Could a Conservative Democrat Challenge Hillary?

Written by Bruce Walker

Hillary sure looks like a weak candidate.  There are a few Democrats who may challenge her, but none of these will attack her for being too liberal or for being corrupt.  Instead we hear the weary refrains of Democrats needing to get tougher on Wall Street, to redistribute wealth, and so on.  It is as if the only two divisions in the Democrat Party are the left and the radical left.

Yet Gallup reports that only 44% of Democrats describe themselves as “liberal,” while 19% of Democrats call themselves “conservative” and 36% of Democrats call themselves “moderate.”  Outside the Democratic Party, the left is even weaker.  Only 21% of independents call themselves “liberal,” compared to 36% of independents who call themselves “moderate” and 33% of independents who call themselves “conservative.”

Hillary and her potential and actual rivals for the Democrat nomination from the left are out of step with ordinary Democrats.  This shows up most dramatically in the disconnect between labor union members, historic bedrock of the Democrat Party, and the environmental extremists who have captured the Democratic Party at the highest levels and in ordinary Californians, who are facing serious hardship because of these environmentalists who care more about odd species than the water needs of farmers and ordinary people.

This disconnect appears in other issues as well.  The police in America today are under siege, and although police organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police have sometimes supported Democrats, virtually no Democrat at the national level is defending them from spurious charges of racism and misconduct.  This is a pointed issue because the left is clearly trying to nationalize police conduct toward blacks, even in cities where the mayor is black and the police force is fully integrated.

Millions of these self-described “moderate” or “conservative” Democrats are military retirees or the family of these retirees.  The travesty in care provided by the Veterans Administration ought to be front and center in the Democrat nomination process, but has anyone in the Democratic Party at that level really said much at all or done anything serious?  What if a Democrat, supported by disgruntled blue-collar unions, police officers, and others made miserable by rampant leftism, decided to seek the Democrat nomination?

These are not the only Democrats betrayed by the leftist overlords of their party.  Only 47% of Democrats are happy with abortion policies in America today.  Remember Congressman Bart Stupak?  He was a pro-life Democrat who caved in to his party’s leadership on Obamacare with the promise that the pro-life position would be respected through the Stupak Amendment.  That now appears to have been a deliberate deception, and no leading Democrats are trying to represent the millions of ordinary Democrats who believe that there ought to be stricter controls on abortion.

Gallup Poll data shows that a whopping 90% of Democrats believe in God, and the overwhelming majority of these are Christians.  Which Democrat at the national level today is defending the assault on faith in the public square?  Which Democrat leader – former Secretary of State Clinton would be a good one to ask, if she ever takes questions – is making the unprecedented global persecution of Christianity a major policy theme?

Ordinary Democrats – blue-collar union members, police officers, veterans, pro-life Democrats, and religious Democrats – have no champion within their party.  What if someone entered primaries and caucuses and debates overtly taking a position in favor of economic growth instead of radical environmentalism, support for those who keep us safe like cops and soldiers, moderation of current extremist abortion policies, and respect for the Judeo-Christian heart of our nation?

The leftist establishment media would, of course, scream and howl and hiss, but this Democrat could bypass this establishment via Fox News, talk radio, internet news sources, social media, and other tools could allow this Democrat to state without static from the left what his specific agenda was and why this agenda was sensible and decent.

Moreover, this candidate could begin not only to needle Hillary about her vast ethical problems, but also to needle those Democrat rivals to Hillary who were also giving her a pass on these ethical issues.  The more the Clinton campaign flounders, the stronger this conservative Democrat would become as the only one willing to take her on.

Finally, when the primaries and caucuses came along, especially in states with open primaries, Republicans and independents could vote for this Democrat, possibly granting outright victories in some primaries and making Hillary defend herself as an extremist not only in the general election, but in the race for the Democrat nomination.

Not only could this make Hillary’s defeat likely, but it would force Democrats at the national level to seriously rethink their radical leftism.  That alone would be a great victory for conservatives in America.

Originally published at AmericanThinker.com.