Here’s a question to consider: What the heck has happened to the Democratic Party?
You don’t have to be a political scientist to realize that Democrats have lost their way. It’s one thing to have ideological disagreements with the other side, but it’s something else to abandon not just traditional American values — but common sense itself.
Let’s start with their “basket of deplorables” mindset. Hillary Clinton said it out loud in 2016, but this apparently is how many Democratic elites see half the country. If you question their agenda, you’re not just wrong — you’re immoral.
Look at the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports. About 80% of Americans agree that biological males shouldn’t compete against biological females. Yet when the Senate had a chance to affirm this basic reality, not a single Democrat voted for it. Not one. They’re so terrified of their activist base that they’d rather ignore science — and the people who elected them— than risk being labeled "transphobic" on social media.
Then there’s the absurd reaction to the censure of Texas Congressman Al Green, a progressive Democrat, who brandished his cane and interrupted a formal speech to Congress by a sitting president, something that most Americans thought was out of line. But when the House moved to censure him, more than a few Democrats — including members of the Congressional Black Caucus— didn’t just defend Green, they turned it into a spectacle, marching to the well of the House and singing “We Shall Overcome.”
Really? That song, a symbol of the civil rights movement, used to defend a grandstanding politician? That’s not just tone-deaf — it’s just plain offensive. It cheapens the struggles of those who fought for real justice.
And then there’s the moment that exposed just how petty Democrats have become. It happened when Trump introduced a 13-year-old boy who had battled brain cancer and more than anything else, wanted to be a law enforcement officer. So Trump made him an honorary Secret Service agent. It was one of those rare moments in politics where partisanship should have taken a backseat.
Republicans stood and applauded. Democrats? They sat stone-faced. Democrats could have stood to honor a kid who beat cancer. They could have stood to acknowledge a moment of human triumph. But because it was Trump who introduced him, they refused. That’s not principled opposition — it’s petty and pathetic. Americans notice things like this.
For today’s Democrats, nothing matters more than hating Donald Trump. That, my friends, is a crucial point in all of this. Hatred of Donald Trump has become their go-to position on just about everything; it’s what energizes them. It’s what dictates what they say and do.
There was plenty for Democrats not to like about Trump’s speech, which was needlessly partisan. But he was right about at least one thing. “I look at the Democrats in front of me,” he said “and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. I can find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”
I suspect a lot of Americans watching that speech were nodding in agreement. I was — and I’m no fan of the president.
This is what the Democratic Party has become. It’s no longer the party of the working class, the middle class, or even mainstream liberals. It’s the party of coastal elites, radical activists, and professional outrage machines. And it’s so consumed with hatred for Trump and his supporters that it’s lost touch with most Americans.
Instead of coming up with fresh ideas to show why they’re a reasonable more rational alternative to Donald Trump, what they’re doing is showing anyone paying attention why he won.
Democrats think Trump is the enemy. But the truth is, they’re their own worst enemy.
When you filter out the the hard core Republicans and hard core Democrats, who are going to reflexively vote for the R or the D no matter who the candidate is, or what they may have said or done, there is probably about 20% of the electorate left.
Those are the people who actually decide elections. They are largely people who are either completely ignorant of politics, and couldn't be bothered one way or another to pay attention to political issues, or they are simply too busy working, raising a family, or taking care of life in general, to spend a lot of time thinking about politics.
In either case, this group of independent, swing voters makes their decision based on general impressions, rather than any detailed analysis of issues, or being programed by cable news or podcasts.
The general impressions are frankly, that both parties suck right now, and neither offer what most people want, which is economic stability and safety. So, the result is what we've been seeing - in each election cycle, the incumbent party gets a beat down. It's really as simple as that. Which is why it seems like a no brainer to me that despite all the valid points Bernie made in his column, as well as the many comments here - which I mostly AGREE with, the Democrats are going to easily win back the House in 2026.
They will argue, incorrectly, that their progressive message was what helped them win. But the truth is, Donald Trump is making sure they will win with his overreaching actions. I suspect he may even know this, and may not care, which is why he's trying to do everything in a few weeks through executive orders.
Pregnant person.
Latinx.
Chest feeding.
Biden is sharp, detailed and engaged.
Tepid condemnation of the killing of the CEO, followed by long discourses on how people can be driven to hate the CEO.
Minimal condemnation of the looting, damaging of abortion alternative centers.
Schumer issuing a threat against Supreme Court Justices, a reasonable way to interpret his comments pre Dobbs.
Men can menstruate and have babies, because transgendered men are as much men as biological men.
The border cannot be secured without new laws.
Who will pick the crops ?
The young ladies protesting biological men in their locker room are transphobes.
So many more......
Too often the matters we see above are either advocated by too many Democrats, or not condemned by too many Democrats.
Trump 47 came about because of the failure of Democrats to support sanity.