Disconnected

As I and millions of other Americans watch the race for the Democratic presidential nomination unfold, there are a few very reasonable questions that need to be asked: Exactly what do the Democrats stand for? What do they want for our country? What do they see that's good, and admirable, and optimistic for the future?

Yeah, I know. Hardcore Dems will gasp and say, "that's obvious." They want social justice, income equality, better education, better health care, the elimination of racism, the effective equivalent of open borders, and a plethora of "rights" that are nowhere to be found in our constitution. But the Dems are at a disadvantage, because the American public has been observing their actions for the past few decades, and has really taken a hard look at their actions and words over the past three years.

On the political front, all we have to do is look at the major U.S. cities and states that have been governed by Democrats for a decade or more. In those places, the role of government has been elevated to an overbearing entity. Daniel Henninger comments:

So what, other than hunting Donald Trump, does the Democratic Party stand for?

A recurring argument of this column is that in the U.S. and Europe, the presumed efficiency of governments has been worn down by the programs and responsibilities they’ve created for themselves, some with good intentions. By now, it’s just too much.

During the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt struck a defining bargain with the public: Cede to the government expanded powers over the details of American life, and government will administer it efficiently. For the public, giving government the power to regulate and rule was supposed to be a net plus.

The bargain behind Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All, funded by new taxes on the middle class, is that it too will be a net plus. Come Election Day in November, will 50% of the electorate actually believe Democrats today could competently administer a national health-care system in the U.S.?

Mr. Sanders, who filed as a Democrat for this election, isn’t that much of an outlier. All his rivals, including the “moderates,” are proposing more additions to the already massive government labyrinth they’ve built for decades.

But in those places where the modern Democratic Party is in charge, they often govern badly or incompetently on a grand scale. Misgovernance related to crime, homelessness, poor schools and affordability has become the symbol of Democratic control in large U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis.

U.S. census data shows people voting with their feet, moving out of the Northeast and Far West into the less bureaucratized Southern and Mountain states. A major reason for these internal refugee flows is that Democratic legislatures and city councils—New York, Seattle, San Francisco—reflexively pass progressive policies disconnected from commercial or social reality.

And therein lies the rub. The policy proposals offered by the Dems are "disconnected from commercial or social reality" and at some level, the general public recognizes that. They know that government is NOT efficient, is NOT caring, and is generally NOT capable of avoiding waste and abuse when it uses their tax money. They know this in their bones.

But there's something more. The Dems project a dark feeling of doom. They contend that the United States is a "racist" place in which "privilege" dictates everything. Where certain classes of people are "victims" and other classes are "oppressors." Where dependency is a good thing and should be encouraged and celebrated. Karlyn Borysenko, a long time Democrat, wrote this about a Trump political rally:

“It was more like attending a rock concert than a political rally. People were genuinely enjoying themselves. Some were even dancing to music being played over the loudspeakers! It was so different than any other political event I had ever attended. Even Obama in 2008 didn’t feel like this. . . . With Trump, there was a genuinely optimistic view of the future. With the Democrats, it was doom and gloom. With Trump, there was a genuine feeling of pride of being an American. With the Democrats, they emphasized that the country was a racist place from top to bottom.”

I suspect that the general electorate wants optimism, and rejects the notion that their country needs a complete "transformation." They'll also reject the "doom and gloom" projected by the Dems and look for someone who can define a bright future that is not "disconnected from commercial or social reality". The Dems are headed for trouble, and I think at some level they know it. They just can't get out of their own way.