Exiting the Democrat Party
Everyone saw it coming. The unprecedented “red wave” that was going to wipe out all but a few lucky Democrat members of Congress in the midterm election. There was even talk that Republicans might take the Senate. The red wave turned out to be a red trickle, and now, at least it seems like, Republicans are putting things under the microscope to see where they went wrong and fix what needs fixing to come out on top in 2024. Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief at the bullet they dodged. But while they enjoy the near miss, and cope with the fact that there will be fewer of them in the House come January, more of them are actually leaving the ranks of the party. What exactly does it mean, and will it be good for Republicans?
The latest to head for the exit of the Democrat Party is Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema announced her departure last week, registering as an Independent and saying in an op-ed, “Americans are told we only have two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes. Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans somethings different. I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama.” No word on whether she will caucus with Democrats, but it might be a safe assumption.
It might be considered a bold move for someone who has been followed into the restroom by immigration protesters. But Kyrsten Sinema has not always been a blindly voting Democrat, although she votes with Joe Biden 93% of the time. The reason she was followed into the restroom was because Democrats were trying to woo her into voting for the mammoth $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill in October of 2021. She has also been, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) an obstacle for Democrats to do away with the Senate filibuster. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an Independent himself, slammed Sinema, calling her a “corporate Democrat” who “sabotaged party priorities.” Guess independence is only a good thing when your independence is shifting to the left.
Kyrsten Sinema is not the first high profile Democrat to call it quits with the party. In October, former Hawaii Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she had had enough and would become an Independent. Also, someone who did not march in lock step with her party during her time in Congress, Gabbard was bit more forthright in her explanation as to why she was leaving the party. In a 30-minute YouTube video, Gabbard called it like she saw it saying, “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism. I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by, and for the powerful elite. I’m calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party.”
It doesn’t stop there. West Virginia State Sen. Glenn Jeffries recently announced he would be making the switch to the Republican Party. And in what is possibly the unlikeliest places of all, New York City Councilman Ari Kagan also announced his departure from the Democrat Party. Kagan also did not hold back on his reasons for leaving the party. He stated, “Every month I found myself, like, ‘What am I doing in the Democratic Party?’ It’s not about numbers or an election. It’s about [sending] a message. The Democratic Party in New York was moving to [the] left at such a speed I couldn’t keep up. It’s not me leaving the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party very quickly started to leave me.”
So, what can we deduce from all these people who have decided that they, in good conscience, just cannot keep up the façade any longer? Well, at least in the cases of Sinema and Gabbard, you had already independent minded women who were forced, as Sinema said to choose a side. But that side has become, like Sinema said, too extreme. A side that is all in on sticking to ideologies and policies that have created 40-year high inflation, and soaring gas and food prices. A side whose climate and environmental policies do nothing to help Americans, but instead are costing them jobs. And perhaps the most disturbing, seemingly being ok with the sexualization of children. The side the Kyrsten Sinema and Tulsi Gabbard felt they had to choose insists that the criminal justice system serve the criminal, not the victim. Councilman Kagan stated in a very matter of fact way that the skyrocketing crime rate in his city was a main reason for his switch, “I believe right now the Democratic Party is doing everything possible in New York City to make everybody less safe.” These are clear-thinking people. And they obviously see that their party is no longer serving average Americans. Independent minded people are slowly waking up to the fact they cannot believe the way the Democrat Party demands them to believe.
What do these defections mean for Republicans? In reality, probably not much. Republicans have a bigger problem with those who cave to Democrats, especially several Senators who may vote for a lame-duck spending bill on their way out the door to retirement. And while it’s easy to pile on the Democrats, Republicans also have their think-in-lock-step-with-the-party-or-else contingent. It would be at least nice to think they might be emboldened to get louder, and that we might hear those folks out every now and then.
One thing is for sure, when the Democrat Party is too left for New York City Councilmen, and the shift to the left shows no signs of letting up, this may just be the first wave.
