What Happened to the Moderate Democrats?

Since the Reagan presidency, which marked the ascendancy
of the conservatives in the Republican party and in American
politics, liberal pundits have lamented the decline of both the
numbers and the influence of the moderate/liberal Republicans
in both. George Romney, Nelson Rockefeller, John Anderson
(who later left the Republican party to run for the Presidency
against Republican nominee and eventual election winner
Ronald Reagan, and incumbent Democrat President
Jimmy Carter in 1980), and modern era example William
Weld all come to mind when this species of political animal
comes up in conversation. Not adverse to a large and growing
government, very soft and conciliatory on the social issues
i.e. abortion, welfare, and such, and voting in Congress with
the Democrats at least as often as with their own party, these
Republicans (now derisively labeled "RINOS" --- an acronym
meaning Republicans in Name Only) have lost much ground
to their conservative intraparty party foes and much support
from both the party faithful and the general electorate over
recent years.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing political purge on the Democrats'
side of the aisle in which the Dems are doing all they can to make
their moderates unwelcome; conservative Democrats? They've
either gone over to the GOP, went independent, or just plain faded
away. This, by the way, includes both office seekers and voters.
One such purge effort is currently taking place in Illinois, where
incumbent moderate and pro-life Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski is
facing another bruising re-election bid, again being challenged by
progressive hopeful Marie Newman who unsuccessfully ran against
Rep. Lipinski in their party's 2018 primary despite receiving
considerable funding and publicity from like-minded 3rd District
activists and their organizations, including Planned Parenthood's
PAC. And now they all are waging a second battle to unseat a
Democrat who won't bow to their party's political orthodoxy
and embrace unfettered rights to abortion, among other out-of-
the-mainstream planks in its rickety platform. Lipinski, by the by,
is the last pro-life Democrat presently in the House.

Lipinski edged to victory against Newman in 2018 by 2%, translating
to an approximately 2,000 vote margin in Illinois' 3rd District Dem
primary, but district progressives and some political observers have
suggested that the district has shifted just a bit to the Left, just enough
so that Lipinski could lose this time around. The district, by the by,
is solidly Democratic, so there is no realistic chance of a GOP
nominee winning the seat in the general election. As far as your
observant Peasant is aware, the Republicans therefore are not
planning to field a candidate for that seat.

That said, there are many voters in the Illinois Third that find Rep.
Lipinski too moderate for their tastes; some even say he's a conser-
vative. Well, next to their political leanings I'm sure that Lipinski
looks quite Reaganesque. Of course this is why the Newman bid is
part of the Democrat Party's plan to sweep itself clean of incumbents
and office seekers, as well as party officials who are not sufficiently
left wing, with their stands on abortion being a key litmus test.
And Dan Lipinski, even with his legitimate liberal bona fides,
is right in their crosshairs. He's only moderately liberal, if that,
by today's Democrat Party standards, so he just won't do.

As far as Lipinski's record on other issues of great importance to
the Democrats, there is even more evidence to sufficiently condemn
him as far as the ever-leftward lurching party is concerned; he had
the audacity to vote against Obamacare while supporting the pairing
of religious liberty protections with a big anti-discrimination bill,
the Equality Act (George Orwell, call your office!). Now, Lipinski
in fact supports Obamacare as a compromise alternative to the
Medicare for All scheme which Newman supports, stating that
the latter would "hurt Third District residents by taking away private
health insurance from 170 million Americans and eliminating
Medicare for seniors," while sending most people's taxes on a rocket
ride. Lipinski votes almost entirely with his party in the House, and
has voted only 5% of the time with the wishes of President Trump,
the bane of the far-left contingent which has overtaken the Democrat
Party. But to these raving extremists this is nowhere near good enough,
so Dan Lipinski must go. And did I mention that Rep. Lipinski came
out in opposition to the so-called Green New Deal, a brainchild of
the most radical members of Congress, one of which is a certain
congresswoman from New York City who has been getting a truck
load of press for her unabashedly socialist brand of politics and the
resultant ideas from same, the Green New Deal being but one.
Among the things it is purported to do is to drastically reduce
carbon emissions over the next few decades, resorting to (no blarney!)
doing away with air travel. That's right, the airlines would be put out
of business, leaving buses, trains, and at least for the present cars
as options for long distance travel. I wonder what this radical rep,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has planned for ocean liners? What
would she have people do if they needed to travel to, say, Europe,
Asia, or some other place across an ocean or two? Another black
mark against the veteran Illinois congressman, making another
reason for his radicalized party to purge him from their ranks.
And no lamentation from the aforementioned liberal pundits
re: the decline of the moderate/conservative Democrats.

Oh, and progressive Dem darlings Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and
Sen. Bernie Sanders (technically an independent but votes nearly all
of the time with the Democrats), both presidential candidates, have
endorsed Marie Newman for the party's 3rd District nomination.
Some big guns are trained on Dan Lipinski, who explains his views
and votes thus: "Look, I'm a Democrat because I believe the govern-
ment needs to help people who are in need some way, ... and to me,
protecting the unborn is part of that." And for this noble sentiment
his party wants to send him packing. Let us hope, my great and big-
hearted readers, that the people of Dan Lipinski's district will once
again him to Congress, because he has truly shown the humanity
which the farther-left types in the Democrat Party boast having but
not possessing. This veteran House member has truly demonstrated
his concern and care for the smallest and weakest among us; trying
to make government responsive and of service to all, be they already
born or waiting to be born.

This is what liberals used to be like. Dan Lipinski is a member of a
dying breed, soon to become extinct if the more extreme elements
currently in charge of the Democrat Party get their way. They have
already primaried many members of Congress like Dan Lipinski,
replacing them with substantially more left-leaning candidates
like Ocasio-Cortez. And the result of all this is the loss of one of
the country's two major political parties to extremism, following
its flirtation with totalitarianism. If past presidents Franklin D.
Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were to come back to life today
and see their party the way it now is, they would suffer from
something far worse than culture shock; they would weep for
their Democrat Party and for the country over its embrace of
ideas and positions most Americans would never so do. And
their party's present leaders along with the present rank-and-filers
would tell them to get their right-wing selves out and don't get
hit by the door as they exit.

The price of extremism is frighteningly high. And in tacking
farther leftward every day, jettisoning sensible, more mainstream
reliables such as Rep. Dan Lipinski from their ranks, the
Democrats are digging their political grave. With their radical
blinders over their eyes, they are unable to see what they are
doing to themselves. But the people see, and they shall respond
at election time by turning their backs on the Democrats for
their infatuation with ideas alien to the American ethos while
turning their backs on the people, along with a deaf ear on their
wishes and concerns. Some Americans may desire a robust,
active government, but most want no part of a government so big
that its activity encroaches upon their liberty and prosperity.
This is something that the Democrats have thus far failed to
grasp, and it shall prove to be their undoing.


MEM