Searching For the Democrats' Voice of Reason

One of my very first blogs on this site, from October 2017, labelled former President Jimmy Carter as “the Democrats’ voice of reason.” I decided to give that moniker to America’s 39^th President after he correctly stated during an interview with The New York Times that the media had not treated any previous President as unfairly as they have treated President Trump in addition to expressing reservations about the theory that Russia had a significant impact on the results of the 2016 Presidential Election.

However, Carter’s public appearance last week has forced me to dethrone him as “the Democrats’ voice of reason.” During an interview with Trump-hating historian Jon Meacham, the 94-year-old Carter appeared to reverse the position he espoused in his New York Times interview nearly two years ago.  After previously questioning the Russia conspiracy theory, Carter appears to have fully bought into it.  Carter told Meacham that “a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”  Meacham asked Carter if he saw President Trump as an “illegitimate President.” Carter’s response indicated that he all but agreed with his fellow Georgian John Lewis’s description of President Trump as an “illegitimate president.”

Anyone who subscribes to the Russian conspiracy theory obviously does not meet the definition of “reasonable.” In my first blog on Carter, I argued that he had treated President Trump better than any of the other living former Presidents.  To those who haven’t paid attention to the news in the past year, the number of living former Presidents has decreased from five to four with the death of George H.W. Bush.  Perhaps George W. Bush has warmed up to President Trump a little bit now that he has appointed his former staff secretary Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court but the President still has a long way to go before the ex-Presidents’ club turns into a Trump fan club.  Considering President Trump’s penchant for bucking the establishment of both parties, this probably does not bother him one bit. 

So now, my search begins for “the Democrats’ voice of reason.”  Let’s start off with where I will not find the Democrats’ “voice of reason”: the Democratic debates.  Recovering Democrat Harlan Hill, who actually worked on the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016, wrote an op-ed for The Daily Caller, where he unveiled a bingo card to help readers “find the most radical Democrat in the debate.” All of the squares contained radical policy proposals promoted by at least one Democratic presidential candidate with “attacking President Trump” as the free square. 

20 of the declared Democratic candidates for President appeared on stage in Miami last week.  Believe it or not, the number of Democrats running for President actually exceeds my age.  Montana Governor Steve Bullock, Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam, former Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, and former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, who failed to make it onto the debate stage, bring that total up to 25.  It will take me another 14 ½ months before my age matches the number of Democratic candidates.  By then, the contest will have dwindled to a one-on-one contest between one Democrat, President Trump, and likely a handful of third-party candidates.

In addition to these 25 major candidates, a few other candidates have also decided to seek the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination.  These candidates have not received nearly the same amount of media coverage as the major candidates and most, if not all of the polling, leaves out their names. Because of this, these candidates had no shot at meeting the necessary criteria that would enable them to appear on the debate stage. In this batch of candidates lies one of the contenders for the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason.”

Documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz announced his presidential campaign by declaring that “all their current candidates are insane.” Based on his presidential campaign website, Horowitz sounds like the type of candidate Democrats would have ran in 1992; almost in the mold of Bill Clinton.  He doubled down on his description of the Democratic contenders as “insane,” lamenting how “The Democratic party has become the party of socialism, open borders, and late term abortions. They’ve become so radicalized over the past several years that I feel compelled to bring some sanity into the discussion.”

Horowitz made it clear that he believed in “country over party,” in direct contrast with the Democrats who appeared on the debate stage last week; who raised their hands when asked if their government health insurance programs would cover illegal immigrants and fantasized about decriminalizing illegal border crossings.  The idea of putting “country over party” does not even cross the minds of most Democratic presidential candidates.

In contrast with avowed socialist Bernie Sanders, Horowitz describes himself as “an unabashed capitalist who believes that capitalism has done more to create wealth and has lifted more people out of poverty than any system ever devised by man.” His position on abortion, while still unpalatable to pro-lifers, comes across as more in sync with “safe, legal, and rare” as opposed to most in the Democratic Party, who have an almost romantic attraction to the concept of abortion.  While stressing that “restrictions on gun ownership are vital,” he describes himself as “an ardent supporter of the 2^nd amendment,” in contrast to gun-grabber Eric Swalwell.

When it comes to healthcare, Horowitz stressed the importance of “preserving the free market system that has allowed the United States to have the most innovative and unsurpassed medical care in the world.” Contrast that with the positions of Goofy Elizabeth and Comrade de Blasio, who have indicated their desire to abolish private health insurance.  Even Adam Gopnik, a liberal contributor to The New Yorker, talked about how “every single one” of the countries with the “universal healthcare” that Bernie Sanders romanticizes has “a strong private component to it” during an appearance on “Real Time With Bill Maher” last week.

On the issue of immigration, Horowitz believes that “legal immigration is the backbone of America’s foundation, but want to shut down the border to illegal immigration.” Believe it or not, that position comes across as more hawkish than the immigration policies supported by many Republicans on Capitol Hill; however, Horowitz’s website does not specify his position on giving amnesty to the people living in the country illegally. 

Some other contenders for the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason” exist within the halls of Congress but not very many.  Congressmen Dan Lipinski and Collin Peterson find themselves voices in the wilderness when it comes to the issue of life in the Democratic Party.  Lipinski has actually spoken at the March for Life and almost lost renomination in his re-election bid last year to an outspoken pro-abortion zealot. Lipinski sailed to re-election in the fall because his Republican opponent once served as the chairman of the American Nazi Party. This year, the pro-abortion mob has decided to target Lipinski again.  Their efforts to unseat the Illinois Congressman may fail once again; this time because of the number of candidates who have filed to run against him.  These candidates could effectively split the anti-Lipinski vote, causing him to emerge victorious from the primary with a mere plurality.  I have suggested before that should Lipinski lose the primary, he could pull a Joe Lieberman by running as an independent in the general election.  However, both Lipinski and Peterson missed a golden opportunity to stand up to their party and earn the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason” by not voting against the Equality Act. As The Daily Signal has pointed out, the so-called “Equality Act” has provisions that have already made life difficult for female athletes like Selina Soule and bakers like Jack Phillips. Lipinski voted for the legislation, perhaps in an attempt to make himself less vulnerable in the primary, while Peterson abstained from voting for it; apparently trying to square the circle by reconciling his desire to protect his political future in his deep-red district with his desire not to upset Speaker Pelosi. While Peterson may find himself on the list of contenders for “the Democrats’ voice of reason,” he also finds himself on the Republican Congressional Committee’s target list in 2020 and rightfully so. President Trump won Peterson’s district, Minnesota’s 7^th, by 30 points in 2016 and Peterson has only managed to win re-election in the two most recent election cycles by single digits. While Peterson does not pose as much of a threat to the country as radicals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, winning his seat will likely serve as an important prerequisite in returning Nancy Pelosi to her rightful role as “House Minority Leader.”

At the state level, Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana signed a heartbeat bill into law; becoming the first Democrat to do so. Edwards provides a refreshing contrast to other Democratic governors such as Andrew Cuomo of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island who have signed into law radical abortion laws. While Edwards finds himself a fish out of water as a Democratic governor in one of the reddest states in America, Edwards’s position on abortion closely matches those of a majority of his constituents.  Edwards has an inspiring personal story surrounding his daughter Samantha; whom his doctor suggested that he and his wife should have aborted because she suffered from a condition called spina bifida.  Edwards and his wife ignored their doctor’s advice by choosing life.  Samantha serves as a perfect example of a success story; she has overcome her adversity, gotten married, and pursued her career goals. While Edwards has pursued other liberal goals as Louisiana Governor, such as by supporting Medicaid expansion, his position on abortion definitely puts him in the running for the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason.”

In liberal cities and towns across America, elected Democrats such as Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf have elected to roll out the welcome mat to illegal immigrants, often working in tandem with their respective state governments to undermine America’s national sovereignty. Democrat Michael Kearns, who serves as clerk in Erie County, New York, has pushed back on his state’s initiative to issue driver’s license to illegal immigrants by flat out refusing to issue driver’s license to anyone in the country illegally.

Unlike my previous blog post on “the Democrats’ voice of reason,” which focused exclusively on Jimmy Carter, I have declined to make a final call as to who should win the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason.” I have instead decided to make a list of the contenders, highlighting the reasons why they should and should not receive the award, and done what many writers do: let the reader decide how the story ends.  Even if I did make a final decision as to who has earned the title of “the Democrats’ voice of reason,” winning that title does not translate into a political endorsement from me.  I remain a supporter of the re-election of President Trump. I will say this: don’t expect to see anybody on this list within 500 yards of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee; as the national party has gone off the rails and become completely unreasonable., making it all the more likely that President Trump will trounce them in the 2020 Presidential Election.