Progressives Are Fracturing the Democrat Party

The far-left elements that now control virtually every Democrat center of power are beginning to shatter the once-formidable Democrat voting coalition. With the 2024 general election now just over six months away, there are growing signs that these cracks could result in disaster for Democrats on Election Day.

Here are five key ways the progressive movement is fracturing the Democrat Party.

Radical anti-Semitism and support for Hamas

Perhaps the most glaring issue dividing Democrats is support for Israel and the openly anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions of the left-wing activist class.

Republicans are largely united in their view on Israel and the Gaza war, with 78 percent telling Gallup they have more sympathy for Israel than the Palestinians, compared to just 11 percent who said they had more sympathy for the Palestinians.

Among Democrats, however, 49 percent say they have more sympathy for the Palestinians, while 38 percent say Israel.

Since Hamas’s October 7 attack, elected Democrats have found themselves caught between more traditional Democrat voters who generally support Israel and militant left-wing groups calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

In early April, 37 congressional Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, signed a letter calling for a halt in U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. Last October, just days after the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 civilians, 22 Democrats also voted against a resolution condemning the terrorist group, and, in a separate resolution, nine Democrats voted against backing Israel.

Some prominent Democrat voices have been even more explicit in their disdain for Israel. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has called Israel an “apartheid state,” while Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has accused the Jewish state of “genocide.”

At the same time, however, Democrats’ left-wing base believes President Joe Biden and Democrat leadership have not been anti-Israel enough. In a show of progressive political power, Biden lost 13 percent of the vote in Michigan, 19 percent of the vote in Minnesota, and 8 percent of the vote in Wisconsin to “uncommitted” as part of a protest campaign against the president.

Democrats currently appear unlikely to work out their differences on the Israel issue before Election Day.

DEI’s threat to Americans’ safety and security

So-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives have become a hallmark of progressive political ideology and woke corporatism. But the public is increasingly waking up to the scam, and Democrats could find themselves in a political bind as a result.

According to a Marist poll out this February, just 28 percent of Americans say they “strongly support” mandatory DEI training in workplaces. Another Rasmussen survey published in March concluded, “The more Americans know about DEI, the more they hate it.”

Americans have become especially concerned with DEI admissions practices for medical school programs, where applicants are no longer judged solely on academic performance. In addition to being completely unfair and antithetical to the principle of equality, DEI programs may now be putting Americans’ health and security at risk.

Moreover, “equity”-based policies are now interfering with the ability of many Democrat voters and their children to earn jobs and other opportunities based primarily on merit.

However, Democrats have held fast in their commitment to DEI at the behest of their progressive leaders – something which could exacerbate tensions between elected Democrats and normal Americans.

Opposition to common-sense election integrity measures

The vast majority of Americans, including most Democrats, support basic election integrity measures, most notably Voter ID. 84 percent of Independents and even 53 percent of Democrats back laws requiring voters to present a valid government-issued photo ID to vote.

But progressives have continued to insist that requiring a voter to show a photo ID is somehow “racist” and “voter suppression.” They have also opposed efforts to crack down on ballot tampering and illegal ballot harvesting, along with measures to ensure vote counting does not drag on for several days or even weeks after Election Day.

Progressive opposition to Voter ID has also exacerbated the threat of non-citizen voting by the illegal aliens who have entered the country since Joe Biden took office. Some Democrat states already allow non-citizens to vote in state and local contests.

While most Democrat voters still oppose voting rights for noncitizens, progressives have made the issue a point of contention within the party.

Americans of all political stripes want to be confident that their elections are secure and that their vote will be counted fairly. With a loud minority of Democrats blocking all progress on election integrity, a new fault line is forming within the party.

Eliminating gas-powered vehicles

Eliminating gas-powered cars has long been a top priority of the progressive movement to fulfill their pipe dreams of a “green revolution.” But now that they have taken real steps toward achieving that goal – namely through Biden’s EV mandate and his expected approval of California’s plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars entirely – it is causing a serious rift within the Democrat Party.

While wealthy elites can comfortably afford expensive new electric vehicles, the reality is that the vast majority of Americans, including most Democrat voters, rely on gas-powered cars as a matter of both affordability and practicality. According to Pew, at least 30 percent of Democrats say they are not at all interested in purchasing an electric vehicle – a worrying number that indicates real opposition to Biden’s EV mandate.

Five House Democrats also voted with Republicans last year on an effort to strike down the EPA rule to implement that mandate, while West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin has publicly criticized it.

Pushing radical “gender-affirming care” for minors

A growing chorus of voices on the left are joining conservatives in sounding the alarm about the dangers of irreversible and harmful “gender-affirming care” for minors. Yet progressives have continued to shout down these voices of reason, creating another major divide within the Democrat Party.

The de facto position of the progressive movement is now that children of any age should be allowed to choose to undergo life-altering drug regimens and even surgeries to “affirm” their self-professed gender identity. So-called “top surgery” has now become popular for teenage girls who believe they are boys, while bombshell reporting last year from Project Veritas revealed doctors routinely prescribe puberty blockers for kids as young as eight.

Moreover, progressives have continued to push radical gender ideology in K-12 schools – including allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports – alienating parents on both sides of the political spectrum.

The majority of Americans oppose hormone therapies and gender surgeries and believe kids should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex. But with the most extreme voices in the Democrat Party pushing for precisely the opposite positions, tension is mounting over the issue.

As the corporate media would have voters believe, Republicans are the ones with a unity problem, and the conservative movement just can’t get its act together. But while Republicans certainly have their issues, the real political storyline in America today is the growing rifts within the Democrat Party – a development which could have drastic implications come Election Day this year and beyond.

Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.