Whither Thou Goest Democratic Party?
“I can see clearly now the rain has gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day.
I think I can make it now, the pain is gone.
All of the bad feelings have disappeared.
Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin’ for.
Gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day!”
Many of you were surprised that I did not “spike the football” in my immediate post-election missive. That’s just not me. I won 17 straight elections when I was in office. I did not enjoy campaigns. I endured them in order to be able to affect policy. After each of those 17 victories, I took a deep breath, enjoyed an adult beverage in celebration, was grateful that it was over and that I won, and then started thinking about the job ahead. That is what I did last week. It’s just who I am.
The Democrats lost last week. The scope of that loss is just now being observed. They lost the White House in both the popular vote and the electoral college. They lost all 7 “swing states.” They lost the Senate and failed to retake the House. They lost state legislatures. They lost 8 of the 11 governorships that were up including Vermont and New Hampshire. “Jungle Primary” initiatives were defeated in 6 states. It wasn’t a 1984 wipe out. But it was bad.
After all elections, the losing side reassesses why they lost and what they can do to win next time. There is usually disagreement on how to do this. The winning side tries to figure out what they will do with their new-found power and how not to lose said power in the next election. There is always disagreement there too.
More about the Republican disagreements in a future missive. Today, let’s look at the soul searching on the Democratic side.
Kamala Harris was a terrible candidate. She always has been. I observed her in California and have been telling you that in this blog. Now everyone knows it. And Tim Walz was even worse. Democrats can chalk up some of their losses simply to that fact, if they are willing to admit it. But the “original sin” was keeping Biden in the race when they all knew how bad his mental decline was. The fact that they were willing to put him in for four more years of this decline proves my point that Democrats don’t care who the person is. They vote for “the machine.” The person is just a figurehead. But the person does matter to swing voters.
Had Biden chosen to not run early in the year, like LBJ did, and a competitive primary followed, The Democrats might have had a better candidate and a better outcome. At least somebody other than Biden/Harris could have run away from unpopular Biden/Harris policies.
So, some Democrats will blame this loss, with good reason, on Biden’s intransigence, Harris’ incompetence or some combination thereof. They will then often also conclude that the Neo-Marxist policies and issues upon which Democrats governed and ran in the last couple of years are not the problem. It was a candidate problem.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is clearly one of these. He has called a special session of the California Legislature in December to “Trump-proof” the state. He wants to try and insure that no federal policies or laws can be enforced in California. Taking the constitutionality of his goals aside, what he is doing here is totally political. He wants to raise his stature among the leftist core of the Democratic Party nationally as being the leader of the anti-Trump movement. He sees this as his path to the Democratic nomination in 2028. The idea that winning the base is how you win primaries is usually a sound one.
But there are many who see Newsom as simply Kamala Harris with great hair and very white teeth. They don’t think that California Leftism plays well in Grand Rapids or Charlotte. They prefer a someone from the center of the country like Governor Whitmer of Michigan or Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Both can be right here. Newsom could get a leg up in a primary by appealing to the base but be a poor candidate in the general lacking broader appeal.
But others think the policies were a major part of the problem. That being for child mutilation and Hamas terrorists and illegal immigration and letting criminals out of jails were not good or popular ideas. This group is vocal that the Dems need to refocus their messaging and their policies.
And then there are the other parts of the Democratic coalition - Media, Hollywood and the Education Complex. It has only been a week since the election, but so far it does not seem like any of these major parts of the “machine” are going to retreat a bit from their policies and objectives. I thought that maybe the Media Complex would be discouraged by how badly Dems performed in spite of their all-out assault on Republicans. The degree to which many major outlets lied about and distorted events was far more egregious than they have ever done before. Still, it did not work. Their audiences and influence are declining. You would think they would reassess, since technically these are supposed to be profit making businesses.
However to this point, there is little indication that Media, Hollywood, Universities and Teacher’s Unions will back off. The people in these institutions are true Neo-Marxist believers. They have had a setback but they have been gaining ground for decades and they believe they will regroup and go back to winning again. This time however, there is X and Joe Rogan and the New College of Florida and Daily Wire. In other words, there are growing alternatives to their indoctrination.
Another issue for Democrats is “identity politics.” I didn’t work either. They want blacks, hispanic, asians, and S2LGBTQ+++ people to vote Democrat because they’re race is oppressed. They want women to vote Democrat because they are oppressed by men. They want white men to vote Democrat to receive absolution for the sins of their race and gender against all the others. But the reality is that people are voting more on the basis or class, than race or gender. Do Dems stop making everything about race or gender? More on this in future blogs.
So, who will win in this predictable internecine battle? Hard to say. Tim Walz is done and will be quickly forgotten. Harris will likely try a comeback running for Governor of California in 2026. She obviously has 100% name ID and that will help against a field of not well-known competitors. (The likely candidates include the current Lt. Governor and Attorney General of California as well as Biden’s HHS Secretary and a former mayor of Los Angeles or two. Can any of you Californians name any of these people?) It is interesting to note that a former US Vice President from California ran for President, lost and then returned to California two years later and lost again. His name? Richard Nixon. (Of course, he had Trump-like return in 1968)
I also think the aura around the Clintons and Obamas, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer has been tarnished here. They orchestrated this whole move over the summer and it failed against who they call the new Hitler, Donald Trump. So, there is a void in leadership. Many Democrats in DC (Hakeem Jeffries) and in blue and purple states across the country want to fill that void. Some will stick to the Neo-Marxist message and others will try to soften it.
But other than open borders, soft on crime, transgenders and pro-abortion, what exactly does the new Democratic Party stand for now? They used to be anti-war but arguably that space is being occupied by Republicans now. What is their foreign policy stance? Are they still for higher taxes and higher spending? Do they really want price controls? Are they going to stay committed to the “green new deal” in spite of its obvious negative impact on everyday Americans?
There is lots to ponder. But there is another thing that either party often does when in the minority. Simply be the opposition. Oppose what the majority is doing. When something the majority does fails or is unpopular, that is your opportunity to pounce. You don’t have to be anything. Just be “not them.”
Democrats will certainly do that. Frankly, I did that when in opposition. What will be important is to watch who rises to the top in the party structure and is quoted a lot. People are policy. Also, what are the policies that the Democrats offer in opposition? Look to see if the leopard really is changing it’s spots.
You may think that I want the Democratic Party to fail. I do not. We need a vibrant 2 party system. The opposition party keeps the majority party honest and from going too far to extremes. But I want a Democratic Party that is not Neo-Marxist. I want a Democratic Party that still believes in the 1st and 2nd amendments and the constitution in general. I want a Democratic Party that believes in fair elections with only citizens who cast votes with identification. I want a Democratic Party that is proud of America’s history and does not run from it. I want a Democratic Party that believes in punishing criminals and helping victims of crime rather than the other way around.
We don’t have that Democratic Party anymore. I hope it can come back. Then we can fight like hell on foreign policy and taxes and spending and abortion and the environment. But the underpinnings of this great country will be intact.
As Johnny Nash says, I am hopeful “it’s gonna be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day.”
I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Drive Fast & Live Free