Started by NYC hairstylist Brandon Straka in late May the movement has caught flame because it speaks to how the Democratic Party of today, where far-left sentiments ranging from universal socialist programs to demonizing our first responders and border control, to questioning the very goodness of America itself, are edging closer to gaining a seat at the table.
We are a far ways away from the Democratic Party that stood as a big tent party that governed America for much of the 20thcentury, and which led us through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, through much of the fight against Communist aggression in the Cold War both domestically and internationally, and even as a moderate and pragmatic governing force under President Bill Clinton.
When we see far-left socialists topple long-standing Democratic moderates and liberals, as “democratic” socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently did in New York City, and that they aren’t immediately shunned but rather absorbed into the mainstream as a potential new path forward that signifies a worrying and historic shift for our country.
Over the past few decades millions upon millions of former Democrats have left their party and become either independents or Republicans, whether liberals who turned conservative or “Reagan Democrats” that found there was little room anymore in the Democratic Party for conservatives and the center-right.
They have made an impact at the ballot box, as they were found to be essential behind President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victories in Rust Belt states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
As a former Democrat myself, I have spoken frequently in the national media in recent years on this trend because it is one that I feel speaks deeply to the current political and cultural movements happening in our country.
Written By: Erich Reimer
