Democrats appear to be walking the same walk that Republicans walked in 2016.
They want something new and completely different.
Former Vice President Joe Biden must be in shock that he is taking a far back seat to a 78-year old socialist who recently had a heart attack.
He may not even be able to rely on black voters, whom he assumed would be there for him.
According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are running neck and neck with black voters in the upcoming South Carolina primary, where 60% of Democrat voters are African American.
Influential Congressional Black Caucus member and House majority whip James Clyburn of South Carolina was circumspect on "Meet the Press" when Chuck Todd pressed him regarding an endorsement of Biden.
We get a hint on what voters are feeling by looking at Gallup polling on whether voters are satisfied or dissatisfied with the direction of the country.
Gallup has been asking this question since 1979. The average over the entire period, from February 1979 to January 2020, has been 37% expressing satisfaction with the direction of the nation.
Good news for President Donald Trump is that the figure recently jumped to 41%, the first time since July 2005 that it is over 40%.
The average for former President Ronald Reagan's second term, 1985 through 1988, was 54%. The average for former President Barack Obama's two terms was 24%.
It shows why Biden has been such a flop. Although Obama had high personal ratings with the American public, the public's sense of the state of the nation under his stewardship provides a far different picture.
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Taking voters, certainly black voters, for granted just isn't going to work anymore.
Americans sense that there has been something very wrong in the country, and they want very clear answers from candidates on what they think is wrong and how they plan to fix it.
We're just not going to get by anymore as half-free and half-socialist. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, we're going to become all one or all the other. I discuss this in depth in my new book, "Necessary Noise."
In 2016, Republicans went out of the mainstream and picked Donald Trump to clean up the Washington swamp. Democrats went for the establishment candidate and lost.
Now Democrats want to move left from the murky middle as Republicans move right.
Polling of black voters shows they feel that the country is unfair and that more government is needed to fix this.
According to Gallup, 70% of blacks feel the country is divided into "haves" and "have-nots," and 57% of blacks self-identify as "have-not."
In polling by the Pew Research Center, 66% of blacks say economic inequality is a major problem in the country today. And 74% of blacks, compared with 48% of whites, say "government should do more to solve problems."
Regarding government-run health care, Bernie Sanders' flagship, 66% of black Democrats, per Gallup, express preference for a government-run system.
Bernie Sanders is serving it all up, clear as day for all to see.
Turn your whole life over to the government.
So in November, Americans may have a clear and stark choice.
Blacks will have a chance to decide whether being free or living under government dictate is the best way to deal with the opportunity problem they perceive.
Truth is that blacks have been living disproportionately under government dictate since the 1970s. And today, average black household wealth is one-tenth average white household wealth.
Apparently, many African Americans feel that this gap persists because we don't have enough government in our lives, rather than too much.
It looks like bye-bye, Biden. Americans want vision and leadership. Now the question is whether we look to freedom or the other way.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of the new book "Necessary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This is Good News for America," available now at starparker.com
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