From the left: Prog Activists Rule the DNC
The Democratic Party is supposed to try to win political power through elected office, but “this might seem hard to believe on the evidence provided by its official proceedings,” marvels The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait.
The DNC’s meetings this weekend “included a land acknowledgment, multiple shrieking interruptions by angry protesters, and a general affirmation that its strategy had been sound, except perhaps insufficiently committed to legalistic race and gender essentialism.”
Fact is, the party has “ceded” its influence to “progressive activist groups” that lack “broad” support among voters.
Most “revealing” was “the elevation of David Hogg as vice chair,” a 24-year-old activist who does not seem “notably wise beyond his years.”
At one point, a protester shouted, “I am terrified!” Alas, laments Chait, “she was not alone.”
Law prof: Probe Berkeley for Jew-Hatred
“Leaders of my institution, the University of California, Berkeley, should take note” of President Trump’s new measures to fight Jew-hatred, warns Steven Davidoff Solomon at The Wall Street Journal. “They are creating legal jeopardy by condoning antisemitism.”
For example, a required comparative-literature class mandates one of a list of lectures to earn a grade higher than B, including one “advertised as promoting the denial of Hamas’s sexual assaults.”
That creates “a hostile environment for women in violation of Title VI.”
Students also report “that professors, even in nonpolitical subjects like computer science, have launched into antisemitic diatribes against Israel during class. Federal enforcement of Jewish students’ rights was lax” in the Biden era, yet Trump’s measures promises change.
“I invite Washington to make an example of my campus.”
Ed desk: Long Shadow of the Lockdown
“Four years after the onset of the pandemic lockdowns, American schoolchildren are still struggling to catch up to pre-pandemic achievement levels,” sighs Reason’s Emma Camp — and per the federal Education Department, “those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind.”
“Fourth-grade math scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels for high-achieving students, while the lowest-achieving students have seen an eight-point drop in scores since 2019,” from 199 to 191 on a 500-point scale.
Among older students, “almost 1 in 4 eighth graders were ‘below NAEP Basic’ in math, meaning that they didn’t even have ‘partial mastery’ of the skills necessary to succeed in eighth-grade math. Around 1 in 3 eighth graders were below ‘NAEP Basic’ in reading.”
Culture beat: How Dems Can Win Back Men
The Democratic “brand has become toxic to men,” 67% of whom “hold an unfavorable view” of the party, write the Washington Examiner’s editors.
“A party that repels 2 in 3 men is not viable,” so Dems must address their “implicit assumption” that men are “inherently part of an ‘oppressor’ class.”
They “might also consider the type of men they spotlight as exemplars of the sex,” including former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Progressives’ “interpretation of manhood” as “weak, subservient, and perpetually apologetic” is especially repulsive to “black and Latino men” — who “flocked to the GOP” in November.
Democrats “would do well to focus on the issues most men prioritize, such as the availability of manufacturing jobs, secure borders, and reducing crime.”
Conservative: Trump EOs Are Largely Popular
“How was Trump’s flurry of orders received by average Americans? They liked it” — with the exception of Democrats, observes Issues & Insights’ Terry Jones based on I&I/TIPP polling.
“Responses by party affiliation show just how far apart the major parties are” on 12 key orders.
While “Democrats showed little backing for the Trump agenda” (at just 26.5% support), Republicans’ support for individual policies “were all over 60%, averaging 71.4%.”
But support among independent and third-party voters also leaned favorable, coming in at 42.9%, “while ‘oppose’ garnered 40.8%.”
The polling suggests the country is “moving to the right and center” post-pandemic and away from excessive “federal spending, cancel culture, ‘woke’ education, open borders, rising crime rates” and government-mandated DEI policies.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
