Signs proclaiming “The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” were a common sight on the 2016 campaign trail. President Trump is hardly the first politician to evoke this notion of a gap between the public narrative and how voters really feel, but his victory in November offered an undeniable validation of it.
Still, during confirmation hearings for Trump’s Cabinet nominees, some Senate Democrats have demonstrated an indifference, or even open defiance, to the fact that the loudest voices are often not speaking for most Americans. These senators would sooner turn a deaf ear to reality than concede the change afoot around them. In jamming up the confirmation process, they are effectively second guessing the public’s will and playing with fire by doing so.
Voters sent an unmistakable message at the polls: They are looking for wholesale change, both in the country’s direction and the way Washington governs. After eight years in which more and more power was wrested from the hands of everyday individuals, those same men and women rose up to demand accountability and leadership that will prioritize results ahead of politics-as-usual.
Yet, some Democrats are gravitating in the opposite direction. They have fought Trump’s Cabinet picks tooth and nail at every turn. The latest episode in this circus show has come down on Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee to lead the Education Department.
Tuesday, the Senate education committee approved DeVos’ nomination in a party-line vote. Her nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where, Wednesday afternoon, two Republican senators who voted for her in committee announced they will vote against her nomination. With Democrats unified against DeVos, there’s no room for any further GOP defections.
During her marathon confirmation hearing, in which Democratic questions swung from incendiary to simply insulting, lawmakers on the Left made no attempt to conceal disdain for DeVos’ promise to disrupt the status quo. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked DeVos, “If you were not a multi-billionaire … do you think that you would be sitting here today?” It was as much an accusation as a question, as if she should somehow have to apologize for her and her family’s success.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., recently said he opposes DeVos’ appointment because she “lacks the commitment to public education.” He sent a fundraiser solicitation boasting of his opposition. Never mind that DeVos dedicated her life’s work to improving public schools and creating more school options that help ensure students are not stuck in persistently failing schools. Never mind that DeVos makes no apologies for calling on public schools to be more accountable to those they serve.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., offered a similar half-hearted guise for her opposition to DeVos, as did Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V. Those accusations are impossible to square with DeVos’ reputation as an education advocate and reformer. She says unequivocally that every child deserves access to a quality education, regardless of their zip code or how much their parents earn.
It’s not difficult to see through these lawmakers’ paper-thin excuses to their real motivations. DeVos has pledged to disrupt the establishment. That doesn’t sit well with those comfortable with the status quo, even though it’s been failing young people. They would prefer to put special interests ahead of students’ interests. They use opposition campaigns orchestrated by teachers union leaders to justify what is really an untenable position.
Democratic Senators, especially the following five that will stand for reelection next year, would be wise to compare their previous vote totals against what Trump earned in November.
In Indiana, Trump won nearly 300,000 votes more than what Donnelly received. The same was also true in Missouri, where Trump collected over 100,000 more votes than McCaskill. The trend is even more pronounced in small states like West Virginia, North Dakota and Montana, where Trump bested Manchin by 91,000, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., by 55,000 votes, and Tester by 40,000 votes.
What’s more, families overwhelmingly share DeVos’ commitment to creating better school options by a nearly five-to-one margin.
A full 78 percent of parents would favor having a charter school open in their neighborhood, a rate that increases in minority and low-income communities. About 88 percent of low-income families would like to have access to a charter school.
“The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” signs were common fixtures on the campaign trail. More accurate, then and now, would be to say, “Trump Stands with the Silent Majority.”
Democrats who obstruct the Trump’s Cabinet appointments are standing on the wrong side of the American public, especially on an issue as personal as education. They would be wise to step out of the echo chamber created by interest groups to support Betsy DeVos as the next education secretary, or be ready to answer to their constituents.
Rich Galen is a former spokesman for Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. He is a republican commentator who writes at www.Mullings.com.
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