Let's look at all the ways today's Democrats have abandoned classic liberals and left them out in the cold
If there’s one thing we learned from the House hearings this past week, it’s that certain, traditional Democratic voting blocs no longer have a home in today’s Democratic Party.
The revealing questions and answers with two IRS whistleblowers last Wednesday put on full display the two-tiered standard of justice now advocated by progressive Democrats.
Attempts to censor and suppress evidence and testimony the following day highlighted the party’s full-throated commitment to censorship. Seeking to shut down "heretical" Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., all eight Democrats voted against allowing Kennedy to offer public testimony. They were overruled by the committee’s 10 Republicans.
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Did you ever think you would see the majority of the Democratic Party outright attack a Kennedy?
The Party seems to be doing its level best to purge itself of classical liberals. Joe Biden has proven he is the most progressive president ever, fulfilling the assurance by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.. The RealClearPolitics average shows more than 30 percent of Democratic primary voters support someone other than President Biden, refuting his agenda and actions.
Support for free speech, due process, military readiness, public safety, and fiscal sanity are now considered heresy on the left. Will the "Kennedy Democrats" tolerate it? Ironically, they will find more of a home with conservative and libertarian-leaning Republicans, creating a new dynamic in 2024. Here are five reasons why today's Democrats have turned off the "Kennedy Democrats."
1. First Amendment
Today’s Democratic Party has all but abandoned the First Amendment in favor of censorship. According to Pew Research, support for online government censorship among Democrats has risen dramatically from 40% in 2018 to 70% in July 2023.
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In his testimony, Kennedy exposed how truth gets censored. "Nobody has ever pointed to a single piece of misinformation that I published," he said. "I was removed for something they call 'malinformation.’ Malinformation is information that is true, but is inconvenient to the government."
The ACLU and other former First Amendment champions of the left are silent.
While Kennedy’s vaccine concerns may not be universally shared, the idea that vaccines should be tested with the same efficacy as other drugs is hardly a radical position. But during the pandemic, Progressive Democrats didn’t believe he should be allowed to say it.
2. Due Process
Likewise, Democratic voters who support the Fourth Amendment’s due process provisions aren’t finding a lot of support within their party. It is the Republican Party that passed the "Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act" to prevent unreasonable searches and seizures to stop government from buying up private data without a warrant.
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Meanwhile, Democrats have become the party of "government can do no wrong" and they get to pick the winners and losers. The IRS hearing offered a stark contrast.
We saw Republicans pushing to hold accountable an elite multi-millionaire Hunter Biden who evidently cheated on his taxes while Democrats argued the IRS employees were unfounded in their concerns. So much for the party of the middle class going after the millionaires and billionaires to "pay their fair share."
3. Military Readiness
Though Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was a proponent of a strong military, today’s Democrats see military spending as the only part of the federal budget they’re willing to cut.
Even as the Biden administration flirts with nuclear war in Ukraine and ignores a well-telegraphed takeover of Taiwan by China, military readiness is on the back burner.
4. Public Safety
What about those Democratic voters who live in dangerous communities and support public safety? Their party has abandoned them on that issue as well.
As Democrats fight to cut funding for police, elect prosecutors who won’t prosecute, and do away with cash bail, they leave vulnerable those who live in the bluest areas – their own voting blocs.
5. Fiscal Sanity
Finally, the ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats who believed in balanced budgets went from being an endangered species to being extinct. Spending restraint was never pristine in either party, but progressives don’t even pretend to take it seriously.
I don’t know the number of Democrats who still support free speech, due process, military readiness, public safety, or fiscal restraint, but I believe there are enough of them to swing an election.
Whether they abandon their party, reject their frontrunners, refuse to participate, or vote Republican as "Reagan Democrats" did in 1980 and 1984, they can have an outsized influence on America’s future.
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Jason Chaffetz is a FOX News (FNC) contributor and the host of the Jason In The House podcast on FOX News Radio. He joined the network in 2017.
