The fashionable left used to speak “truth to power,” fists raised in defiance. In its purest form, this meant they held onto their beliefs strongly and advocated for them even more strongly until society has no other choice but pay attention. Then, they changed their tactics. Shedding the pretense of “principled stands,” they began making bold, provocative claims without regard to consequences.
Regrettably, that devolved even more, when the left stopped caring about the veracity of the claims — as long as they riled up their political opponents. Now, the left has abandoned any remnant it had of civility and is indulging itself in divisive positions and rhetoric, creating a unique anti-momentum like nothing we’ve ever seen.
Perhaps it all went downhill for them with the hearings to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Before this moment, an ever-widening enthusiasm gap existed between Republican and Democratic voters. Literally all the Democrats had to do was act like a normal group of people in order to capitalize off the natural momentum of the midterms.
But no.
With their unsubstantiated claims — which got wilder and wilder with every passing news cycle — the left went crazy. Though their antics energized their base, everything they did had an equal or greater reaction in the Republican base. The Democrats, not chastened by their miscalculation, continued to feed the monster they created.
If you scan the news, you can see this in action. “Kick Them Holder,” “No Civility Hillary,” “Get-in-their-Faces-Booker-and-Waters,” “Impeach Kavanaugh,” “Impeach Trump,” “Pack the Supreme Court and the lower courts,” “get rid of the Electoral College,” and other radical rallying cries. Each is supported by the Democratic party at large. In fact, the many instances of actual violence that have occurred actually invigorate the radical fringe of their base. They are either explicitly or implicitly supported by the leadership of the Democratic Party and the pals in the media and elite institutions.
But they don’t know the effect they’re having.
Each one of these events that invigorates the radical part of your leftwing base is having the same, if not more invigorating, effect on the Republican base. The crazier the left is, the more it energizes the Republican base to oppose them. This is a self-defeating feedback loop, because some Democrats are being turned off by their antics. As a grassroots activist leader, I was recently at the Republican headquarters located in Columbiana County, Ohio. They told me that multiple Democrats are coming in daily, saying they can’t take the madness anymore. The radicalism of the Democratic Party is scaring them. This trend is not being recognized at the national level, because these Democrats would never answer a poll indicating their change of heart.
Democrats make it known that anyone who doesn’t toe the line will experience intense social, economic and even possible physical consequences for changing their minds. Case in point. When the presidential election of 2016 was finally over, Donald Trump surprised everyone by defeating the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Rap star and fashion designer Kanye West on his “Life of Pablo” tour told the audience that he actually was happy Trump won.
“I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted for Trump,” Kanye said at the November concert. Then, Kanye went relatively dark on the topic. During a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, he admitted that it took him a year and a half to work up the courage to put on the red Make America Great Again hat, due to the bullying he feared from the liberals and the hip hop community. Kanye explained that black people are expected to vote monolithically, and that’s exactly the stifling environment the Democrats want to create: one of intimidation, not freedom.
And Kanye is not the only minority coming to terms with this overbearing party. Trump’s popularity is rising amongst Hispanics and blacks. Though minorities historically have low turnout in midterms, Trump’s modest gains might actually make a difference in the election. If Republicans can win 2 out of 10 black voters, the Democrats are done. Thankfully, it is moving that direction. At worst, minorities will not turn out to vote for Democrats. Now that Obama’s not on the ballot, they might choose the economy over identity politics now that we’re experiencing the lowest black and Hispanic unemployment in history.
Also of continuing importance are the “shy Trump voters.” These are people who will never admit, publicly or even to a robo-call, that they support Trump or Republicans. This phenomenon, which existed last election, may very well be growing. The public consequences of an admission that you’re a Trump supporter or a Republican are getting worse and worse. People are very aware of the nastiness and hostility now condoned by the Democratic Party and their allies. It will not keep people from voting against the madness, but it will keep them from admitting they are going to, or that they did. This will create a lack of certainty even in exit polling.
That’s why the so-called elite in this nation are missing out on the biggest story in the nation right now. The electoral ground has shifted. In just the last few weeks I’ve been on the ground in Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Michigan, and California, and I’ve heard the chatter from grassroots folks in many more places. A seismic shift is taking place, and it’s all due to the Democrats absolute inability to control themselves and their radical ideas.
Leftists still think they’re “speaking truth to power,” but really they are throwing boomerangs. Stay tuned to witness the consequences, which are about to come back and hit them squarely where it hurts: the ballot box.
Mark Meckler (@MarkMeckler) is president of the nonprofit group Citizens for Self-Governance and a co-founder of the tea party movement.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.