Former Vice President Joe Biden is making it quite clear what the “values” are of the Democratic Party, speaking to the Human Rights Campaign annual dinner Saturday. “Forces of intolerance,” which he referred to as the “dregs of society,” is what he calls the supporters of President Donald Trump. This is quite reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s dismissal of Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables.”
Despite the fact that Trump told the Republican National Convention in 2016 that he would “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens,” Biden warned the pro-LGBT Human Rights audience that Trump “uses the White House as a literal bully pulpit,” callously “exerting his power over those who have little or none,” insinuating that Trump was somehow a threat to them.
Biden told the audience that he and former President Barack Obama had intended to refrain from attacking the Trump administration during his first year in office. “God forgive me. I could not remain silent after Charlottesville.”
While Biden and other Democrats sometimes make references to God in their speeches, the Democratic National Convention had a voice vote (which anyone watching on TV could tell that the anti-God Democrats won) on whether to mention God in their platform. When the chair ruled that God had won the vote, and would remain in the platform, the ruling was met with a large chorus of boos.
Biden expressed special pride in that he had come out publicly for same-sex marriage before Obama. Obama ran in opposition to same-sex marriage in 2008, but Biden said he had told Obama he would announce his own backing of same-sex marriage, if asked.
“We are in a fight for America’s soul,” Biden told the pro-LGBT crowd.
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While Biden is often given to hyperbole, even more so than most politicians, the continuing leftward lurch of the Democratic Party makes this remark — that we are in a fight for the soul of the country — seem mostly factual. Biden is not the only Democrat who has opted to take positions, such as same-sex marriage, that were considered so controversial as recently as 2012 that not even our most liberal president ever — Barack Obama — was willing to take a political risk in supporting.
How far left will the Democratic Party — and with it America — go? California is seen as a leader, if not the leader, in advancing the latest progressive cause. That state elected Ronald Reagan twice, and was still considered a reliably Republican state, continuing to elect Republican governors, for a few years after Reagan left the White House. Today, the Democrats enjoy a nearly 20-point registration advantage, and Trump’s approval ratings are in the low 30s there.
Because of this, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, the Democratic candidate for governor, has decided to snuff out what is left of the Republican Party in the Golden State. He has invaded historically Republican and conservative Orange County, seeking to turn that county blue, attending a Democratic Party rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday.
Reagan once said that Orange County was “where good Republicans go to die,” but Newsom is vowing to make “Orange” the “new blue.”
In words similar to those of Biden (a possible candidate for president in 2020), Katie Porter, one of the congressional Democrats that Newsom is supporting, described the values of the Democratic Party. “Folks in Orange County are counting on us to stand up for our values — Orange County values are American values.” Of course, the values expressed by the leaders of California’s Democratic Party would have seemed quite degenerate by most Americans, and even most Californians, less than a generation ago.
While many Americans dismiss California’s left-leaning politics, Newsom’s efforts are designed to tip the U.S. House of Representatives into Democratic hands. During the Huntington Beach rally, Newsom hailed Democratic businessman Harley Rouda, who is hoping to defeat incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher, a strong conservative who has served nearly 30 years in Congress. Rohrbacher has a 78-percent score on the Freedom Index of The New American magazine, which rates members of Congress on their fidelity to the Constitution. Newsom is also backing environmentalist candidate Mike Levin, whose race against Diane Harkey is considered a toss-up. Harkey is a Republican who has gotten the backing of President Trump, and she is hoping to take the seat presently held by Darrell Issa, who is not seeking reelection.
In addition to campaigning for congressional candidates, Newsom, who has enjoyed a huge lead over his Republican gubernatorial opponent John Cox, is also speaking at rallies for Democrats running for the California Legislature. Newsom has out-raised Cox by about five times, raking in nearly $50 million. The July RealClearPolitics average polling had Newsom ahead of Cox by 23.4 points, but recent Republican polls have the gap in single digits.
Experts on either side of the political divide believe that the contest to see who wins control of the U.S. House of Representatives is going to be very close, perhaps as slim as five seats either way. If so, what happens in these California races could well determine whether the Democratic “values” of Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom control the House after the November election.
As Biden said, we are in a battle for the “soul” of the nation.
Photo: AP Images
