The DNC has been hijacked by progressives, nothing highlights that more than its reaction to Manchin’s and Sinema’s “moderate” response to their spending bills. Progressive liberalism is pretty far out on the spectrum of liberal ideology as it replaces classical liberalism focused on equal opportunity and equal rights with the deliberate use of racism and socialism to manage outcomes (equity). In order to manage outcomes by definition the DNC has to move the government towards a much more federal system with greater authority since you can’t “mandate” if you don’t have authority to do so.
Mandating behavior, increasing government spending as a percentage of the GDP, and expanding federalism to more and more aspects of daily life are clear signals of where the DNC wants to go. Less clear is where most Democrats want to go, and you saw that rebellion in the recent Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections.
Suggesting “court packing” and ending the filibuster are other signs that the DNC is prepared to use its power to undermine critical traditions designed as roadblocks against a thin “majority” in government abusing its power.
Meanwhile, conservatives today are split into three groups. Only about 6% would qualify under the label “far right” and most conservatives want nothing to do with group and even go so far as to reject them as “conservatives” since at some level the name means keeping things as they are or were whereas these “far right” groups advocate ideologies that are anything but “traditional”.
Most conservatives fit into two groups. About 19% of Americans and a substantial number of Republicans fit under the “libertarian or Tea Party” label. These are not far right ideologies and definitely reject any form of authoritarian rule. There ideology aligns pretty closely with the historical ideology of the Founding Fathers. Not exactly radical. They clearly reject federalism and the concentration of power in Washington. They present zero threat to American liberties.
The rest of Republicans and moderate Democrats (Bill Clinton was part of this group) fit under the label of classical liberalism which embraces the core values expressed in the Declaration of Independence (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) and the Constitution (civil rights), along with regulated capitalism. Those “core” values are a function of the “liberal” ideology that rose in opposition to authoritarian monarchs in the 18th century. Again, it is not a threat to liberties, since it puts them above government.
Manchin and Sinema are Democratic examples of this, and McConnell reflects the same view on the Republican side. I tend to side with this group which is why I have voted for moderate Democrats and Republicans but do have some sympathy for libertarians and Tea Party ideologies since I fear too much centralized government authority is “risky”. And prepared to forego any possible benefits of federalism due to the “risks” such power represents.
But because of this groups believe in “regulating” capitalism, it does at some level use the powers conferred by the Constitution to Congress to regulate interstate trade to regulate commerce in general. How much regulation is called for has always been a dividing point among those that share this ideology.
Biden’s first year plus in office demonstrates how much harm a strong powerful centralized government can impose on a country by trying to “manage” complex economies. Economies are simply too complex for humans. We should have learned by now, it simply does not work, but every time, the elitists attempt to bring back socialism, they promise the outcome will be different and more “equitable”. Instead, we have runaway inflation, shortages on our shelves, shrinking standards of living, etc.
At the social level, failed experiments with mandating masks, mandating vaccines, forcing ideology on public school education, and a host of other progressive ideas have been met with strong resistance.
The majority of Americans are like me even when we don’t agree on the details. And so, you see more of them identifying as “independent” and voting against the party in power when it moves away from the values of classical liberalism and regulated capitalism. Biden and the Democrats in Washington have done that… and his approval on the economy is under 25% and his approval overall is under 40%.
I live in California, and it is about as “progressive” as states can be… we even have “one party” elections in November. This result is the highest cost of living adjusted poverty rates, homeless rates, population loss, soaring crime, all the time competing for the highest taxes. So, why would you wish this on the country? Let the people flee what are clearly flawed policies.
