Will Democrats turn their back on their radical socialist agenda now that they must confront harsh legislative losses? Not likely.
There is much ado right now about how Democrats are reconsidering their messaging on ideas such as socialism and defunding police, with voices within the party arguing these movements contributed to striking losses in Congress and state legislatures on election night.
However, the party’s historical trend toward more overt socialism, not less, along with the growing influence of the far-left wing and the franticness to get their agenda through while they still hold the House, are all likely to push Democrats to hold onto their extreme platform over the next two years.
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Curiously, some of the most-well known figures on the progressive Left have tried to downplay the Democrat Party’s association with “defund the police” and socialism , including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who said on CNN’s State of the Union: “Not a single member of Congress that I’m aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election. These were largely slogans or they were demands from activist groups.”
Ocasio-Cortez added that “Republicans levied very effective rhetorical attacks against our party,” even though the congresswoman is an admitted Democratic-Socialist and a member of Democratic Socialists of America.
Then there’s Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who this year called to “completely dismantle” her city’s police department. She claims it is a “narrative” and “myth” that the radicalism of the party’s progressive wing cost Democrats in swing districts their seats.
“All of those members who are part of the progressive caucus who are also in those swing districts won their races or are on track to win their races,” Omar told CNN. “This myth that the Republicans are using to develop a narrative to start to create a wedge between Democrats is really something we can’t allow to stick and that narrative to get hold.”
However, Omar admitted that the “defund the police” push “complicated” several races.
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), whose endorsement of Joe Biden in the Democratic primary was seen as crucial to rescuing the former vice president’s then-foundering campaign, expressed skepticism about “defund the police” back in June. He expected the “slogan” would damage the Black Lives Matter movement and compared it to the “Burn Baby Burn” slogan of the Civil Rights era.
“We can’t pick up these things just because it makes a good headline. It sometimes destroys,” Clyburn said.
As the Free Beacon notes, prominent Democrats fully jumped aboard the “defund the police” bandwagon earlier this year amid the widespread Black Lives Matter riots and looting that arose following the death of George Floyd:
Earlier this year, progressive Democrats backed proposals to defund police departments across the country. In July, Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), both members of the far-left “squad,” endorsed a bill that would strip federal funding for police departments and disband several federal law enforcement agencies. Ocasio-Cortez, who has also backed efforts to defund police departments, said New York City’s decision to cut more than $1 billion in funding for the city’s police department in June did not go far enough, saying “the fight to defund policing continues.”
Democrats are currently on track to lose between 7 and 11 seats in the House of Representatives, which would make for the thinnest majority in two decades.
A rational mind would say that it’s time for a major shift in direction. But the progressive wing represented by the likes of Ocasio-Cortez and Omar isn’t rational. Blinded by emotion and ideology, they will continue to push for the communist paradise they dream of.
If President Trump ultimately triumphs in this election, and they see that their window of opportunity is limited before they potentially lose the Democrat House majority in 2022, then they will frantically try to achieve as much of their agenda as possible before the game is over.
If Joe Biden wins, then they will feel even more emboldened to try to realize things such as the Green New Deal, gun control, socialized medicine, and defunding the police. And given Biden’s signals that he’s more than ready to indulge the far-left’s wish list, they may have no problem getting a presidential signature (although they would still have to worry about a Republican Senate).
Such a strategy may cause the Democrat Party to eventually implode, but not before taking many of our rights and liberties down with it.
