Things are happening across the USA that I would never have predicted to be possible five years ago. I'm left wondering if this is a signal that the attitudes of Americans have changed or that political classes have misread the situation. Here are a few examples of what I am considering bizarre events:
1. Every Democrat in the Senate voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide treatment to living babies who survived a failed abortion attempt. The idea that the party as a whole would vote against babies is astounding to me.
2. The House Democrats just pushed through a bill that approves of having illegal aliens vote in state and local elections. I realize that the Dems favor unrestricted immigration and open borders, but giving the vote to illegals rather than just to citizens seems incredible.
3. The Democrats are busy pushing their Green New Deal program that in the next ten years ends air travel; restricts car travel; ends consumption of meat, cheese, and dairy products; requires the rebuilding of every structure in America; ends the use of coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and even hydroelectric power across the country; and provides a guaranteed income even to people who are unwilling to work. Almost every Democrat candidate for president in 2020 has endorsed this plan.
4. The Democrats and again nearly every Democrat candidate for president has endorsed some version of Medicare for All which would end private health insurance for 180 million people; throw between 2 and 3 million people out of work; bankrupt a great many hospitals; dissuade people from entering medicine as a career; and certainly end Medicare as the nation's seniors now know it. The Democrats spent the last 40 years accusing Republicans of wanting to "end Medicare as we know it" and here they are doing just that.
5. The Democrats are endorsing Socialism for the USA instead of Capitalism/Freedom. The most strident supporters of this move won't even condemn the socialist government of Venezuela where Socialism has destroyed that country's economy, led to mass starvation and now led to the collapse of the country's infrastructure.
6. The Democrats are so strong in their support for open borders and unlimited immigration that they actively attempt to undermine enforcement of the current immigration laws on the books. Sanctuary cities and states run by the Democrats go so far as to work to protect known criminals and gang members from deportation. They also oppose measures that would streamline the system for deportation of illegal aliens convicted of serious criminal acts.
7. A big chunk of the Democrats have accepted and now protect anti-Semitic views. This is more than a disagreement regarding Israeli policy; these Democrats are active haters of Jews. The idea that a political party would, in essence, endorse bigotry is astounding.
8. In foreign affairs, the Democrats make clear that their operating principle is just to oppose whatever President Trump does. When the President announces a pull out from Syria of American forces now that ISIS has been defeated, the Democrats complain. When President Trump later amends that plan to leave some Americans at bases in Eastern Syria, the same Democrats complain. When Trump confronted North Korea early in his presidency, the Democrats screamed that it was a major foreign policy mistake; Trump should be negotiating, they said. When Trump met with Kim Jung Un and negotiated, the Democrats screamed that it was a mistake to negotiate with Kim. When the latest meeting in Hanoi ended without a deal, the same Democrats screamed with glee that Trump had failed and he shouldn't have negotiated with Kim. In short, no matter what Trump did, the Democrats said it was wrong and they made clear that they wanted him to fail.
9. Regarding trade policy, the Democrats also made clear that no matter what Trump did, it was wrong. For example, Trump said that NAFTA was a disaster and he wanted it renegotiated. Democrats complained that Trump was risking a wonderful trade deal with Canada and Mexico because he didn't understand how trade worked. When American negotiators worked out a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that made very substantial improvements which benefit the USA and American workers, the same Democrats complained that the new agreement was not good enough. So they professed their approval of the old NAFTA deal, but when Trump got a much better one, they said it wasn't enough and threatened to reject it.
There's so much more. I didn't even mention the attempted lynching of Brett Kavanaugh or the endless BS of the Russia investigation. The point, however, is that the Democrats have taken all sorts of positions and done all sorts of things that would not have even been considered five years ago.
I wonder what effect this is having. We can look at polls. President Trump's approval numbers in national polls are about where they've been for a while. There was a dip during the partial government shutdown, but that was gone by the State of the Union speech a month ago. That really doesn't tell the story, though. Frequently, when there is going to be a shift in the views of the public, it manifests itself in questions about issues. For example, after the Democrats supported letting a child born in a failed abortion just die without treatment, later polls showed a major shift in public support towards the pro-life position and away from the pro-choice one. The attention that Democrat support for infanticide got move some people. If that shift remains in place, it will likely cause some people to shift towards voting for the Republican and against the Democrat.
I don't doubt that there is a huge part of the Democrat party that supports each of the items listed above. That's not really the issue. The questions are 1) whether or not there is also a large part of the Democrat base that is horrified by one or another of these positions, and 2) if there is a majority of independents who are upset by these positions. If there is 20% of the Democrat base that finds these positions unacceptable (for example, if Jews who are reliably Democrat don't like the party's new anti-Semitism), then the Democrats will either lose those votes to the GOP or to Howard Schultz or maybe these folks just won't vote. Similarly, if the strident leftism and Trump-hatred from the Democrats leads independents to conclude that the Democrats cannot be trusted to govern the nation, then it will be a big win for the GOP. In the election last November, the Democrats won the House by running candidates who professed to be moderates rather than extreme leftists. For 2020, the Democrats are following a totally different plan. Will America accept this? I don't think so, but we will have to wait to see if the new far left, anti-Trump strategy works or if it leads the Democrat party over the cliff to oblivion.
1. Every Democrat in the Senate voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide treatment to living babies who survived a failed abortion attempt. The idea that the party as a whole would vote against babies is astounding to me.
2. The House Democrats just pushed through a bill that approves of having illegal aliens vote in state and local elections. I realize that the Dems favor unrestricted immigration and open borders, but giving the vote to illegals rather than just to citizens seems incredible.
3. The Democrats are busy pushing their Green New Deal program that in the next ten years ends air travel; restricts car travel; ends consumption of meat, cheese, and dairy products; requires the rebuilding of every structure in America; ends the use of coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and even hydroelectric power across the country; and provides a guaranteed income even to people who are unwilling to work. Almost every Democrat candidate for president in 2020 has endorsed this plan.
4. The Democrats and again nearly every Democrat candidate for president has endorsed some version of Medicare for All which would end private health insurance for 180 million people; throw between 2 and 3 million people out of work; bankrupt a great many hospitals; dissuade people from entering medicine as a career; and certainly end Medicare as the nation's seniors now know it. The Democrats spent the last 40 years accusing Republicans of wanting to "end Medicare as we know it" and here they are doing just that.
5. The Democrats are endorsing Socialism for the USA instead of Capitalism/Freedom. The most strident supporters of this move won't even condemn the socialist government of Venezuela where Socialism has destroyed that country's economy, led to mass starvation and now led to the collapse of the country's infrastructure.
6. The Democrats are so strong in their support for open borders and unlimited immigration that they actively attempt to undermine enforcement of the current immigration laws on the books. Sanctuary cities and states run by the Democrats go so far as to work to protect known criminals and gang members from deportation. They also oppose measures that would streamline the system for deportation of illegal aliens convicted of serious criminal acts.
7. A big chunk of the Democrats have accepted and now protect anti-Semitic views. This is more than a disagreement regarding Israeli policy; these Democrats are active haters of Jews. The idea that a political party would, in essence, endorse bigotry is astounding.
8. In foreign affairs, the Democrats make clear that their operating principle is just to oppose whatever President Trump does. When the President announces a pull out from Syria of American forces now that ISIS has been defeated, the Democrats complain. When President Trump later amends that plan to leave some Americans at bases in Eastern Syria, the same Democrats complain. When Trump confronted North Korea early in his presidency, the Democrats screamed that it was a major foreign policy mistake; Trump should be negotiating, they said. When Trump met with Kim Jung Un and negotiated, the Democrats screamed that it was a mistake to negotiate with Kim. When the latest meeting in Hanoi ended without a deal, the same Democrats screamed with glee that Trump had failed and he shouldn't have negotiated with Kim. In short, no matter what Trump did, the Democrats said it was wrong and they made clear that they wanted him to fail.
9. Regarding trade policy, the Democrats also made clear that no matter what Trump did, it was wrong. For example, Trump said that NAFTA was a disaster and he wanted it renegotiated. Democrats complained that Trump was risking a wonderful trade deal with Canada and Mexico because he didn't understand how trade worked. When American negotiators worked out a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that made very substantial improvements which benefit the USA and American workers, the same Democrats complained that the new agreement was not good enough. So they professed their approval of the old NAFTA deal, but when Trump got a much better one, they said it wasn't enough and threatened to reject it.
There's so much more. I didn't even mention the attempted lynching of Brett Kavanaugh or the endless BS of the Russia investigation. The point, however, is that the Democrats have taken all sorts of positions and done all sorts of things that would not have even been considered five years ago.
I wonder what effect this is having. We can look at polls. President Trump's approval numbers in national polls are about where they've been for a while. There was a dip during the partial government shutdown, but that was gone by the State of the Union speech a month ago. That really doesn't tell the story, though. Frequently, when there is going to be a shift in the views of the public, it manifests itself in questions about issues. For example, after the Democrats supported letting a child born in a failed abortion just die without treatment, later polls showed a major shift in public support towards the pro-life position and away from the pro-choice one. The attention that Democrat support for infanticide got move some people. If that shift remains in place, it will likely cause some people to shift towards voting for the Republican and against the Democrat.
I don't doubt that there is a huge part of the Democrat party that supports each of the items listed above. That's not really the issue. The questions are 1) whether or not there is also a large part of the Democrat base that is horrified by one or another of these positions, and 2) if there is a majority of independents who are upset by these positions. If there is 20% of the Democrat base that finds these positions unacceptable (for example, if Jews who are reliably Democrat don't like the party's new anti-Semitism), then the Democrats will either lose those votes to the GOP or to Howard Schultz or maybe these folks just won't vote. Similarly, if the strident leftism and Trump-hatred from the Democrats leads independents to conclude that the Democrats cannot be trusted to govern the nation, then it will be a big win for the GOP. In the election last November, the Democrats won the House by running candidates who professed to be moderates rather than extreme leftists. For 2020, the Democrats are following a totally different plan. Will America accept this? I don't think so, but we will have to wait to see if the new far left, anti-Trump strategy works or if it leads the Democrat party over the cliff to oblivion.
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