Democrats' failed strategy of insulting voters is the gift that keeps on giving – to the GOP.
We recall Hillary Clinton's megawatt blunder of saying Donald Trump supporters made up a "basket of deplorables" during the 2016 presidential campaign. The former Democratic Party presidential front-runner's gross mischaracterization of nearly half the country not only alienated voters but also mobilized them – coast to coast – to elect her rival.
Talk about putting your foot in your mouth.
Seeing how badly her condescending insults turned out on Election Day, you'd think Democrats would learn from her disastrous mistakes and go on a charm offensive with voters – of all political stripes – in an attempt to widen their base. But instead of shifting course, too many liberals within the party – and their mouthpieces in media – have doubled down on the extremist rhetoric, spending the better part of this year calling those who support our president racists, Nazis or white supremacists. And this vile name-calling isn't just coming from radical groups such as antifa.
It's coming from leaders of the Democratic Party.
In August, Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democratic National Committee's deputy chairman, told liberal activists at a Netroots Nation conference, "The fact is that the Republican Party today is the party of racism."
This was followed by Rep. Frederica Wilson's telling the New York Times that "the White House itself is full of white supremacists."
And if that's not despicable enough, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said last Sunday in a CNN interview that Trump's former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, "is a white supremacist" and that current top adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller "seems to be." Brown then added, "I know that studies have shown that they have their allies sprinkled around the White House," thereby implying that the power center of the Republican Party, the Trump administration, attracts, hires and places into positions of power – you guessed it – white supremacists.
Patently false, abhorrent allegations.
For starters, it's preposterous to even float the notion that the nearly 63 million fellow Americans who voted for Trump are racists simply because they voted Republican and want to respect our flag, our national anthem and the rule of law.
If this lunatic fringe mindset is the only thing the Democratic Party has left to offer the American people, it will continue to lose elections – for years to come.
We're already seeing the ripple effects Ellison's radical rhetoric, as well as that of others in his party, is having on the DNC's fundraising coffers. In the first half of 2017, the GOP raised $37.2 million more than the DNC. The Republican National Committee hauled in $75.4 million, compared with the DNC's $38.2 million. And for Democrats, the second half of the year isn't looking any better. Last month, the Republican Party raised almost twice as much as Democrats, with $10 million to Democrats' $6 million.
It's undeniable that "money talks" – and tens of millions of dollars isn't an anecdote.
It's a wake-up call.
Swaths of voters nationwide are rejecting liberals' extremist depictions of hardworking, God-loving, patriotic Americans, who are entitled to their political opinions without being slapped with abominable, hate-filled labels.
What progressives are forgetting is that in politics, the voter is your customer. And in business, you don't insult your customer. Do you think McDonald's could get away with calling half the country deplorable? Could Walmart remain competitive if it called half the nation racist, xenophobic or sexist?
Far from it. It would be facing a public relations tsunami, along with slashed profits.
Not a winning strategy in business or inside the Beltway.