The left is losing its grip on reality while the Democratic establishment screams in panic. They are so busy trying to kill the MAGA movement that they are ignoring the socialist insurgency growing right inside their own party. UnHerd’s Alicia Nieves argues that the “effort by the liberal establishment to undo populism” will only gain new life if Democrats regain control of Congress.
While national Democrats fret over their future, New York City is paying the price for radical ideology. Mayor Zohran Mamdani made his socialist vision clear in his January inaugural address, promising to “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” The result was immediate and deadly. A harsh winter claimed the lives of 20 homeless New Yorkers on Gotham’s streets shortly after that speech.
The Democratic Panic Over Populism
The Democratic establishment is in a state of sheer panic. They fear that the “MAGA revolution” may “become an enduring force in American politics that could outlast Trump himself.” They thought casting Trump as a villain would stop his movement, but that “narrative failed to stop his movement” as he has “institutionalized his populist revolt.”
Now the party is so “consumed with recovering its former authority” by fighting MAGA that they are blind to their own radicalization. They are overlooking the fact that the left has “lost its grasp on political reality” and “become incapable of formulating a convincing strategy for returning to power through democratic means.” Instead of winning, they are doubling down on policies that the public rejects.
Doubling Down on Transgender Policies
Culture critic Hadley Arkes notes that transgenderism has become the “tar baby for the Democrats.” It is a thing they cannot let go, even when it costs them dearly. The Biden administration sought to sweep away barriers to promoting transgenderism, and the Trump team has worked to reverse those policies.
Despite widespread public disapproval of promoting these ideas in all their forms, Democrats still fight basic efforts to scale them back. If they gain control of Congress, they will surely move at once against every Trump move diminishing federal support. “No power will overcome the willingness of the Democrats to fall on their swords on this issue,” Arkes writes.
The Extremists Have Won
For decades, the media has spun tales about a civil war pitting the center against far-left factions within the Democratic Party. But the result is obvious before all midterm votes are counted. The far left is the clear winner because the center did not hold.
Relatively moderate Democrats folded without much of a fight, allowing radicals to stake out positions beyond the pale. As New York Times reported on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, some on the far left attacking Israel “don’t represent the consensus of the party” as it seeks congressional control. Yet moderate leadership like Nancy Pelosi is leaving while radicals gobble up more ground. They hate Israel, want exorbitant taxes, and favor coddling criminals while swelling the size of government.
It would be comparable to appointing a pyromaniac as fire marshal to elect Democrats in order to tackle affordability.
This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
