The idea that Republicans hostile to President Trump should join forces with the Democratic Party is one that’s picking up a lot of steam these days. Unfortunately, most of the suggestions have logical missteps and the mischaracterization of the Democratic Party itself.
The latest suggestion is from Politico Magazine writer Bill Scher. He also attempts to make the case Republicans can get Trump out of power by aligning with Democrats to put forward a candidate who can position themselves in the center. Scher’s argument, however, falls apart rather quickly when he chooses to build off the narrative the Democratic Party is something it is not.
He writes:
The hesitation to switch parties is understandable, because the Democratic Party is not a conservative party. But for some anti-Trump conservatives, their reluctance is rooted in a distorted caricature of their rivals. They wrongly view the Democratic Party as a rotten cauldron of crass identity politics, abortion on demand and government run amok.
No, Bill. Their view of the Democratic Party is spot-on correct. Bill goes on to cherry-pick several examples of Democrats breaking with party orthodoxy on issues such as abortion. He mentions Rep. Bill Lipinski winning his primary race in Illinois, but what he fails to say is that powerful factions within the left wing of the Democratic Party wanted Lipinski out.
The Congressional leaders within the Democratic Party are a New York left-wing liberal and a San Francisco left-wing liberal. The current media darlings of the party are Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bill De Blasio and Maxine Waters.
The last vestige of the DLC version of the Democratic Party ironically enough was Hillary Clinton. That version of the party is long gone. There are no more Senate Democrats such as Sam Nunn, John Breaux, Lloyd Bentsen, Wendell Ford or David Pryor. What the Democrats have now are caricatures that run around calling for the abolishment of ICE, $32 trillion Medicare for all program, an unworkable $15 minimum wage, and yes, abortion on demand. If crass identity politics do not empower them, why did most prominent Democrats announce they’d vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court while making sure to note he’s white and male?
Ponder this as well: Have you noticed who is not speaking up about Trump’s reckless trade wars and tariffs? Democrats. Why? Because they agree with him on those issues. Why on earth would Ben Sasse leave the GOP to join with a party that has no interest in dealing with him and who agree with Trump on tariffs and trade?
It may be unfortunate that right now, many Republicans feel marginalized within their party as many have hopped on the Trump Train, more concerned with their short-term political survival than the long-term health of the GOP. But that doesn’t mean you hand over the sword to people who will happily use it to chop off your head the moment they no longer need your support.
Sorry, Bill. Your attempt to sell the Democratic Party as mainstream won’t work. People like Steve Schmidt may do it but then again, he’d make some nice coin running a presidential campaign for Howard Schultz. Schultz won’t win but it will definitely work out well for Steve.
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