MORNING GLORY: Democrats cliff dive over the far-left edge of American politics

The Democratic Socialist Party ("DSA") in America is anti-West, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic. It is also on the march across deep blue America.

Tuesday night’s sweep by far-left candidates for Congress in New York City, all backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, underscored just how rapidly the DSA is ascending within the shell of the fractured and frazzled Democratic Party.

Traditional Democrats who pay attention to their national brand are astonished by what has happened to their party as it goes full "Thelma and Louise" off the far left cliff of American politics.

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This is the third act in a three-act tragedy.

First, former President Barack Obama’s achievement-free eight years atop the country and the Democratic Party saw a generation of federal, state and local Democratic youngsters get wiped out in the political earthquakes of 2010, 2014 and 2016. Obama always took care of himself, but left the party to the ossified care of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer to collectively run, and they ran it aground.

That’s the second act: Every part of the Democrats suffered from at least a touch of "Trump Derangement Syndrome," but none more than the former Speaker from San Francisco. Her and her colleagues’ ongoing obsession with President Trump — even after Obama had hollowed out the Democrats across the country — left the party without a platform or a leader of any ability or charisma who wasn’t also eligible for Social Security.

Part three was the passing of the radical baton from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who are executing a swift takeover of the lifeless, void-of-energy-and-ideas Democrats.

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The hard-left turn of the Democrats didn’t happen overnight.

"When Obama took office, there were 60 Democratic senators; now there are 46," NPR recorded in March 2016. "The number of House seats held by Democrats has shrunk from 257 to 188."

"There are now nine fewer Democratic governors than in 2009. Democrats currently hold fewer elected offices nationwide than at any time since the 1920s," NPR added a decade ago.

Democrats have clawed back a bit to 47 Senators, 212 House members and 24 governors. But of the 7,386 state legislators, only 3,237 are Democrats (as opposed to 4,044 Republicans). Republicans "control" 23 states —meaning the governorship and majorities in both legislative houses — while Democrats have just 16. Those 16 states are the breeding grounds of the hard left — especially New York and California — and the money that fuels the lurch left is from the George Soros well and like-minded dark money vaults as well as sketchy Act Blue contributions.

The face of the Democrats nationwide is now a combo of AOC and Comrade Mamdani, with a dash of other "Squad" members, as well as Senate candidates Graham Platner in Maine, James Talarico in Texas and soon, potentially, Abdul el-Sayed in Michigan. This is a carnival on wheels, and center-left Democrats are burdened by the brand. (There aren’t any "moderate" Democrats left, and before long every Democrat will be voting against anything that smacks of alliance with Israel.)

AOC’s and Mamdani’s triumph Tuesday night should be a win for the reasonable, rational Republicans across the country.

Take soon-to-be Governor of South Carolina Alan Wilson. Wilson, 52, has been the Attorney General of South Carolina since 2011 while spending 30 years in the National Guard.

Wilson is a model of center-right "new South" governance and almost certainly a major player in national GOP politics for the next decade or longer. He’s one of the new generation of talented GOP leaders in their 40s and 50s who will be brawling with the hard-left DSAers for the next many years, leaders like Senators Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, Governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas and Ron DeSantis in Florida and a score of House members on the rise with national visibility. More younger stars from the center-right are on the way to national recognition as well, like Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, the 43-year-old GOP Senate nominee in Iowa.

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The GOP will emerge from the Era of Trump with a strong, vibrant bench of political leaders of intellect and experience across the country and across the political spectrum from center-right to conservative but not radical.

What a contrast with a party of former self-proclaimed communists (Platner) and antisemites that is the "new Democratic/DSA Party."

"All politics is local" was a cliché that was at least "truthy" for most of American history. That saying is in the past, though, as every race becomes a national referendum.

Voting for any Democrat for any office in any state in November is a vote for the AOC/Mamdani Democrats. That’s the reality. And Republicans will be pounding on that point from now until November.

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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