Progressives and Their Pathetic (and Pathological) Pandering

I never should have taken the bait…

There I was, being interviewed on live TV in a major media market during my 2008 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. From the time I entered the race in January through my GOP primary win in June, the newspapers had barely covered my longshot campaign, and the broadcast media had totally ignored me. After all, I was running as a conservative Republican in one of the safest Democratic districts in the country where a Republican hadn’t won since 1972.

But then, in a move so blatantly political and so completely cringeworthy that it made stomachs turn on both sides of the aisle, the outgoing congressman convinced his own wife to withdraw from the race so he could replace her on the ballot and run for yet another term, his 10th. The uproar could be heard from Washington to Woodbury and from Barrington to the Beltway.

In fact, the pushback was so immediate and intense that the Philadelphia Inquirer, a bastion of liberalism if there ever was one, ripped my new opponent on its editorial page, called him a “boldfaced liar”, and offered me their endorsement. Meanwhile, my phone was ringing off the hook as media outlets – including some national ones – wanted to know what I thought about him backstabbing his own wife.

That is how I found myself sitting across from the news anchor at the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, detailing how my opponent had repeatedly promised not to re-enter the race before unceremoniously dumping his wife so he could try to salvage what was left of his once-promising political career. The more I documented his lies, the angrier – and the more flustered – my opponent became.

Finally, he blurted out, “Yeah, but Dale wants to cut Social Security!” Totally untrue and totally off-subject… just a desperate move by a desperate man. However, he was a well-trained career politician, and I was a first-time candidate and so, I made the rookie mistake of responding to his false accusation. That quickly, I was cut short by the moderator as we went to a commercial break and – in boxing terminology – my opponent, who had been on the ropes, was saved by the bell.

I share that now ancient story to illustrate a point about the way the Democrats are responding to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and D.O.G.E. With 76% of the American people indicating in a recent Harvard-Harris poll that they support the cost-cutting measures being employed by the current administration, the Democrats are frantically flipping through their dog-eared playbook, desperately trying to come up with a gameplan to counter the GOP successes that have been dominating news cycle after news cycle.

And so, with nowhere else to turn, they have resorted to the same pack of lies and gross exaggerations that have dominated their party’s platform for the past 30 years.

“The Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare!”

“The Republicans don’t care about seniors and veterans!”

“The Republicans only want tax cuts for the rich!”

Lies… lies… and more lies. They weren’t true when Bill Clinton said them in 1992… and when Al Gore said them in 2000… and when Barack Obama said them in 2008… and when Hillary Clinton said them in 2016… and when Joe Biden said them in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.

And they won’t be true when Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, or Josh Shapiro says them in 2028.

The truth of the matter is that the GOP is the party of bright new ideas and looking boldly to the future, whereas the DNC is a bunch of boldfaced liars who are focused and fixated on the rearview mirror.

Just ask the Philadelphia Inquirer (or maybe not, since they threw me a bone in 2008 and aren’t due for another come-to-Jesus moment until 2028 at the earliest).