There is No Evidence That Democrats Have moved to the Center

If There Are Any Centrist Democrats Out There, They Are Awfully Quiet.

When I was a kid, the Democrats went through a long wilderness period, locked out of the White House for 12 years. Hard to imagine today, I know, it seems like a lifetime in politics. Think of it this way in 12 years you can go from first grade to college, a long time. But the Democratic Party clung to their left flank and lost the White House in 1980, 1984 and 1988. It took them 12 years to move to the center, and they did so by nominating the moderate Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in 1992.

Through a group called the Democratic Leadership Council Clinton and other centrist Democrats nudged the party to the electable center in the leadup to the 1992 election. Say what you want about Slick Willy with the exception of his first two years he governed as a moderate. And I would argue that he was to the right of his Republican successor George W. Bush on foreign policy and economic policy. In fairness Bush was better on Judges.

So today the mainstream media is wringing its hands and gnashing their teeth in worry for the health of Democratic party. It is the Party of government, the Party of the intelligentsia, the Party of organized labor, the Party of science and social justice, and yet they are in deep trouble. We all know why, they are out of touch with the average American. It could be argued that they are in a weaker position today than they were in 1988, back then they were out of the White House, but they did control both Houses of Congress. Yet the desire to get the White House back was so great by 1992 that rank-and-file Democrats held their collective noses and rallied around a moderate Democrat. Would they do that again. Maybe but at this point there is no evidence of that happening.

I have often said that the Bill Clinton of that year could not get his Party’s nomination today. He was for welfare reform, which made people work for their benefits, he cut the capital gains tax, and he had a crime bill that put a lot of hoodlums and career criminals behind bars for a long time. In addition, he wanted a secure border and believed in mass deportations of illegals. His most famous line as President, other than “I didn’t not have sexual relations with that woman – Ms. Lewinsky”, was “The era of big government is over.” Indeed, but today’s Democrats are all in favor of big government.

So, what will Democrats do now. Will they be willing to wait another 12 years in the wilderness to hang on to their leftwing ideology and woke views, or will they follow the Clinton example and move to the center? Perhaps they believe that they can simply wait out Trump and hope the electorate moves left naturally, either out of disgust for the big bad orange man, or as the result of an economic downturn. Maybe things get so bad under Trump that voters will move left, and therefore Democrats won’t have to move at all. For Democrats that’s the best-case scenario. But that is not likely. Do Democrats think that they can just hone their messaging and convince the electorate to join them in left field – please believe us boys in girls’ sports really makes sense. But if they want to move to the center who is their next Bill Clinton. Does such a person even exist. I have my doubts.

Well, at this point it is clear that the left is still in charge of the unpopular Democratic Party. Even Democrat Rep. Al Green’s interruption of Trump at the President’s joint address, a clear violation of decorum didn’t motivate Democratic moderates. Only 10 House Democrats voted to censure him. The left’s grip is ironclad, for example not one prominent Democrat expressed outrage at what DOGE revealed took place at USAID. All that egregious waste of money and the woke NGO funding and programs and yet not a single Democrat has joined the call for the agency to be eliminated. I don’t know of a Democrat who has even called for the agency to be cut, and that the people who made these funding decisions be fired. No elected Democrat has even thanked Musk for all he that has revealed. So, frightened of the left that even moderate Democratic members with Tesla’s are now selling them.

Trump announced this week that he wants to eliminate the Department of Education, a department which it should be pointed out doesn’t educate a single child yet occupies a few big buildings in Washington DC, employes lots of bureaucrats and spends hundreds of millions of dollars. It is one of the greatest boondoggles in the history of the country. How can a moderate support such a misnamed agency? Well, the teacher’s union likes it. The agency provides jobs, so the left likes it. Democrats don’t want to confront the teacher’s union, but to move to the center they will have to.

Another example of the left’s tight control over the party deals with immigration. One of the first bills signed by President Trump was the Laken Riley Act, named for a young woman killed by an illegal alien, the left-wing New Republic, called the act, “racist”, the law allows ICE to detain an illegal charged with a crime. I find it amazing that only 12 Democrats in the Senate and 46 House Democrats voted for it. Why so few, well, they know that their base vote is hard left. How can Democrats get to the center if they can’t vote for such an easy bill, a bill with such broad support. Well, even after the disastrous Biden years the left still wants open borders, and Democrats, even moderate Democrats, don’t want to go against them.

One issue, where you would think, Democrats can move to the center and go against their left flank would be on the issue of biological boys playing on girls’ sports teams. That would seem like an easy one, a layup if you will, but apparently, it’s not. Senate Democrats blocked “The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act”. I say blocked it; they invoked a filibuster to keep the majority Republicans from passing it. On this issue presidential aspirant California governor Gavin Newsom attempted to move to the center, saying he thought boys shouldn’t play on the girls’ team. That makes sense to the average American, but Newsom was hammered by the left, in fact no other prominent Democrat has seconded Newsom’s comments on the issue. Hard to believe.

The latest anti Trump cause célèbre is a Columbia University student named Mahmoud Khalil, in the country on a green card. He was one of the leaders of the anti-Israel pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia. The demonstrators spread antisemitic hate and Hamas talking points. They weren’t peaceful, they took over a building and demanded the administration negotiate, yes, they had demands. Many students, especially Jewish students were afraid to go to class, and some students were physically blocked from going to class. Well, one of the students involved, maybe even leading the mayhem, was Mahmoud Khalil. He should have had his student visa revoked then. Biden of course didn’t do anything.

The media and the left are up in arms because the Trump administration is rightfully revoking the kid’s visa. Why should we import students who then cause disruption on our college campuses. It’s not in our interest to have them here if they lead protests. Why can’t Democrats agree that we don’t need students on Visas coming here and passing out Hamas talking points. That seems like an easy one, surely some Democrats would agree that Khalil should be kicked out. Maybe, but they are keeping quiet, while many Democrats are rallying around him.

Khalil has a lot going for him in the eyes of the left. He is not a U.S. citizen, he is pro-Palestinian, certainly he is anti-Israel, and he may be anti-American, so naturally the left supports him. They don’t want him deported, just like they don’t want anyone deported. Did he disrupt a school, did he intimidate Jewish students, did he cause damage at the university probably, but he represents the view of the left.

It’s clear that there are no moderate Democrats brave enough to speak out. And that is the problem. Democrats won’t move to the center without courageous people willing to buck the leftwing orthodoxy.

My prediction is that the Party won’t move to the center until after the midterm elections if ever. They may take the House back in two years, in fact odds are that they will, since the Party out of power almost always gains House seats during a midterm. But then the test will come for Democrats. With a little power they will get the attention of the American people, and if they don’t move to the center they will lose again in 2028.

David Shephard is the author of two books. Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books