martin, the longtime leader of Minnesota’s far left Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, who demanded for Trump to be tried for treason after the Russian bounty controversy (which was contested by the Trump Administration).
They then added David Hogg, 24, as Vice Chair, a far left advocate who previously called on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and for the defunding of police. Hogg’s selection is particularly curious after an election where immigration proved a major issue favoring the GOP. Hogg has also called the NRA a “terrorist organization.” His reason for the NRA designation? January 6th: “The NRA needs to be designated a terrorist organization for the role their supporters played in staging an insurrectionist coup.”
The Democratic Party has become a ship of fools. I previously worked Democratic campaigns from Ted Kennedy to Mo Udall to many Illinois candidates. The party was truly a party of the middle class with centrist values, including support for free speech. It cannot seem to break from identity politics as its primary focus and reason for being. Worse yet, it is “reimagining” the 2024 election in a way to keep reality within a comfort zone.
Many of us want to see a stronger and more centrist Democratic party. Yet, there is an irresistible impulse to push the same button despite every indication that it is a really bad idea:
The irony is that MSNBC’s host led this effort by asking every candidate to attribute the loss in part to racism and misogyny. The ratings of MSNBC and CNN cratered after the election and Fox routinely exceeds both networks combined in audience figures, including the coveted 25-54 demographic. Yet, Jonathan Capehart wanted to start with a group homage of identity politics. When everyone replied robotically in the affirmative, Capehart replied “That’s good, you all passed.”
Indeed, they did, but that was hardly the test.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
The Democrats are finished, and not a minute too soon. But the Republican party, once opportunistically calling itself the party of the Constitution and free speech, is heading down a similar path with Trump’s recent executive order making it legally dangerous to criticize Israel or the genocide currently taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. So much for free speech. Let’s stop fooling ourselves with partisan nonsense. No power on earth will allow free speech when free speech collides with its political agenda.
It is not “legally dangerous” to criticize Israel. That is an ignorant position of what Trump said. Likewise, it is naive to say Israel is committing genocide. The Hamas Constitution demands genocide of Israel and the Jews, but some anti-semites can’t get straight on that fact. The number of Gazans has more than tripled, yet some think they are being killed off and near extinction. They need to go back to school.eyer
S. Meyer
Wrong.
The Hamas constitution does not call for the genocide of Israel.
You are lying.
It does, and I previously provided the parts that detail the murder of Jews. Why are you a non-thinking person who is unable to check for himself.
You are a non-thinking person who knows nothing about most things this blog discusses. You are too ignorant to remember the portions of the Hamas charter quoted on the blog, which makes you worthless. However, if you can extract your head from your a$$, I may explain these things.
Where have you been? The metamorphosis of the Democrat Party has been underway for the last fifty plus years. It really began when the Democrats linked arms with the anti- war movement and the radical groups of the late sixties. It didn’t take long for leadership of those groups to become the core elements of the modern Democrat Party. We are witnessing the fruits of that political dalliance of 1968 today. Didn’t you see the train coming? We tried to tell you.
Actually, the Democratic party started to deteriorate when Bill and Hillary Clinton swung it towards big donors and dumped the working class. “Identity politics” was the Democrats’ way of banishing any talk of “class.” Those who gripe that the Dems are “communists” are idiots. You don’t have communism without a class analysis or a class-based party. What the Dems are is worse than communism — it’s liberal fascism.
Spot on!
let’s go back to woodrow wilson and his “progressive” ideology and his socialist crew working with him, and let’s not forget FDR and all of his socialist ideas (my pet peeve is the WPA that ruined traditional American art) and then there was LBJ and “The Great Society”. Tail gunner Joe was right all along and the left media/dems surely shut him down before they were exposed. Hillary was an acolyte of saul alinsky need we say more about that and then there was obama’s fundamental transformation from what? our constitution to socialism? I honestly don’t understand just how blind or willfully ignorant were the republicans (except for Reagan and Barry Goldwater that come to mind)
Jonathan is so sad that the Dems have left him. I have been a life-long Conservative. There have been tectonic shifts in politics in fifty years. So, I get his headshaking over the issues in his beloved party.
I don’t want to see a stronger and more centrist Democratic Party. I want to see them burn their house down with them in it so we can collect over the ash heap, sweep it up and dump in the Sewer where it belongs. They need to start over both with their people and their policies or just go away.
The Dems need to learn from Trump on how to change to build a base. Trump hijacked the Republican party, kicked out Reagan conservatives, appealed to voters on the basis of a fear of transgenders and migrants, and promised new cars and riches.
Not quite. Trump seems to have alienated some of the country club Republicans, some of whom became Never-Trumpers. The Reagan Republicans who joined the GOP in 1980 have a deep kinship with their blue-collar cohorts that Trump has recruited to the party. I have trouble understanding “fear of transgenders,” unless you mean the mad-persons who have shot up schools and public places recently, I thought it was the Democrats who promised free stuff. Or perhaps you were just blowing off steam.
Only a prog viewing his world through the lens of hatred for our founding fathers would make such a statement as yours, but being an indoctrinated tool, I suppose you can’t help yourself.
I want to see the Democrats get destroyed in the Midterms. That would be contrary to historical patterns, but all midterms don’t go against the President’s party.
Election integrity would have to be addressed and enhanced. What we have now is a mess. Photo voter ID and cleaning up/narrowing absentee/mail in ballots would go a long way to achieving your wish for Midterm elections.
Yes, the DEM’s are a Ship of Folls lead by the radical left/corrupt leadership etc/ They have not learned their lessons will remain out of power until they move back to the center and shed themselves of the current leadership as well as the old leadership of Pelosi. Schummer, Obama, Clintons etc. along with the radical left winf of their party led by AOC and Raskin. Dabid Hogg a Vice Chair give me a break, yes a Ship of Idiots.
Professor Turley just can’t accept that the party has left him. It left Governor Reagan in the 60s,it left me in the 70s, it left the workers who were called Reagan Democrats in the 80s and by now it has left a majority of working Americans.
The party screams (almost literally screams) that they are the party of the working class as they support (or supported up until recently) defunding the police, abolishing ICE, having your daughter compete against boys and change with them in locker rooms (the party STILL supports this), fighting deporting illegals, even illegals that have committed other crimes (they still support this fight), mandating EVS (Still support), many support hamas over Israel, cashless bail for violent guys that commit crime after crime, the climate grift etc etc.
The Democrat party is turning into an elite, effeminate, snobbish, wealthy (or very poor inner city), coastal party.
I agree totally. But the Republican party has also left most of its core Reagan/Bush conservatives. It is no longer for free trade. Under Reagan, if you complained that China took your factory job making HVAC parts, a conservative would have asked you, “Why don’t you have any skills or education to do any better than unskilled factory labor?” And they would have pointed to your local community college and said, “Go put in the work.”
Today’s Republican says, “It’s China’s fault that you didn’t pay attention in class and make something of yourself.”
Net net is, we have two parties that both suck balls. Fractionally, half the country voted against the populists and half voted against woke.
“. . . left most of its core Reagan/Bush conservatives. It is no longer for free trade.”
Reagan imposed tariffs and quotas on Japan and on various European countries. Bush did so on steel imports.
Tariffs are economic suicide. But that’s not an excuse for butchering the history of conservatism.
That is not a Conservative position. That is a globalist position (of which HW was eyes deep). China undercutting hard-working Americans with stolen IP and cheap labor may go over well with the Chamber of Commerce Americans, but Free Trade that isn’t Fair Trade is not a Conservative principle.
The dem party is no longer filled with rational people, but has been taken over by members of a cult. Just like Islamic jihadis, they will adhere to the cult at any cost. Like suicide bombers, they will make the ultimate sacrifice rather than cede any ground to the “infidel” – ANYONE representing ANYTHING apostate to their belief system. They are irrational, just as any other religious/ cultural sect that is repulsed by “the other” and their anger/fervor increases with resistance to their goal. These are dangerous people blinded by a false ideology.
I did an actual spit take when I saw David Hogg. What in the actual hell are they thinking? The absurdity and clownishness of the modern dem party is thrown into starker contrast with every passing week. The grown ups are in charge? This kid was literally in junior high school ten years ago. Madness. Absolute madness. I have long thought the dems would fracture, now I think they might simply implode.
This is the same party that has placed the nephew of lewis farrakhan at the head of the democrat side of the house and thinks no one will find that connection disturbing. Hell, they even have a delusional dude pretending he’s a girl sitting in congress – what does that tell you about their grasp of reality
Farrakhan isn’t his uncle. His uncle is a different r@cist: Leonard Jefferies.
“I did an actual spit take when I saw David Hogg. What in the actual hell are they thinking?”
It isn’t his youth that is a problem, it’s his radical progressive/Marxist political beliefs. On top of what Prof. Turley cited, Hogg is a rabid, diehard, 2A opponent. That’s OK, though, I look forward to successful GOP midterms, and the election and reelection of J D Vance as POTUS in 2028 and 2032. The irrational way the Demons are reacting to their defeat makes that all nearly inevitable, absent the formation of an actual viable opposition party that can appeal to what voters really want.
Perhaps. But I’m skeptical.
What Democrats have going for them is they are not committed to any enduring principles. That gives them the flexibility to adapt. They are not the Federalist Party, Whigs, or Bull Moose – all of whom died rather than change their principles.
Think about it. We all know the history. The Democrat Party was pro enslaving black Americans. They were pro segregation. They built the KKK as their terrorist arm literally to kill Republicans and blacks. They were proud racists who ran political campaigns around promoting and marketing their explicit racism because there was a market for racism. Being explicitly racist was the source of their power.
Then in the late 1950s/early 60s it all changed. That was when it became crystal clear to Democrat leaders that the country’s values had changed and there was no longer a market for their explicitly racist politics. Almost overnight Democrats began marketing themselves as THE Party of civil liberty for black Americans. Which is exactly 100% opposite of how the party had been in the 150 years prior.
Democrats could do that because they only cared about power, not principles.
========
Over half a century after the “civil rights revolution” I think it borders on insanity to have a political strategy around calling the country you want to voter for you a bunch of racists and misogynists. But that appears to be the strategy Democrats have chosen.
But history suggests it is too early to light a candle for the Democrat Party. The only principle they are wedded to is winning elections at all costs. If the current strategy causes them to lose another election or two, history suggests they will change.
Also worth noting, the collectivist governing philosophy of redistributing economic resources based on politics combined with the perpetually expanding bureaucratic welfare state were championed by Democrats. That enables the federal government to confiscate over $4 TRILLION from taxpayers EVERY year. With that much at stake, there is no way Democrats are going the way of the Whigs.
You said, “But history suggests it is too early to light a candle for the Democrat Party. The only principle they are wedded to is winning elections at all costs. If the current strategy causes them to lose another election or two, history suggests they will change.”
Absolutely! Remember, 75 million people still voted for Kamala, after the fraud of Biden being sharp as a tack. After the inflation. After the support for child sexual mutilation. After the invasion of millions of illegal aliens.
I bet you that after the LA fires, the Democrats win the next election there.
James
You couldn’t write this comic calamity of disastrous and laughable characters if Barry the bronzed one issued a Netflix contract for it!
The players: David Hogg, AOC, Ratshita Talib, Jamie Raskin, Pencil neck Schiff, Jamie Harrison and more! What a winning team of brain power in this Chix w dix and ethnically diverse cast of Democratic Woke characters production! Stay the course Boys, girls and in betweens, stay the course! 🤣
@Traveler
Indeed. We have only begun to take the reins back, and if we do not remain vigilant, the midterms could be a disaster. They really could, do not underestimate the power of propaganda. Stay the course with everything you’ve got, because we actually ARE the ones on the way out, and there can be no passing of the torch. At least as of yet. IF we stay the course, and we must.
I hate it, but younger millennials and gen z will very likely be lost generations. We will be taking care of them into perpetuity whether we like it or not, because they simply can’t make the leap to real adulthood. They really can’t. I have watched this phenomena for decades now, and we can’t just say to the parents responsible for it, ‘Shame on you.’. They don’t care, and the babying has only gotten worse, and yes, that applies to younger ‘conservative’ parents, too. It’s generational, not political; so we must neuter and nip that malfunction in the bud. Now or never.
I don’t know how Kamala ever passed the bar exam. She seems to lack any clarity of thought. I’d never heard the term “word salad” before the last few years, but she’s got it.
I listened to Pam Bondi in her confirmation hearing. Theoretically, Pam and Kamala have the same experience — both were AGs in large states for years. But Pam can answer questions. She is thoughtful and concise. She answered the actual questions in a straight-forward manner. I would love to see Kamala questioned in the same way — as a candidate, she evaded answering questions and giggled. And that’s what you think could run a country? You must be joking.
I’m not a Trump fan either, but he was the better choice. I hope.
sd is correct. The republicans relegated the democrats to one corner of the arena and made them defend that while the other three corners were being assaulted. The republicans made it clear that the public must view the democratic party as a party of weakness. The result of this weakness will be the takeover of the united states by foreign ambition. The general public its aware that foreign adversarial behavior is a real threat. It is. But you can’t convince the general public that you are the person that should be sitting behind that desk in Washington as the commander in chief of the armed forces and plead gender politics as your primary concern. The democratic party lost because they were relegated to weakness and never got out of the corner. The American populace will accept the personal vices of Donald Trump, and there are many, in exchange for protection. It became clear that the campaign of Kamala Harris was more concerned with personal pleasure that doing the tough job of securing the autonomy of this country. Even if she did have the ability to make the tough calls against formidable foreign adversarial governments it never became within view. Elections are about vision and people believe what they see. What the majority of Americans see now is that we are subject to the gradual erosion of national security. They chose Donal Trump to defend the home ground.
IQ 80
“Many of us want to see a stronger and more centrist Democratic party.”
Never going to happen — unless the centrist D’s root out the Hyde-like premises that allowed their monster to grow.
Start with collectivism. That’s what’s behind the D’s fetish with racial and gender identity.
Well said and spot on professor! I have been commenting on how the Democrats have doubled and even tripled down on the stupid and crazy further alienating moderate and traditional Democrats. They keep it up, they will continue to lose voters and elections. And thank you for pointing out the obvious: Harris was a lousy choice and her campaign was a disaster. Why the heck would she consult with Clinton about campaigning?
Well said Upstate.
Very well said indeed.
That may be the most well said comment that anyone has ever said well on this blog.
It may be the most well said comment ever said well in the entire history of well said comments.
Did I mention that is well said????
The moment of clarity from James Carville, acknowledging that Kamala Harris was not the right choice, will continue to be overlooked by Democrats. The failure is underscored by their decision to appoint David Hogg as vice-chair of the DNC, a polarizing one that significantly increases the likelihood of defeat in the 2026 midterm elections, a period typically favorable for the opposition to gain ground.
The Democrats seem to be stuck on Clapton’s Train to Nowhere, lacking the necessary introspection to change destination. So, democrats head into a repetitive cycle in the Twilight Zone, destined to repeat the same mistakes with the same outcomes.
hey fascists don’t give up…. We need to DESTROY the Democrat Party…2 Civil Wars…2 too many!
Could someone please remind me the definition of insanity??
Goo Goo
Econ: The definition of insanity is the repeated posting of TRUMP STILL SUCKS on a conservative blog when it appears to make no discernible difference.
TRUMP STILL SUCKS
Voice n Wild
Think of that as a winning blow!
Trump’s so far in their head they are delirious over his win! It should be viewed as the sprinkles on the ice cream or the Cherry on the sundae. Relish in it for it’s a good sign of their mental and emotional anguish. The best is yet to come, they can’t stop it now!
Someone asking for the definition of insanity.
It’ very satisfying to observe the D’s continue to make decisions that go a long way toward ensuring their demise.
The problem for America is that they would rather burn down everything rather than give up their ideology – these aren’t rational people.
Ted Kennedy? Well, we all do stupid things when we’re young and foolish. I voted for Jimmy Carter not once but twice, although the second time was more of a “pity: vote than anything else. Mo Udall? Some things are so stupid that it’s best not to bring them up. I note happily that you didn’t list Muskie.
“Ted Kennedy?”
Kennedy was 36 and a US Senator when his car drove off that bridge. That is a bit long in the tooth to be described as “young and foolish”. The latter term no doubt applied. It also doesn’t speak well of the intelligence of Massachusetts voters, but there are plenty of other examples of that, such that no additional corroboration is required.
He was truly a despicable piece of chit. The stories of his drunken antics in DC, his blonde in every pond vehicular homicide, his nephews rape case in West Palm. How could anyone continue to elect a piece of shit like that over and over, yet the Democrats continue to do it repeatedly.
NM, you were talking about your vote. Mea culpa. Sorry, skimmed too quickly to justify commenting.
No Number 6, I was not referring to Kennedy, but rather the young, idealistic Turley’s working on the campaign as being the “stupid thing”. Ted Kennedy himself was the lowest scum, of course.
Keep up the good work D’s. It is much appreciated by those of us on the right
Exactly what I was going to say—you must be brilliant!
It’s because it’s not truly the democratic party any longer. It is the Socialist/Marxist party now going under the Democratic Party mantle. You get in line or else.