Many sorrowful conservatives observed after President Obama’s speech Wednesday night that Democrats, not Republicans, are the party trumpeting American greatness and optimism this year. To hear some tell it, John Winthrop was in the house. “American exceptionalism and greatness, shining city on hill, founding documents, etc.—they’re trying to take all our stuff,” National Review editor Rich Lowry tweeted.
It goes further than just the president. Vox must have been giddily shivering with satisfaction as the headline “Democrats have stolen the GOP’s best rhetoric — and Republicans have noticed” went live on its site. According to its take, Michelle Obama and Tim Kaine “reclaimed” family values in their speeches this week, Michael Bloomberg made a “business case” for Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden might as well have been tooting “Stars and Stripes Forever” on a whistle. This concave posturing could serve a broader purpose than just exploiting Donald Trump’s unconventional politics: it could, in the hopes of some Democrats, help them “lay claim to the mantle of sober, responsible, sane, and mature governing party” of the future, Greg Sargent wrote.
Fine. But that would be having it two ways.
Democrats have spent weeks bragging about their party’s historically progressive platform. At his endorsement speech of Hillary Clinton two weeks ago, Bernie Sanders said, “I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic platform committee, which ended Sunday night in Orlando, there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns, and we produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic party.” Clinton, standing to the right and back of Sanders, nodded her head approvingly as the audience cheered.
Hillary just adopted much of Bernie’s higher education platform. And headlines from the last month have indicated that she’s comfortable with her current political coordinates: “Hillary Clinton Isn’t Tacking Right For The General Election,” the Huffington Post wrote, and “Hillary Clinton Indicates No Pivot to Center For General Election,” NBC News declared.
So what do Democrats want? Although some traditional concepts of political ideology have been disposed this year, the following is an impossible object: the most progressive Democratic party ever that also steals the GOP’s rhetoric and leaves open the possibility that Hillary Clinton is the comparatively conservative candidate in the presidential race. Even that would be too much for an election in which incoherence is the norm.
