Beto Must Be Stopped: Let the Democrats Have Their Goldwater Moment
There is a temptation in some Republican and conservative circles (especially among NeverTrumpers) to view the entry of Beto O’Rourke into the presidential race with relief, or even some hope. Here is a Democratic candidate who actually admits to being a capitalist! And who, if he survives the primaries, will position himself as sort of an Obama-like moderate.
Don’t be fooled. Beto is just as dangerous as the rest of the hyper-leftist Democratic candidate pool, with the added problem of being able to raise gobs of money while appearing to be reasonable and occasionally sane.
But that’s not the only reason he should be stopped. O’Rourke’s election would continue the leftward slide of the country under the appearances of moderation. But the lack of moderation is the greatest gift the progressives are determined to give Republicans … and the country.
Remember 1964 and Barry Goldwater — staunch, intelligent conservative, clear thinker, savagely defeated presidential candidate? The attacks on Goldwater — He will defoliate Vietnam! — drove a panicked wedge into the American electorate that lasted nearly a generation … until Ronald Reagan again made conservative thought and action a reasonable mainstream idea.
The Democrats have arrived at their Goldwater moment. By offering a selection of candidates and embraced ideas so far off the American mainstream, they present the opportunity to bury progressivism (heck, let’s call it what it is: socialism) for a generation.
Never mind the hype of young people embracing socialism: 1. They don’t vote. 2. They don’t stay socialist.
My own daughters were as liberal as they come until they got their first paycheck and saw how much of THEIR MONEY the government was taking.
It’s been said, “If a person is not a liberal when he is 20, he has no heart; if he is not a conservative when he is 40, he has no head.” And another: “If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.”
These young people, millennials, will grow out of supporting guaranteed incomes, abolishing fossil fuels, slavery reparations, abolishing planes and cars, eliminating cow farts (and cows), retooling every building in the country for green energy and all the rest of the foolishness offered by Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders and the rest of the gang.
But an election that fully exposes that idiocy will let the American people drive that socialist nightmare underground for a generation. The Democrats want to run their socialist Goldwater.
We should encourage them.
Andy Blom is a political and policy professional who works out of Washington, D.C. and Hawaii.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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