Democrats should keep doing these things

If I could ask one thing of national Democrats, it would be this: Keep doing what you’re doing.

No, really. Here are a few things I would love to see more of from Democrats in the lead-up to the 2026 and 2028 elections:

MORE CROCKETT AND HOGG

The (recent) greatest hits of outspoken Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett include calling Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels.”

“Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there, c’mon, now,” said Crockett at a Human Rights Campaign event in late March. “ … And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot a-- mess!”

Admittedly, your friendly mobility-impaired neighborhood opinion columnist laughed at that one. Of course, I’m not so sure anybody else found the same humor in it that I did.

Last week, Crockett, who is Black, said on Sirius XM’s Urban View that big Democrat donors had already selected a 2028 candidate who has attracted their support because the unnamed person is, as Crockett put it, the “safest white boy.”

Not to be outdone, Parkland school shooting survivor and Democratic National Committee vice chair David Hogg appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on May 9 and said that to reengage young male voters who have abandoned Democrats in droves, the party needs to figure out how to help young people “get by,” so they can focus on what really matters: “Getting with a young woman” instead of doing boring adult things like paying rent and working a job.

“Young people should be able to focus on what young people should be focused on, said Hogg, which is how to get laid and how to go and have fun.”

Yup, I would be really happy to see Crockett and Hogg get more time behind a microphone.

A DNC committee has moved to void Hogg’s election as vice chair, but not for the aformentioned comments. And not because Hogg reportedly used DNC contact lists to solicit donations for his own PAC, and not even because Hogg has committed $20 million from that PAC to put behind primary challengers seeking to oust incumbent Democrats he feels aren’t as future-focused as he is.

No, the DNC says it needs to void the election of Hogg and another one of five vice-chairs due to a procedural error that “unfairly disadvantaged the women candidates” in violation of the party’s gender parity rules, necessitating a redo so it’s done correctly. Everyone who remembers last year’s presidential nominating process knows how important it is to Democrats that they choose their standard-bearers strictly according to the rules.

But hey, at least we got one of those rare moments where Democrats show that they do know what a woman is! Huzzah!

So who is the ideal candidate for 2028, according to Crockett’s prediction and Hogg’s suggestion? Who can Democrats find to be their “safe” white guy who is understanding of young men anxious to get “laid?”

Ope, time to welcome Tim Walz back to the stage.

MORE TIM WALZ

Although the Minnesota governor and failed vice presidential candidate recently backtracked on previous comments that he was considering a 2028 run, look for Walz to return to the national circuit as a party hype man after he finishes wrestling with his state legislature over a ballooning future budget shortfall.

Tiananmen Tim piqued ears last month at the Harvard Institute of Politics when said he was added to the Kamala Harris presidential ticket in part as someone who could “code talk to white guys watching football and fixing their truck.” As Walz himself put it, he was the “permission structure” for those guys to choose him and Kamala Harris.

A permission structure, according to ModelThinkers, “provides an emotional and psychological justification that allows someone to change deeply held beliefs and/or behaviors while importantly retaining their pride and integrity.”

In other words, Walz, by his own admission, was brought on to convince white men that it was possible for them to vote for the Harris/Walz ticket and still feel like a real man.

White men ended up breaking for Trump by about 22 points in the 2024 election, so Walz has some work do to Make Democrats Tolerable Again to white guys. I’m more than happy to see him try.

Speaking of extremely cool white guys …

MORE BERNIE SANDERS

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is capitalizing on anger over Trump and Republicans returning to power with his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Nothing can stick it to the wealthy few who run everything quite like spending six figures on chartered air travel to go rally the working class in your spare time outside of serving as a high-ranking government official.

To date, Sanders has spent $179,803.33 in a six-week time frame on chartered flights for his tour. (An earlier report from the Washington Free Beacon put the number at over $221,000 but appeared to not account for a large overpayment that was refunded.)

Please understand that the Private Jet Proletarian is too important to fly commercial.

“Think I’m gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United … while 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders said to Fox News’ Bret Baier on May 7.

“No apologies for that,” he added.

Nor should he apologize. The working poor are counting on the millionaire politician who owns three houses. They need him to fly in and explain to them that politicians have rigged the system against them. Sanders’ supporters don’t question his lifestyle. Some of them, especially the younger ones, even live in similar luxury.

Speaking of the young, privileged and clueless …

MORE PRO-PALESTINE CAMPUS PROTESTS

One year after pro-Palestine/anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University — where over 60% of students come from households in the top 20% of all income-earners — took over their campus and demanded that the school divest its ties to Israel, protesters for the same cause tried a similar stunt on May 7 and stormed the main campus library.

Last year’s occupation had included a large encampment on campus that university officials afraid of their own students and faculty took way too long to shut down. The antisemitism-tinged chaos lasted for almost two weeks and inspired similar protests and encampments at other schools nationwide.

But not this time. In March, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of $400 million worth of federal grants and contracts for Columbia due to what the administration says is the school’s continued failure to stop and prevent antisemitic harassment on campus. Having 400 million reasons not to let things get out of hand again, Columbia officials summoned police and had the May 7 protest at Butler Library shut down within hours.

Almost 80 arrests and over 65 student suspensions later, protesters — possibly for the first time in their young adult lives — are getting the chance to experience something called “consequences.” Voters are getting to observe the about-face in university decision-making and ponder exactly what prompted it. I’m all for more of that.

Speaking of “this is exactly what we voted for … “

MORE DEMOCRATS ANTAGONIZING ICE

Apparently unaware of which side of the illegal immigration debate is favored by most American voters, three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation reportedly rushed through the gates of the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark on May 9 while the gate was open to let in a bus carrying detainees.

Members of Congress are allowed unannounced visits for “oversight,” as the members claimed was their purpose. As for the crowd of protesters they brought along — those folks should have called ahead (but did not.)

In a bizarre scene, a scuffle with law enforcement just outside the detention center resulted in a trespassing arrest for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who scored a nice opportunity for publicity just prior to his face-off with five other New Jersey Democrats in next month’s hot gubernatorial primary.

Far be it from me to remind these Democrats that not every undocumented person currently present in our country is of faultless character. Believe it or not, some are actually dangerous people with a history of heinous crimes.

But if Democrats want to gamble their credibility on defending people whose innocence is … unclear at best, I’m happy to suggest they keep doing it in ways that are witnessed by American voters who have already made known their thoughts on deporting criminal aliens.

Heaven forbid anything positive be accomplished in government if it’s accomplished by a Trump government. But that’s the politics of the era. No need for the your own side to have a message or a plan — defeating the other side is the message. Defeating the other side is the plan.

And from the other side, this Republican implores Democrats: Whatever you think you’re doing to stop Donald Trump, please do more.

So far, it’s working the way it should.

Comments: 319-398-8266; althea.cole@thegazette.com