NEWS AND OPINION:
There’s nothing homespun, reassuring or traditional about the Democratic Party any more, some say. Democrats and their policies are indeed in control right now — in the White House of course, along with the U.S. House and Senate and in many large, influential cities.
“The big problem is that this is not your parent’s Democratic Party. The far left progressives have taken control and are pushing policies that are out of the mainstream,” said Saul Anuzis, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and now president of 60Plus.
“We need some checks and balances. Electing a few more Republican House and Senate members will force bipartisan consensus on legislation and hopefully moderate the far left,” he said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“Complete Democratic control of government has been bad for America. Every voter feels the pain every week at the grocery store and every time they fill up their cars. Inflation is a tax on every American, driven by left wing, Democratic policies,” Mr. Anuzis advised.
Others agree. Nationally syndicated talk radio host Chris Plante has often told his listeners that the Democratic Party is no longer “the party of my mother” — and they’re not “liberal.”
They are now “leftists,” Mr. Plante has stressed repeatedly.
This mutation of the Democratic Party also has become a steady research topic in the last two years as well, explored by — among others — the Brookings Institute, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Nation and CNN.
“Democrats’ drive to the Left threatens their grip on power,” said a Morning Consult analysis of the trend, published July 26.
“New polling confirms Democrats’ left-leaning policies are out of touch,” reported The Hill on March 13.
REVENGE TRAVEL ON THE RISE
“Revenge travel.”
This handy new term defines a sizable increase in travel and tourism as fears of the coronavirus pandemic wane. Eric Jones, an assistant professor of mathematics at Rowan College South Jersey chose the questions and analyzed the results of a survey that reveals the extent of revenge travel.
It found that 81% of U.S. adults will travel this summer — and 42% overall plan to travel more this summer than they did last summer, when the number stood at 25%.
“The data suggests summer 2022 will be when more Americans get revenge,” Mr. Jones said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
Meanwhile, 80% of U.S. adults will take some sort of road trip this summer — that’s about 206 million Americans. The survey of 1,096 U.S. adults was conducted March 1 on behalf of TheVacationer.com, a consumer site.
AND SPEAKING OF TRAVEL
The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s tour division has just revealed it has organized a “Historic Estates & Presidential Legacies” tour which will center on Charlottesville, Virginia, and trace the “steps of our nation’s founders,” along with the homes of Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries in the area.
Yes, vineyards, private properties and “rustic Southern” cuisine are on the agenda.
The tour is set for November; find details at NationalTrustTours.com; enter the keyword “Charlottesville” in the site’s search function.
INDEPENDENTS SHORE UP A GOP VICTORY
The power of independents to ensure a Republican victory in the rapidly approaching midterm elections is genuine, according to a forthright poll conducted by National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour and Marist College.
If Election Day were “today,” 47% of the nation’s voters overall would go for the GOP candidate while 44% would support the Democrat.
The partisan divide is predictably stark: 93% of Republican voters would go for the GOP entrant while 92% of Democratic voters would support the Democrat.
Among independent voters, 45% would support the Republican candidate while 38% would pick the Democrat. Another 10% are unsure of their choice, while 6% would opt for another candidate.
In a similar poll conducted in November, Democrats had a 5 percentage-point lead. This is the first time in eight years that similar surveys have found Republicans with an advantage, the pollsters found.
“Just how doomed are Democrats in November’s midterms? It doesn’t take a statistician to read the writing on the wall — inflation sitting at 40-year highs, gas reaching an all-time high, a woke Democrat-education complex running amok, and an open border that’s triggered drug, humanitarian, and public health crises — and see that the party in power of the executive and legislative branches is in trouble,” wrote Spencer Brown, managing editor for Townhall.com, in his review of the numbers.
The NPR/NewsHour/Marist poll of 1,377 registered U.S. voters was conducted April 19-26.
CATTLE CALL
Just so you know: A wearable face mask for cows — designed to reduce their burped up methane emissions and slow down climate change — has won an award from a new design competition supported by Prince Charles.
The mask was developed by Zelp, a British design group, and won a top award in the Terra Cart Design Lab competition, which the prince launched in 2020 as part of his new global Sustainable Markets Initiative.
“Zelp’s solution allows cows to digest typical food, with the mask working to detect, capture, and oxidize the methane in the cow’s burps. A sensor at the tip of the masks detects when a cow exhales and the percentage of methane expelled,” reported Business Insider.
The developers, incidentally, received $63,424 to develop their cow mask further.
POLL DU JOUR
• 63% of adults in 27 countries worldwide say their country is “on the wrong track.”
• 32% worry about inflation, 31% worry about poverty, 29% worry about unemployment.
• 25% cite crime and violence; 24% cite corruption; 19% cite taxes or health care.
• 18% cite coronavirus; 14% cite military conflicts, climate change or education.
• 11% cited immigration control, 9% cited moral decline, and 8% terrorism.
• 7% cite extremism; 6% lack of social programs, and 2% “access to credit.”
SOURCE: An Ipsos/Global Advisor survey of 19,000 adults conducted March 25-April 3 in 27 countries and released April 29; respondents were asked to define the top three top worries in their nation from a supplied list.
• Helpful information to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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