It's a rare scintilla of truthfulness, and it comes from none other than the New York Times, one of the chief propaganda arms of the US left.
The New York Times Drops a Massive Truth Bomb on the Democrats
The New York Times editorial board just discovered what conservatives have been saying for years: the Democratic Party is completely out of touch with everyday Americans.
It’s a stunning rebuke from a paper that typically carries the water for Dems. The Times finally admitted the obvious: Democrats' obsession with identity politics and their "scolding, censorious posture" have driven voters straight into Republicans' arms.
“In the aftermath of this comprehensive defeat, many party leaders have decided that they do not need to make significant changes to their policies or their message,” the editorial board writes. “They have instead settled on a convenient explanation for their plight.”
They then point out that Democrats are in denial about their electoral struggles, clinging to the idea that they are merely victims of post-pandemic inflation and poor messaging rather than deeper political failures. Party leaders insist their policies are popular but that voter apathy—rather than a genuine shift toward Trump—led to their losses. DNC Chairman Ken Martin claims Democrats simply need to “connect” their message better, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dismisses the idea of winning over Trump voters, instead focusing on mobilizing those who stayed home.
“As comforting as these explanations may feel to Democrats, they are a form of denial that will make it harder for the Democratic Party to win future elections,” they warn.
I don't think the right should be all that satisfied with or gratified by this admission by the NYT. The admission doesn't guarantee that the NYT won't say something stupid and/or manipulative in the future, and it certainly doesn't signify a sudden swing to the political center from an organization that's been so reliably leftist. And yes: because politics is pendular, the left will one day inevitably regain power, perhaps sooner than one thinks. Why? In part because so much of the voting public is fickle and stupid. Just enjoy this rare NYT moment and move on.
I've known for years now that the Democratic Party is out of touch. Anyone with a functioning brain should have been able to see that. This is news?
ReplyDeleteOperative phrase: "with a functioning brain."
DeleteAnd I don't mean to suggest that the GOP is always the only side with a functioning brain. Based on history, both sides of the aisle seem to take turns wearing the stupid cap. This is at least vaguely implied in Glenn Reynolds's latest essay, which is partly about whether the current "political passion" on the right is linked directly to Trump (as if this were a cult of personality) or more about principles (as with a bona fide movement).
More and more, I see conservative commentators at least murmuring what I've been saying for years: Trump is a 90s Democrat, a relic of the Clinton era. He subverted the GOP from the inside and tapped into that same pro-worker populism that made Bill Clinton a star. The Never Trumper/GOPe/neocon wing saw this right away and reacted accordingly, but it may be too late. And frankly, I think this agenda is a better agenda than anything the neocon/GOPe wing has ever offered. Meanwhile, though, the Dems allowed themselves to be hijacked by the increasingly insane extreme left on their side—the whole Earth-gone-in-ten-years, we-refuse-to-say-what-a-woman-is, socialism-forever, don't-deport-the-gang-members folks. Bill Clinton might be a shit person, but as Trump (also a shit person) is proving, he was right in many of his major policies and priorities.
Had Ross Perot not run, would Clinton still have been elected?
ReplyDeleteHa! Good question.
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