OPINION
Democratic Party Burning Down, Now Looks for a New' King of the Ashes'
Anyone who knows me, knows I am a "Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire" (Bantam Spectra/Voyager Books) mega-nerd.
The book series is the single greatest literally work of all-time (even in its current unfinished state).
While the series on television didn’t stick the landing, the first four or five seasons are some of the greatest in TV history.
In season three (episode four) of "Game of Thrones," Varys "the Spider" has a conversation with Lady Olenna Tyrell about Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish. Littlefinger is described by Varys as such:
"He would see this country burn if he could be the king of the ashes."
In the wake of Tuesday of last week's disastrous results for Democrats, many are wondering if the Democratic Party will take a moment of self-reflection and introspection, beginning the hard work of trying to move back to the middle and recapture the tens of millions of Americans it has turned its back on with its embrace of wildly left-wing policy positions?
The answer to this question is quite seemingly, a resounding "No!"
Democrats will not emerge from this election committed to change. They won't move back to the center. Democrats will not drop their embrace of their unpopular culture war and won't stop demonizing their opponents.
They won’t for one simple reason: the leadership of the Democratic Party is filled with individuals who would rather see their party burn if they could be king or queen of the ashes.
The vast majority of elected Democrats have placed the blame for Tuesday’s loss on everything but their own policies.
They've blamed President Joe Biden for not dropping out sooner, they've blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for picking the wrong running mate; they've blamed social media, while accusing accused voters of being the problem.
Translation?
They've accused Americans of being misogynistic, racist, and bigoted.
Even the handful of Democrats who have pointed to policy failures – like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. – are advocating that the Democrats move even further left.
Democrats lost ground with basically every demographic in 2024.
They lost ground among suburban women, men, urban voters, young voters, Latino voters and black men. These losses were not geographically limited either.
Trump gained ground in 49 of 50 states and some of his biggest gains were in deep blue states like New York, California, New Jersey, and Illinois.
Democrats told tens of millions of Americans that they were racist or misogynists if they didn’t vote for Kamala Harris.
They couldn’t explain policies that has left the southern border open for years, or policies that led to sky-rocketing cost of living.
They couldn’t explain why they could not take care of Americans suffering right here at home, but spend billions abroad.
They couldn’t or wouldn’t explain why gender-reassignment surgery for children was a good thing, or why the government should pay for gender-affirming treatment for prisoners, or how on earth it makes sense to allow biological men to play in women’s sports.
They baselessly accused their political opponent of being a fascist and compared him to Hitler. Their handmaidens in the media made no pretense of objectivity and allowed the entire corporate journalistic complex to become little more than propaganda outlets for the regime in power.
They continue to advocate for wildly unpopular and damaging policies for one reason: these policies reflect the values of their base.
The next Democratic leader will not reject the policy positions that alienated so many Americans because playing to the base is the fastest and easiest way to get ahead in Democratic politics today.
It is why Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., is already calling for a special legislative session in California, its why Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., is promising to lead the resistance to Trump, it is why countless left-wing elected officials and thought leaders are promising more of the same.
We Republicans know first-hand how painful this process is, it took a transformational figure and an outsider like Donald J. Trump to come along and set the Republican Party free from the broken policies that didn’t work and that were wildly unpopular. From trade to immigration to gay rights to tax policy and entitlements.
Trump came along and told Republican voters they no longer had to follow the unpopular policies of Paul Ryan and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
One day, there will be a transformational Democratic candidate. One – who like Trump – will come along and set the Democratic party free from the policies that cost them this election. But that day is not today and likely not any time soon.
Until then, ambitious Democrats will line up to be king of the ashes.
Christopher R. Barron is the President of Right Turn Strategies and a conservative strategist.
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