Contrary to what woke Twitter would have you believe, the Democrats haven't exactly been consistently on the right side of history. Let's not forget that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, as Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) conveniently reminded CSPAN viewers during a House Republican press conference on Tuesday regarding Trump's tweet scandal. During the same conference, McCarthy tossed around the phrase "Democratic Socialist majority" in reference to the House. While I'm sure Fox News will greatly appreciate that soundbite, it's not true. With the glaring exception of "the Squad" (the American media really outdid themselves on this nickname, if you ask me), the midterm election results placed overwhelmingly moderate Democrats in the House. In fact, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) initiated a House vote on Wednesday to immediately impeach President Trump and 137 Democrats - 60% of the Democratic majority - voted against it. Kevin McCarthy can say what he wants (and he does), but the facts are the facts.
That said, you'd never come to this conclusion if you 1) use Fox as your primary news source or 2) watched the Democratic debate in June. With the possible exception of Joe Biden, ever the pandering politician, the front-runners support abolishing private sector health insurance (see timestamp 20:31 to see what I mean about Biden), a token position of the progressives. $15 minimum wage was also discussed, a nice idea in theory but potentially a logistical nightmare. I'm not even going to bring up reparations, yet another race debate to divide Democrats.
Which brings me to my ultimate point: The values of the Democrats are wildly inconsistent throughout the party. The fact that Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg (and Marianne Williamson?) coexist on the debate stage as contemporary members of the same political party is bonkers, dudes. We can't even agree on what's an issue in this country, let alone how to fix it. Without getting too much into my political views, here's what I mean. I don't feel comfortable identifying as a Democrat if it means allying myself with AOC and Bernie Sanders. Does that mean I'm not a true Democrat, or does that mean that I'm not a socialist? Is there even a difference anymore? The aforementioned discomfort doesn't stop me, which is why I maintain that I'm a Democrat (generally phrased as "pro-business, moderate Dem" in the interest of integrity) in the midst of this chaos. Lincoln famously said that a house divided itself cannot stand. We need to find the common ground in the Democratic party and unite - falsely identifying moderates (like myself) as the enemy (especially when people literally chanted "Send her back" at the most recent MAGA rally) will sabotage both the 2020 elections and its successors.
