With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, we have entered a new phase of liberal freak out syndrome. Conservatives are now capable of establishing a solid majority on the Supreme Court. The economy is booming. The Democratic generic ballot advantage over the GOP has shrunk to single-digits—and the far left is rising in the ranks. This wing is—as you would guess—viciously anti-Trump. The outrage machine has had another series of steroids and it could hurt Democrats in the midterms. The Washington Post has been following the Democratic Party’s descent into madness, which has been out into overdrive by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) (via WaPo):
Growing liberal agitation over a pivotal Supreme Court retirement and a simmering crisis about immigrant child separation have left Democratic leaders scrambling to keep the political outrage they’d counted on to fuel midterm election wins from becoming a liability for the party.
Internal party debates have broken into public view over maintaining civility and the usefulness of liberal slogans like “abolish ICE,” which some Republicans have embraced to argue falsely that Democrats oppose immigration enforcement. At the same time, liberal activists have begun to argue for more radical measures to counter President Trump, who they assert presents an immediate threat to the republic.
The conflict comes after several weeks that have highlighted the consequence of Trump’s 2016 election and his continued political strength. As he promised during the campaign, Trump is changing the country in profound ways, including through harsh immigration enforcement measures. With the retirement announcement last week from Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Trump also has an opportunity this fall to remake the ideological balance of the court.
Democrats have had only limited options for fighting back, and many in the party are resigned to the confirmation of a new justice who could vote to undo key liberal victories, including abortion rights and legal protections that allow people with preexisting conditions to afford health insurance.
Filmmaker Michael Moore, a liberal activist, called on the party to abandon a focus on “warm and fuzzy” notions like hope — the sentiment that powered Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign only a decade ago — and embrace a more hardball type of politics. As an example, he proposed surrounding the U.S. Capitol with 1 million protesters in an effort to keep Republicans from voting on a replacement nominee until after the next Senate is elected and seated.
Even Obama has told fellow party members to quit moping and starting working harder to win election. Also, don’t over analyze the string of special election wins Democrats have clinched over the past few months. Trump being in office will not bring electoral success. Work still needs to be done. We’ll see how that goes. The Post also wrote last month that the harassment of Trump officials in public places would only animate the GOP base:
Kind of amazed and appalled by the number of folks on Left who applauded the expulsion of @PressSec and her family from a restaurant.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 24, 2018
This, in the end, is a triumph for @realDonaldTrump vision of America:
Now we’re divided by red plates & blue plates!#sad
Leave it to Maxine Waters to take a difficult question (do I want Sarah Sanders in my restaurant?) and turn it into something morally reprehensible by calling not for judgment or shunning, but for active mob harassment. This is How You Get More Trump.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 24, 2018
There are growing fears at senior levels of the government that threats and protests could turn violent. The acting deputy secretary of DHS is warning employees of a “heightened threat” against them in a memo: “This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees -- although the veracity of each threat varies,” wrote Claire M. Grady. “In addition, over the last few days, thousands of employees have had their personally identifiable information publicly released on social media.”
All of this reflects widespread progressive disgust with Trump, which has been inflamed by his policy of separating immigrant families, and anyone implementing or even defending the president’s agenda. But these episodes, which have gone viral on social media, risk backfiring by playing into Trump’s hands. It supercharges the president’s sense of grievance and gives fodder for the argument, made in his stump speech, that he and his followers are disrespected. In a backlash to the backlash, there’s evidence in the polls of Republicans rallying around the flag. The nastiness could also alienate and depress middle-of-the-road independents who prize pluralism.
[…]
Many Democrats are expressing concern about the more confrontational direction of the resistance movement. A lot of prominent voices from the establishment wing of the party said over the weekend that people should not join what they see as Trump’s race to the bottom.
It didn’t just start in the past week. A Nebraska sociology professor, for example, was found guilty of vandalism last month for spraying fake blood at the Alexandria home of National Rifle Association lobbyist Chris Cox.
These are good teasers, but the Supreme Court, the tax cuts, cutting regulations, rebuilding our military, and the booming economy are all pluses for the GOP. SCOTUS proved to be a very motivating factor for the 2016 election. That could be the case this year as well. McConnell said he’s planning to hold a final confirmation vote in the fall to fill Kennedy’s vacancy. The Democratic Party’s push to the Left, especially on immigration, has even some pollsters worried that overreach could cost them winnable seats. Yet, for the Left, remember, it’s all about those feelings. So, continue to whine, moan, complain, and have unhinged outbursts—when you’re done, you’ll only do the GOP candidate a favor, which means you’re doing Donald Trump a favor.
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