Does anyone believe the Democrats have become moderate?

Probably not, but some go along with the gag.

This article is by Paul Kane, one the Washington Post’s many partisan leftists. It’s called, “Democrats shift to the right on some issues, portending lasting change.”

Kane’s first proposition — the “shift to the right” — is badly overstated. His second proposition — “lasting change” — is almost certainly incorrect.

Kane cites only two issues as to which, he says, Democrats have shifted to the right — immigration and crime. He doesn’t claim that the Dems have disavowed the rest of their radical woke agenda.

The only evidence Kane presents of a shift on crime is a quotation from Jackie Rosen, who is running for reelection in Nevada. A statement by one Democrat hardly supports the view of a shift by the party.

Far more telling is Kamala Harris’ refusal to disclose how she voted on a California referendum (Prop 36) to reverse a 2014 soft-on-crime initiative (Prop 47) that, as Ed Morrissey puts it, turned retail theft into a new industry in the Golden State. The new resolution would stiffen penalties and enforcement against theft.

Asked how she voted on this resolution, Harris responded:

I am not gonna talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it's the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or the other.

When the leader of the Democratic Party won’t say whether she voted to overturn a proposition under which shoplifting has become rampant, it’s ridiculous to claim that the Dems have shifted to the right on crime.

Thus, all that’s left of Kane’s claim of a rightward shift is the issue of immigration. Here, he is able to present evidence of a shift away from what was, in essence, an open-borders policy.

But does this shift portend anything lasting? I don’t think so.

Democrats always shift away from certain leftist positions during presidential elections. Consistently, the shifts become void after the election.

In 2020, Joe Biden posed as a moderate alternative to Donald Trump. After taking office he implemented something close to an open-borders policy and pushed for trillions in spending legislation.

In 2008, Barack Obama did not run as a leftist, yet he governed as one. To cite an example of his “evolution,” as a candidate he claimed to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. That position fell by the wayside during his first term.

Bill Clinton ran as a “new Democrat” in 1992. To some extent, he was. Yet, in his first year in office, he promptly proposed “HillaryCare.”

There is no reason to believe Harris will be more faithful to her campaign positions and posturing than her Democrat predecessors were. In fact, she might be even less faithful.

Campaign talk is for campaigns. Vice presidents are for four years.

Clinton and Obama selected running mates who, at the time, were viewed as center-left. Biden picked a hardcore leftist, but did so primarily to achieve racial/gender balance.

Harris picked one of the most radical governors in America. Other than her own radical past, there’s no more reliable indicator of how she will try to govern than Tim Walz.

Finally, let’s ask ourselves what lesson the Democrats will draw if Harris is elected. Will the lesson by (1) we won because we convinced the country we’re centrists; let’s be centrists from now on or (2) we got away with three-and-a-half years of left-liberal rule; we can get away with four more?

I’m pretty sure Democrats will draw the latter lesson. They don’t want to govern as centrists — it’s not who they are. Thus, they have every incentive to conclude that they can get away with governing as leftists.

Furthermore, this view will be consistent with the evidence. In 2022, against the odds, Democrats managed to avoid the widely predicted “Red Wave.” If the Democrats come through two election cycles unscathed — even when important economic indicators are against them — why shouldn’t they conclude that they can get away with just about anything?

In both cycles, Republicans will have devoted a huge amount of resources and energy to attacking Democrats for being woke. In the presidential election, they will have focused relentlessly on immigration.

In both cycles, Republicans will have come up short.

To borrow a timeless cliche, the dogs will have barked, but the caravan will move on — to new and exciting woke, left vistas.