My father, who was old enough to have voted for Franklin Roosevelt, always described himself as a "Truman Democrat." That was a funny thing, because I know he voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. He was a pretty moderate guy, politically, and like a lot of people, he didn't pay too much attention to politics until a few weeks before an election.
America has millions like him. We forget that sometimes, being political junkies, but most people don't pay too much attention to politics year-round.
America also has millions who, like Dad, wouldn't recognize the Democratic Party of Harry Truman or Tip O'Neill. Dad, a father of three daughters and grandfather to eight granddaughters, would have been horrified at the notion that a boy cosplaying as a girl should be allowed to not only play on the girls' sports teams but to share their showers and locker rooms. Dad was adamantly for keeping control of our borders, and as for a couple of leftist radicals consisting of a young former bartender and a daffy old Bolshevik jetting around the country in a luxury private jet to bark about "oligarchy," would have even made my taciturn father vocally object.
As I said, there are millions like him, even today. Democrats used to appeal to them for votes, casting themselves as the party of the working man. They aren't that anymore; Trump Republicans have taken that mantle, and the Democrats are the party consistently on the 5 side of many 95-5 issues.
Take illegal immigration, a hill that Democrats seem willing to die on; an editorial from Issues & Insights has some cogent things to say:
A groundbreaking 2014 study shockingly concluded that “roughly one quarter of non-citizens” in the U.S. “were likely registered to vote,” and that “6.4% of non-citizens actually voted.” With 18.6 million illegal immigrants now residing in the U.S., that’s more than a million votes.
So are we cynical to think that’s why far-left Democrats now want even criminals and gang-bangers, including Abrego Garcia, to stay here? As we asked in our headline: “Do Desperate Dems Really Want To Die On Illegal Immigration Hill?” The answer, apparently, is yes.
We should note that the Trump administration is pushing for increased election integrity as well; another winning issue. Meanwhile, Democratic politicians like Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) are jetting off to El Salvador to slobber over a Salvadoran national held in a Salvadoran prison, while ignoring Patty Morin's heartbreaking testimony about her daughter's death at the hands of an illegal alien gang member.
They think this is a winning issue.
They think "transgender athletes" are a winning issue.
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They think that screeching out Marxist talking points is a winning issue.
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Could this near-sightedness be about to split the Democratic Party in twain? I think it's likely. I hope it doesn't happen; I'm a Republican, and I'd love to see the Democrats continue their current dissolution. But if a new center-left party were to arise, this is a likely time.
There have always been third (and fourth, and fifth) parties in American politics. The Libertarians have consistently been... present. Here in the Great Land, we have the Alaska Independence Party, which actually got a governor elected. But the last time a new major party formed was in 1854, when the Republican Party was created, in large part by anti-slavery activists.
We may see it happen again. The present path the Democrats are on is untenable. The party has an approval rating, according to recent polls, that lies somewhere between chlamydia and cockroaches. They've lost the middle. They are making no effort to regain the middle. Could the few remaining moderates form a new party?
Many may think this unlikely, but it's not impossible. A coalition of Susan Collins/Lisa Murkowski-style Republicans and Bill Maher/Joe Manchin-style Democrats might actually siphon off enough votes from both sides to relegate the Democrats to being a fringe, regional party, which is where they are headed in any case if they continue on their current course. The two-party structure, for many years, was center-left (Democrat) and center-right (Republican). The Democrats have abandoned center-left for loony-left. Being a partisan myself, I hope nobody on even the center-left figures this out, but we should be prepared for the possibility.
There may be an opening here for anyone with the stones to attempt it. I hear that the name "Whig" is available.
