Requiem for the Democratic Party

One cannot escape the suspicion that all of the hue and cry about the fate of American democracy is really an effort to manipulate weak minds. It feels like a subliminal suggestion.

After all, if you were not inclined to think very long or hard, which party would you imagine to be the most staunch defender of democracy-- Democrats or Republicans? Or better, for the more intellectual set, who would be the most impassioned defender of liberal democracy, a liberal democrat or a conservative republican?

It isn’t merely that the Democrats seem likely to take a serious shellacking on Tuesday, but their efforts to govern the nation have been sorely lacking. Led by a senile fool and an idiot vice president, they have been embarrassing themselves and leading the ship of state on to some treacherous shoals. And let's add, whatever happens in Pennsylvania, the spectacle of leftist politicians and talking heads trying to persuade the country that the brain damaged John Fetterman is fit to serve will seriously undermine the Democratic Party's credibility.

On Joe Biden’s watch, the center of international gravity has been shifting away from the West. New alliances are growing up outside of the West. However poorly Russia is doing in Ukraine, the Western response, involving sanctions and weaponizing the dollar, seems to be hurting the West more than it is hurting Russia. Yesterday’s trip by German Chancelor Scholz to Beijing was a sign of a crumbling alliance. Throughout Europe, people are increasingly unwilling to starve and freeze for Zelensky.

And then there is this. When you look beyond 2022, to 2024, who do the Democrats have on their presidential bench? Obviously, Joe Biden is excluded. Kamal Harris is an imbecile. Nobody in Congress seems presidential and the Biden cabinet is a ship of fools.

So, people are talking about governors, like Gavin Newsom in California, J. B. Pritzke in Illinois and Phil Murphy in New Jersey. If this is the best that the Democratic Party can offer as president in 2024 it is no wonder that its leaders are suffering some serious despair. The manifestly incompetent Newsom has high hopes, emphasis on high. He is currently hard at work destroying his state. Pritzker has become a champion of criminality and trans rights. And Murphy-- forget about Murphy.

Are any of them in the same league as Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been holding a master class on crisis management in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. 

Of course, the Democrats might well trot out that tired old war horse Hillary Clinton. She certainly has a sufficiently sour temperament, along with a closet filled with baggage. As a candidate, she could not beat Donald Trump. Half of the country thought she was a witch.

So, we are not witnessing a requiem for American democracy. More likely, we are witnessing a requiem for the American Democratic Party. Make of that what you will.