From the indigenous LGBT woman’s land acknowledgement that opened the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis to reaffirming the party’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Democrats sent a clear signal to Americans: Despite last year’s electoral drubbing and the dismal polling that has followed, they have no intention of recalibrating. 

One speaker told attendees that migrant crime and carjackings “don’t matter to that many Americans.” She sees President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime as a “power grab” and a “political liability.” 

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Remarks from DNC Chairman Ken Martin showed they’ve learned nothing from their defeat or their time in the wilderness. “I’m sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight,” he said. “We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore. We’ve got to stand up and fight. We’re not going to have a hand tied behind our back anymore.” 

Does Martin even hear himself?

After an alleged transgender person opened fire during a worship service at a Minneapolis Catholic School on the third day of the meeting, killing at least two children and wounding 17 other people, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made a remarkable statement to reporters: “I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community. Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity.”

The reality is that Democrats have been ignoring the rules since Trump declared his candidacy in 2015. After failing to prevent his victory, they sought to undermine his presidency. They used lawfare to try to jail and bankrupt him, and even tried to remove his name from the ballot in several states. It turned out the public noticed, and a majority of voters rejected those tactics at the ballot box. 

Dan Turrentine, cohost of the 2WAY Network podcast The Morning Meeting, once worked for the DNC. He attended the first day of the summer meeting and later told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that his party “keep[s] doing the same thing over and over again,” which he notes is “the definition of insanity. And as a Democrat, it’s maddening that we’re still not serious.” 

“We haven’t lost 4.5 million voters, nor is our brand at a historic low, because we don’t fight hard enough,” he told Ingraham. “It’s because we remain completely culturally disconnected and we have absolutely no agenda.”

He concluded, “We are not in good shape.”

Turrentine was citing a recent analysis from the New York Times showing that, over a four-year span, Democrats lost 2.1 million registered voters while Republicans gained 2.4 million. Multiple polls now suggest the party’s approval rating is in free fall, and its policies are increasingly out of step with everyday Americans.

But rather than course-correct, Democrats appear to be doubling down, clinging to a sense of moral virtue while defending principles most Americans reject. The result is a party that no longer even pretends to represent the working-class voters it once championed. Instead, it now serves a narrow circle of progressive elites concentrated in coastal cities and urban enclaves. 

Without the sword of Damocles hanging over Trump’s head in the form of a weaponized Department of Justice, an aggressive FBI, and the ever-leaking Mueller team, as was the case during his first term, Democrats now find themselves operating from a position of weakness. Unable to rein him in, aside from occasional blows delivered by district court judges, Trump now sits firmly in the catbird seat. 

The hot-button issue of the moment is crime. Trump’s effort to restore Washington, D.C., to its former glory has, by any measure, been a resounding success. The city is already safer, cleaner, and noticeably revitalized.

As the Trump administration weighs applying the same formula to other crime-plagued cities, Democratic governors have beclowned themselves by insisting that crime is falling — most notably Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

But few Americans believe them. After the Russia collusion hoax, former President Joe Biden’s health cover-up, the Hunter Biden laptop “disinformation” hoax, and more, the party has squandered its credibility. When journalists ask ordinary citizens whether they feel safer, their answer is simple: No.

Like an alcoholic who insists he can control his drinking if given just a little more time, Democrats believe that with just the right messaging tweaks, they can win back voters. 

Most recently, Democratic think tank Third Way released a memo listing 45 words and phrases Democrats should stop using immediately if they want to prevent voters from leaving the party. This exercise is eerily reminiscent of the endless revisions to the “Newspeak Dictionary” in George Orwell’s 1984. Among the banned terms: “the unhoused,” “person who immigrated,” “birthing person/inseminated person,” “intersectionality,” and “justice-involved.”

Unfortunately for Democrats, messaging is not their only problem.

By surrendering to its progressive wing, the party has changed so profoundly and alienated so many voters that returning to its glory days will be difficult, if not impossible. A pickle, after all, can never be a cucumber again. 

If Democrats were rational, they would pivot back to the center. A strategic recalibration could yield significant gains, perhaps even reclaiming the House in 2026, as history often favors the party that’s out of power.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S VIOLENT RHETORIC MUST END

Instead, consumed by their hatred of Trump, they appear determined to repeat what failed in 2024.

Democrats have again chosen what they see as “virtue” over winning back voters. We are watching the slow-motion collapse of a once-great party. The Democratic Party has become absurd.

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. She is also a Heritage Foundation Academy fellow. Follow her on X @stauffervaughn or LinkedIn.