Editors at Issues and Insights explore an interesting trend among Democrats.
In February, a bunch of centrist Democratic officials gathered in ritzy Potomac, Maryland, to complain that the party had become too radicalized and needed to “get out of elite circles and into real communities (e.g., tailgates, gun shows, local restaurants, churches).”
The response of rank-and-file Democrats? “Go left, young gender-fluid person!!”
This week, RealClearPolitics reported on a poll from Survey USA that found 74% of Democrats either want the party to be even more “progressive” (50%) or like it just the way it is (24%). Fewer than one in five wants the party to move toward the center.
Yes, some are trying to keep sanity alive.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom – who desperately wants to be president – has been pretending to be a moderate by inviting conservatives onto his podcast and saying things such as “the Democratic brand is toxic.”
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is warning Democrats that they “can’t be a party that believes in equity and allows two-thirds of your kids who can’t read.” He’s also said that Democrats have “sunk” their own party.
Democratic New Mexico District Attorney Sam Bregman is running for governor against the “radical Left.”
But this isn’t the 1990s, and there is no interest or appetite among Democrats in reviving Bill Clinton’s “New Democrat” corpse.
The party is now irretrievably in the grip of those toxic, party-sinking radical leftists. In the Survey USA poll, there wasn’t a single demographic group where even a plurality felt the party should be more moderate.
More than half of young, urban, college-educated, well-paid whites – the very people who make up the “elite circles” and will never venture into “real communities” – want the party to move further to the left.
Meanwhile, avowed socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are drawing big crowds and generating loads of fawning press for their “fight the oligarchy” tour.
