If one thing is clear from the recent Democratic primary debates, it’s that the political Left has lost its moorings.
Listening to 20 presidential candidates across two nights of debates left one with the clear and distinct impression that this is not the Democrat Party our grandfathers and fathers knew about. These are not defenders of America’s working or middle class. They are certainly not defenders of America’s borders and laws. They are not even defenders of the American economic system.
Despite record homeless populations in our major cities and veterans crying out for help, all 10 presidential candidates during the Thursday night debate announced their support, when asked about it, for providing taxpayer-funded health care benefits to illegal immigrants.
They also promoted tax increases on working families, government programs as far as the eye can see, and more government intervention in our health care. Some candidates even proclaimed the belief that the government should outlaw private insurance companies.
One candidate on the stage at least demonstrated an optical understanding of reality, in my view. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) understands how many parts of the industrial Midwest have been laid to waste over the past three decades as vibrant towns and manufacturing centers have closed their shops and moved to Mexico and China. He has represented working-class neighborhoods in Ohio that have been abandoned by Democrats and torn apart by the policies promoted by the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). – READ MORE