How the Democrats became the “Party of Freedom”

Depending on your age, you probably remember when Republicans claimed the meaning of freedom. They fought against virtually anything in the name of individual freedom. It didn't matter how good a government program was, the fact that it was a government program at all meant that Americans were less free. And most people thought that way most of the time.

My goodness, how things have changed! When the U.S. Supreme Court roeit has seriously damaged the Republicans' reputation as the “party of freedom.” But dropping the ball, to use a football analogy, is one thing. It's quite another when the other team picks it up. That's exactly what happened last night at the Democratic National Convention. Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz ran 95 yards to score a point.

And threw the ball.

When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should have the freedom to invade doctors' offices. Corporations should have the freedom to pollute the air and water. And banks should have the freedom to take advantage of their customers.

But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love.

Freedom to make your own decisions about your health care.

And yes, the freedom of your children to go to school without fear of being shot in the hallway.

…

That is what it is about: the responsibility we have towards our children, towards each other and towards the future that we are building together and in which everyone has the freedom to build their lives the way they want.

Republicans had lost control of individual freedom since siding with a lying, thieving, whoring sadist. Donald Trump purged the “party of freedom” of high-minded principles. His demand for loyalty and the suppression of dissent led to mass conformity. Over time, every single Republican was trained to say the same thing at the same time for the same reasons – all in service of the “beloved leader.”

The Borg-like groupthink is usually underestimated, but real conservatives get it. They still believe in universal democratic freedom, even if Republicans no longer do. And I think Walz had them in mind when he spoke. His message: You haven't abandoned the Republicans. The Republicans have abandoned you. There's room for you with the Democrats.

I do not want to convey a one-dimensional meaning of freedom here. Walz offered a mixture of negative and positive freedom. Negative: Get government out of your bedroom and doctor's office. Positive: Make government take more responsibility for public health and safety. Walz is not the leftist Republicans expect voters to see. But his speech represents something new for voters just tuning in. It represents a kind of reorientation of the national consensus.

This process of realignment has been going on for some time. I would say the beginning was Barack Obama's second term and the end is, well, I don't know. But what is more certain is that Joe Biden is the bridge. He bridged the gap between two Democratic parties: one that was “neoliberal” and one that restored the class-warrior spirit of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Kamala Harris' presidency would be a continuation of this process, but Walz's speech is probably the most dramatic display of it yet. (I'm saying this now, but I may change my mind tonight after I see the vice president's acceptance speech.)

As I said, most people agreed with Republicans most of the time. This consensus empowered them to oppose virtually any government program. But that power had a necessary subtext, namely the presence in most people's minds of a government that actually crushed individuals to dust, namely totalitarian Russia. The Cold War ended in 1989, but its traces remained for decades.

Because of this subtext, Republicans could credibly accuse anyone who supported good government programs of being communists, socialists, or Marxists. Even though the “evil empire” is gone, they still do it. They said Harris' plan for “price controls” would amount to a communist takeover of the food industry. “Price controls” are a lie. She proposes a ban on price gouging, which is not the same thing.

But to be credible, Republicans needed their reputation as the party of individual liberty. They also needed to avoid becoming what they accused others of becoming. The Supreme Court has undermined the first point, but not enough attention has been paid to the second. The Republican Party has become a communist party.

That's why I think Ana Navarro's speech earlier this week was a natural complement to Walz's speech last night. As a journalist and co-host of ABC's “The View,” she is his target audience: a true conservative who feels alienated not only by the Republican Party's abandonment of individual freedom but also by its descent into totalitarian politics.

She said:

Donald Trump and his minions are calling Kamala a communist. I know communism. I fled communism from Nicaragua at the age of eight. I don't take this lightly. And let me tell you what communist dictators do. And it's never just for one day.

They attack the free press. They label them enemies of the people, as Ortega does in Nicaragua. They put their unqualified relatives in cushy government jobs so they can enrich themselves from their positions, as the Castros do in Cuba. And they refuse to recognize legitimate elections when they lose and call for violence to stay in power, as Maduro is currently doing in Venezuela.

Now tell me something. Does any of this sound familiar? Is there a presidential candidate who reminds you of it?