After last night's Democratic debate, liberal commentators on both CNN and MSNBC wielded polling trends to warn the party that new left-wing ideological litmus tests -- ranging from single-payer healthcare, to decriminalizing the border, to free healthcare for illegal immigrants -- are electorally toxic. Let's start with David Axelrod, who can obviously and credibly claim to know a thing or two about winning national elections in the modern era. In addition to the segment in which he and Van Jones pressed Elizabeth Warren hard with tough questions (it did not go well for her), Axe rejected the Bernie/Warren notion that ignoring intense public sentiment is a perfectly reasonable strategy. He said that paying attention to what voters clearly do not want is actually rather important, noting that that list includes the extreme policies mentioned above:
Man, Axelrod & Kornacki just stomped all over the Bernie/Warren agenda last night, using data. Here's Axe: https://t.co/jpSnlm1xdG
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 31, 2019
"It does seem as if you're running for president that you ought to take into consideration what the country wants," Axelrod said, calmly begging Democratic primary voters to sober up. Over on the other reliably leftist cable news channel, sharp elections analyst Steve Kornacki drove home the same point, using the same examples -- plus slavery reparations. This is a distilled, data-driven truth bomb spree. Watch the whole thing:
Yikes! MSNBC polling guy dumps cold ice all over #DemDebate tonight.
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) July 31, 2019
Decriminalizing border crossings, Medicare For All, healthcare for immigrants...all unpopular with voters. pic.twitter.com/TIMyCGdKZN
I'd add that another significant stance on which the Democratic field has crawled way out onto a limb, based on public opinion surveys, is pro-abortion fanaticism. I'm not sure anyone in the left-leaning media is willing to call out this vulnerability, however, because they fervently share that particular form of radicalism. Back to healthcare. We've pointed out how 'Medicare for All' becomes much less popular as voters learn more about it (across-the-board tax increases, longer wait times, private plans outlawed). Some Democrats are pushing plans that would merely slow down this downward slide, as opposed to implementing it openly and immediately. But this party leader made it quite clear what the policy must be:
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Medicare for All is single-payer healthcare. That’s it. That’s the policy.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 31, 2019
Democrats' vision of the economic situation in the country was quite dark last night, with Warren calling the economy "broken" on several occasions. Interestingly, this data didn't make it into the (highly out of touch) talking points:
This is very good news. Wage growth has accelerated. So much for the claim that the booming economy has benefited only the 1%. https://t.co/ywddIeBr0O
— Brit Hume (@brithume) July 31, 2019
The revisions show that employee compensation rose 4.5% in 2017 and 5% in 2018—some $4.4 billion and $87.1 billion more than previously reported. The trend has continued into 2019, with compensation increasing $378 billion or 3.4% in the first six months alone. Wages and salaries were revised upward to 5.3% from 3.6% in May year over year. And in June wages and salaries grew at an annual rate of 5.5%, which is a rocking 4.1% after adjusting for inflation...In sum, Americans are earning more and relying less on government. Personal savings estimates were also increased by $217 billion for the last two years and are now $1.3 trillion, which means Americans are socking away more of their earnings...The economy barely skirted recession in the final Obama years, and economic policy changed in 2017. Deregulation has unleashed repressed animal spirits, especially in energy. Tax reform has also spurred business investment in new facilities and equipment, which over time should translate into higher worker productivity and wages...While Democrats and even some conservatives complain that workers haven’t benefited from tax reform, the evidence suggests otherwise...This sure sounds like an economy that is benefiting the 99%.
I'll leave you with this, just for fun:
Raise your hand if you support taxpayer-funded...
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 31, 2019
Senator, I haven’t finished the question yet https://t.co/wdqbbFkgGD
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