It can be fun watching a train wreck, as long as it’s someone else’s train. We’re seeing one right now within the Democratic Party. They’re driving their train right off the cliff in slow-motion, “Thelma and Louise” style.
Reporting on far-left candidates cropping up across the country, The Associated Press observed Saturday that “Democratic socialism [is] surging in the age of Trump.”
On the same day, BuzzFeed News quoted Democrats referring to the far-left politics of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as “the future of the party.” As proof, they point to Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., last month in a primary.
Since her victory over the number-four House Democrat, other Democrats have been falling all over themselves to “out liberal” one another.
Leading party figures have called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as handing out drivers licenses, state ID cards, and even granting voting rights to illegal aliens, all the way up to promoting open borders.
Then there’s the free stuff. Ocasio-Cortez demanded “Medicare for all” and “tuition/debt free college and trade schools,” while denouncing “corporate $” (she wasn’t clear whether that referred to corporate welfare or corporate profits). She also wants to more than double the federal minimum wage — from $7.25 to $15.
Not to be outdone, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced the Rent Relief Act, which would offer tax credits to disadvantaged wage earners (those earning less than $100,000 per year) and who pay at least 30 percent of their income in rent.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to ask your banker for some financial counseling?
Even former President Barack Obama went off on a socialist rant last week, blasting wealth and income inequality and those who live in overly-large homes.
“There’s only so big a house you can have,” he told a Johannesburg, South Africa, audience.
After his speech, he flew back to his “$8.1 million eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half bathroom mansion in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world,” according to The Daily Caller.
This is all reminiscent of the 2010 and 2012 U.S. Senate races when Tea Party candidates were trying to “out conservative” one another.
2010 ushered in Nevada’s gaffe-prone Sharron Angle, Delaware’s inexperienced Christine O’Donnell, and Colorado’s controversial remark-ridden Ken Buck.
Two years later Missouri Republicans selected Todd Akin as their Senate nominee, while Hoosiers put their money on Richard Mourdock.
All five were easily defeated in the general election.
Now we’re into 2018 and the gaffe-prone Ocasio-Cortez is at it again, and her colleagues seem to neither notice nor care.
After her less-than-stellar performance on PBS’s “Firing Line” a week earlier, she joined fellow Democratic socialist Sanders Friday to boost Democrat Brent Welder’s efforts to unseat Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas.
“Hello, everybody! So excited to be here on Sen. Sanders’ account and we’re here in Kansas City to rally for Brent Welder,” Cortez said to the camera, with Sanders grinning like the Cheshire cat in the background. “We’re gonna flip this seat red in November!”
Red? They’re working for the Republicans now? OK.
What’s more surprising is that Sanders didn’t appear to notice — he continued grinning for the camera and even posted the video to his Twitter feed, where it remained as of Saturday night.
“Here in Kansas City with @Ocasio2018 to support @BrentWelder and flip this seat in November,” Sanders tweeted along with the video Friday.
By Sunday afternoon it was deleted.
Adding more problems for their party, ten Democratic senators are facing re-election in states won handily by President Donald Trump in 2016. Of those, five are considered most vulnerable, according to The Hill —Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia.
Democrats from those states aren’t likely to swing as far to the left as their brethren in more secure states. In fact, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin remarked that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., could “kiss my you know what” in response to a call for party unity.
For some reason, the problem Republicans faced in the 2010 Senate campaigns didn’t extend to House races. That was the year then-President Obama got his “shellacking” and the House flipped to the GOP.
Nonetheless, repeating the GOP’s 2010 mistake isn’t likely to help them this year — it’ll just make their train run over the cliff that much faster while everyone watches the wreckage with fascination.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He’s also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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