Is the Democratic Party as we’ve known it for decades officially over?
Charlamagne tha God, co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club” — and often one of the most aware, sane and needed voices in our country — had this to say about the Democratic Party: “If I was a Democrat, I wouldn’t even speak for the party right now because the party is in shambles. The party is in disarray. The party has no leadership. The party has no messaging. … We all have eyes and we all have ears, and we can see that they don’t have any direction.”
And just how bad is it really for the Democrats? Quite possibly much worse than Charlamagne believes. In a recent poll from Quinnipiac of voters, only 21 percent approve of Democrats in Congress — the lowest number on record.
While this may be shocking news for those not already tracking this downfall, it’s something I’ve been hearing for weeks from the Democrats I know. My friends on the left consider themselves to be more “old-school liberal” — more in line with the thinking and policies of former Presidents Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, with a bit of Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter thrown in for good measure.
These old-school liberals believe the Democratic Party they signed up for should — and must — be about protecting the rights of the working class, the disenfranchised and the voiceless. However, they also all believe that mission must be folded within commonsense and pragmatic boundaries, not sidetracked and sabotaged by “woke” initiatives now being demanded by the far-left wing of their party.
Back in the day, the Democratic Party did stand for the working class, the disenfranchised and the forgotten. What happened? That is a question my many old-school liberal friends are asking themselves.
For each one who has asked me, I have given them the exact same answer: “Donald Trump happened.” Ever since the New York City businessman rode down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce that he would be running for president, the Democratic Party of principles, of the working class, of the disenfranchised and the voiceless began to unravel.
Almost instantly, the knee-jerk policy for the Democrats — and their allies in the media, academia, science and medicine — was to oppose anything and everything said or proposed by Trump. It was as if a curtain of red rage had instantly descended over their eyes and all that remained visible was their unhinged hatred of Trump pinballing within their minds.
No more thoughts about the poor; no more discussions about how said poor and working-class constituents could no longer afford the rising costs of food, rent, medicine, childcare or education. No more thoughts about an open border and how tens of millions of illegal migrants were siphoning off taxpayer dollars that could have dramatically helped those poor and working-class Americans; no more thoughts about rising violent crime, crumbling inner cities or failing public schools.
No. Every ounce of the energy and brainpower of these Democratic “leaders” seemed to be redirected to wrecking Trump’s first administration, and then doing all in their collective power to prevent him from becoming the Republican nominee in 2024. All that came before Trump’s decisive reelection last November.
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, he has accomplished two noteworthy things. The first is to get more done in his first few weeks in office than any president in U.S. history. The second, to finally push the Democratic Party over the edge and into the abyss where, even as they are plummeting to the bottom, they are bizarrely screaming out their defense of fraud, waste and abuse within the federal government while totally ignoring the bread-and-butter issues so critically important to their constituents.
“We hate Trump” is now the entirety of the Democratic platform.
Many of my old-school liberal friends thought that after Trump embarrassingly defeated the ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, what was left of the “leadership” of the Democratic Party would pivot back to those bread-and-butter issues. But no. Apparently led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), they have tripled down on “we hate Trump” as their only policy.
Promises kept and results from the Oval Office matter to the American people and Trump has been delivering on both at record speed. The Democrats and media can deny it all they want while they attack Trump and Elon Musk, but the voters know success and the real thing when they see it.
For multiple reasons — including his decades of real-world business experience; because of his “America First” policies; because he is making American energy independent again; because he is reshaping our military into the finest fighting force in the world; because of the multiple witch hunts, lawfare scams and raids he survived; because he demonstrated a courage few could replicate when he got shot by a wannabe assassin and instinctively jumped to his feet to scream “fight, fight, fight”; and because he is the catalyst behind the coming ceasefire in Ukraine — I honestly believe unbiased future historians will one day declare Trump our greatest president.
But when they do, will they note that, aside from being the catalyst to preventing a potential World War III, he brought about the end the Democratic Party as we know it?
“Hate” is not a policy. It is a death sentence for a once-great party.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.
