Do not be crazy. They’re Mucking It Up.

As Democrats ponder why they are willing to lose Congress in this year’s election to a party unwilling to condemn an ​​uprising, they should consider How radical is their policy? to Central America.

Let’s start in the windy city where Monday is the fourth day in a row Chicago Public Schools Canceled, because the teachers union voted to refuse to teach in school buildings. “What the Chicago Teachers Union did was an illegal walk. They give up their ministry and they abandon their children and their families,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on NBC’s Meet the press.

Lightfoot went on to note that “the safest place for kids” is at school. She’s right, but she hastily added that her team is working to “finish an agreement” with teachers’ unions.

How about this for a deal? Show up tomorrow, or find a new job.

This is a serious thing. Children Mental health is being negatively affected because of these closures, as well as their schooling — and have a big impact on parents, too.

And then there are the political ramifications. Virginia’s governor’s race last November, at least in part, decided the issue. As National Review’s Philip Klein notes, “The seeds for a backlash were all sown by unnecessary school closures.” The fact that Democrat Terry McAuliffe chose ended his stagnant campaign at a rally with the president of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten tells you all you need to know about the power and influence these unions wield.

But it’s not just Virginia or Chicago — and not just school closures — that Democrats interested in winning elections should be worried. In case you missed it, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg instructed prosecutors to only ask judges to jail the most serious crimes. Follow New York Times, Bragg “Instructed prosecutors to avoid going to jail because [crimes that] including certain robberies and assaults, as well as possession of a firearm in circumstances that are not related to any other crime”.

This is happening at the moment Violent crime has increased significantly since 2019 in major cities, including New York and dismayed the police officers are heading for the exits. This is happening in an election cycle since the “destroy the police” slogan has been blamed by some centrist Democrats. cost them the election. chief. Good luck with that, as the DA won’t put most criminals behind bars.

But wait a minute! That new mayor, Eric Adams, who has called himself the “new face of the Democratic Party,” decided this week to allow non-citizens to vote in New York City elections. “While I initially had some concerns about one aspect of the bill, I had a productive dialogue with colleagues in government to address those concerns. I believe that allowing legislation is by far the best choice and look forward to bringing millions more people into the democratic process.” Adams said.

Given that Adams was elected mayor with about 750,000 votes, his talk of “millions” of new voters in local elections is certainly an exaggeration, but it’s worth noting that the mayor new did not motioned bill, but only allow it to be enacted. However, his administration has vowed to “strongly defend the law in court” after the state’s Republican chairman and other elected officials filed lawsuits against it on Monday, calling it a “a slap in the face to every American citizen” violates the U.S. Constitution and New York, “dilutes the voices of American citizens and is inconsistent with the views of the vast majority of our city.”

Adams isn’t the only Democrat caught between his promise to rule with common sense and the demands of his party’s activists. Joe Biden was elected with the promise of sobriety and no problems, but tried to run as if he were second in line to the LBJ or FDR. Judging from the polls and reality, it was a disaster.

Like Biden, there’s a lot of hope that Adams would be a tough, pragmatic, working-class Democrat. But if once elected, neither Biden nor Adams can stand up to the powerful progressive interests within the Democratic Party, who can?

Certainly, Democrats are not the only party pressured into doing stupid or crazy things. On the Republican side, politicians fear their voters. Democrats have another problem. Their composition (at least at the national level) is more moderate – but progressive wings and powerful special interests, such as teachers’ unions and radical activist groups, have overrun their power.

Neither side is willing to do what it takes to become the majority party. Undoubtedly, this explains why neither side has been able to maintain nationwide power for long. And this in itself creates a self-sustaining cycle. Party A takes power, realizing that it won’t last long. They try to get through everything they can with the assumption that they won’t be in power for long. The public then responded to this outrageous act by voting for Party B. Repeat.

Ultimately, however, this is a bigger problem for the Democrats, who should have taken advantage of the dysfunction of the Republican Party. Think about who the elected people are. They don’t like Trump, but they also don’t like the progressive agenda. But which side do they fear the most? To many ordinary Americans, defending democracy seems esoteric, while keeping their families safe and ensuring their children get a good education is real and urgent. Let’s say you’re a suburban college-educated student who isn’t obsessed with politics. Which “tribe” poses the greatest danger to you?

It’s also a bigger problem for Democrats because in big cities, including New York, they’re often the only game in town. If that means that party leadership is always decided in party primaries that tend to pull voters further and further to the left, then those leaders – the face of the party – will certainly be a drag on the party’s national prospects.

Of course, what happens in New York City and Chicago doesn’t necessarily reflect the rest of the country. However, these are trends that are happening in many other cities, and the largest cities will always have a disproportionate impact on our perception.

What cannot be quantified are missed opportunities. When faced with a GOP is getting weirder and toxic, how well would the Democrats possibly perform if they simply decided to be the sane and competent party?