The Usa vs the DSA

The Democrat Party Has Left Traditional Democrats without a Party

For those Democrats who worked in factories, served in the military, attended church on Sunday, joined labor unions, supported the police, stood with Israel and believed that an honest day's work deserved an honest day's pay; uhey were the Democrats of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. They loved America, defended freedom and understood that socialism was the enemy our nation had spent decades defeating. Those traditional Democrats did not suddenly become radicals. Their party did.

Michigan's Democratic primary should remove any remaining doubt. Abdul El-Sayed, the candidate championed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated establishment Democrat Haley Stevens for the party's United States Senate nomination. El-Sayed says he is not a socialist, but the political movement that carried him to victory is unmistakable. He is campaigning on Medicare for All, taxing accumulated wealth, abolishing the Senate filibuster and expanding the federal government's control over American life. At a Michigan rally, he declared, "There is no reforming, there is no retraining, there is only abolishing ICE." He also campaigned with far-left internet personality Hasan Piker, whose past declaration that America "deserved 9/11" should have disqualified him from respectable political company.

This was not an isolated result. Two more Sanders-backed progressives won major Michigan congressional primaries. Donavan McKinney defeated sitting Democratic Congressman Shri Thanedar, while William Lawrence defeated two more moderate candidates in a competitive district. What began with Bernie Sanders, grew through AOC and took control of New York City under Zohran Mamdani is now spreading through the Democratic Party. The Democratic Socialists of America are no longer protesting outside party headquarters. They are walking through the front door, winning Democratic primaries and taking over the machinery.

Even James Carville has seen enough. Carville is no Republican. He is the legendary strategist who helped put Bill Clinton in the White House and has spent his adult life electing Democrats. Yet he now says the differences between traditional Democrats and the socialist movement have become irreconcilable. "I actually do think it's time for Democrats to talk 'the S-word.' 'Schism.' I really do," Carville said. He has also declared, "I don't want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist." Most recently, he drew a bright line over Piker's growing influence: "If he becomes a force in the Democratic Party, I'm out of here."

Bernie Sanders responded by telling Carville to start his own party. Think about what that means. A lifelong Democratic strategist who helped elect a two-term Democratic president is now being shown the door by a socialist who has never considered himself a traditional Democrat. Sanders did not tell the radicals to leave. He told Carville to leave. That tells every traditional Democrat who now owns the party and who no longer belongs in it.

The old Democratic Party believed in the American worker. The new socialist movement believes government should manage the economy. The old Democratic Party honored police officers and border agents. The new movement demands that ICE be abolished. The old Democratic Party stood against Soviet communism. Today, influential activists romanticize communism and mourn its collapse. The old Democratic Party supported Israel as a democratic ally. The new movement treats Israel as an enemy while making excuses for radicals who refuse to condemn terrorism.

I know the difference because I served alongside traditional Democrats during my years in the Alabama Legislature. We often disagreed, sometimes vigorously, but the Democrats I knew loved Alabama, respected our police officers, supported a strong national defense and understood that faith and family were the foundations of our communities. They were not socialists, and they would never have tolerated activists who glorified communism, excused terrorism, attacked Israel or celebrated the destruction of America's borders. We could debate taxes, budgets and the proper role of government, then shake hands and continue working for the people we represented. Those Democrats were political opponents, not enemies of the American way of life. I believe many of them would look at today's Democratic Party and ask the same painful question James Carville is asking: What happened to the party we once knew?

President Donald Trump has rebuilt the Republican Party around working Americans whom Washington ignored for decades. He stands for secure borders, American manufacturing, energy independence, law enforcement, peace through strength and the simple proposition that government should serve the citizen instead of ruling over him. Traditional Democrats may not agree with every word President Trump says, but they know exactly where he stands. He stands with the country, its workers, its flag and its future.

Ronald Reagan once explained his own political journey by saying, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me." Millions of traditional Democrats are now confronting that same truth. James Carville is warning them. Michigan has shown them. Bernie Sanders has effectively told them they are no longer wanted.

November is no longer simply Republican versus Democrat. It is the United States of America versus the Democratic Socialists of America. Traditional Democrats must decide whether loyalty to an old party label matters more than loyalty to the timeless American principles their party once defended. The Democratic Party may have left them behind, but the Republican Party's door is open, and their country needs them to walk through it.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former state representative, a current member of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee, the 2016 Trump Victory Chair, and a columnist who writes on politics, current affairs, and policy issues.

Opinions expressed are those eof the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Alabama Gazette staff or publishers.