The genius of the American two-party system lies in its ability to allow for self-correction. Both major parties consist of coalitions with their own agendas, and electoral success relies on finding the proper balance. Electoral defeats, especially surprisingly substantial defeats, almost always result in retooling to meet the judgment of the voters and reorienting toward the factions with the most connection to the mainstream.
Almost always, that is. Democrats are off to a bad start when it comes to this self-correction, especially in Salem, Massachusetts. Democrats in Seth Moulton’s district want him burned at the stake (figuratively) for daring to state that he doesn’t want his daughters competing in sports with biological males. For that, the chair of the Salem Democrat Party as branding Mouton a “Nazi cooperator,” the Boston Globe reported yesterday.
Liz Bradt had told the Globe that the local party would “find someone to run against him and win” for his pushback on radical-trans activists. Moulton’s spokesperson revealed the insult when asked to respond:
In response, Sydney Simon, a spokesperson for Moulton, pointed to Moulton’s record of supporting LGBTQ rights and claimed Bradt had called the congressman a “Nazi cooperator” in an email to a former Moulton campaign official. “I don’t put a lot of credence in the word of someone who refers to a fellow Democrat as a Nazi cooperator,” she said.
Bradt acknowledged to the Globe in an interview that she had written in a private email that Moulton “is what is know[n] as a ‘cooperator’ in Nazi times,” saying she was concerned his comments about trans athletes would extend to other communities.
“I worry very much about people, politicians who look to see which way the wind is blowing and say things like this,” Bradt said. Bradt’s comments on finding a challenger for Moulton were first reported by Globe opinion writer Carine Hajjar on X.
Bradt missed the point in many ways, but primarily because she didn’t actually listen to what Moulton said. He argued after the election that Democrats lost because they have stopped listening to mainstream America and no longer speak its language. Instead, they dictate the values of the Ivory Tower and castigate anyone who disagrees with it as bigots or worse. Moulton’s comment about his daughters was less about policy than the fact that he was afraid to express his opinion in the current radicalized Democrat policy.
The reaction to his statement proves his point, Moulton responded:
Moulton told reporters this week that the backlash he’s received for his comments proves his point. He said people should be able to disagree on gender issues.
“Yet there are many who, shouting from the extreme left corners of social media, believe I have failed the unspoken Democratic Party purity test,” he said. “We did not lose the 2024 election because of any trans person or issue. We lost, in part, because we shame and belittle too many opinions held by too many voters, and that needs to stop.”
As for potential Democratic challengers, he told Fox: “It’s a democracy. If you want to run against me, go for it.”
It sounds as though Salem Democrats are less interested in democracy than in witch hunts. That may apply to Democrats on the larger scale too, where denial isn’t just a river in Egypt. Rather than listen to Americans on the cultural disconnects and meet voters where they are, Democrat leadership has doubled down the last two weeks on blaming their losses on bigotry, misinformation, and Elon Musk. In fact, they’re pointing fingers at practically everyone rather than themselves, including a hilarious effort to blame the mainstream media for not being biased enough in their favor.
David wrote earlier this week that the Democrats’ civil war “will be gloriously entertaining.” I’m not sure about entertaining, but it seems inevitable now. The radicals have no intention of moderation, and that leaves the other factions in the Democrat Party with few options. Either they get forced to keep bending the knee to the Queer Movement and the Marxists, or they eject them out of leadership and hope to reclaim enough of the center to compete in the next few cycles.