Will the far-left target Hispanics next? If that sounds far-fetched, then you have not been paying attention to the far-left. Now targeting American Jews for supporting Israel’s right to self-defense and Israeli hostages’ right to freedom, how will far-left extremists react as Hispanics continue to desert President Biden and the Democrats?
The far-left do not care if they drive people out of the Democrat Party.
The far-left have taken it upon themselves to be the Democrat Party’s bouncers. The Democrat party is not the most tolerant of venues: ask any pro-life Democrat — if you can find one. And the more to the left the party moves, the less tolerant they become. (READ MORE from J.T. Young: Moderates Are the Left’s Enablers)
Least tolerant of all in Club Democrat are the far-left, who call themselves “progressives.” Show them anything they see as unruly behavior, and they will show you the door.
Just how far progressives are willing to bounce those they deem objectionable is illustrated by the case of black conservatives. Long content to bar them from Club Democrat, progressives have even sought to bar them admittance to Club Black as well. If they are unwilling to pay progressives’ cover-charge, they do not get admittance into progressives’ identity-group politics either.
Currently, progressives’ wrath is being expended on American Jews. Overwhelmingly Democrat and largely liberal (according to a 2020 Pew Survey, 71 percent of American Jews identified themselves as Democrat and 50 percent as liberal), Jews would appear to have been outside of progressives’ ken of concern.
And then came the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. As soon as Hamas attacked Israel, progressives did too — as well as those who dared to stand with Israel. That this would create friction with preponderantly-Democrat Jews did not matter to progressives. Instead, the more Israel has sought to defend itself, and the more American Jews have called out Israel’s plight, the more anti-Semitic progressives have become.
So, what will happen to Hispanics if they should follow through on polling that is showing them abandoning Biden and the Democrats?
A recent Fox Newspoll demonstrates just how great this erosion of Hispanic support is. Biden’s job approval among all respondents was negative: 40 to 59 percent; among Hispanics it was slightly more so: 38 percent to 60 percent. And among Hispanics, the 17 percent strongly approving of Biden’s job performance was dwarfed by the 45 percent strongly disapproving.
Hispanics’ favorability rating of Biden was essentially just as bad: 38 percent favorable to 61 percent unfavorable, with 21 percent strongly favorable to 46 percent strongly unfavorable.
Most damaging of all was how Hispanics indicated they would vote in a Biden-Trump rematch. In a two-race, Biden trailed Trump 47 percent to 51 percent among Hispanic respondents. In a five-way race (adding in third party candidates Robert F. Kennedy and Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein), Biden fared even worse, trailing Trump 36 percent to 43 percent. (READ MORE: Biden’s Margin of Error Is Gone)
Just how bad for Biden this Fox News polling of Hispanics is, compare it to their 2020 vote. CNN 2020 exit polling showed Latinos voting almost two-to-one for Biden: 65 percent for Biden versus 32 percent for Trump. Just comparing today’s Fox News polling results from a two-person rematch (which produced the better result for Biden) to the 2020 exit polling data and Biden has lost 18 percentage points among Hispanics — well over a quarter of his Hispanic support of three years ago.
If Hispanics followed through at the polls in 2024 the way they are answering the polls in 2023, expect progressives to be apoplectic. Such behavior would put them into the same category of apostasy as black conservatives. To progressives, such Hispanics would become not simply personas non grata, but non-persons (just like the 12 percent of blacks who voted for Trump in 2020).
Do not think for a moment that progressives would hesitate to turn on Hispanics the same way that they have turned on black Conservatives for decades or American Jews today.
The far-left do not care if they drive people out of the Democrat Party: after all, it is their policies — Defund the Police, environmental extremism, Open Borders, inflation, uncontrolled federal spending, and more — that are driving these people to turn away now. Ideological purity does not come cheap, so why not put the cost on someone else’s tab? (READ MORE: Democrats Begin Scapegoating Biden)
Hispanics should be prepared. progressives liked you while you toed their ideological line. It’s a different story when you don’t. As black conservatives and American Jews can attest, it is not pleasant when the progressive bouncers come. When they yell “closing time!” they mean it.
The author was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987-2000, served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001-2004, and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004-2023.