It has long been clear that when Democrats and their media allies fret about “the state of democracy,” they are really only concerned about not getting what they want.
Speaking at Hamilton College on Thursday, former President Barack Obama accused the nation of being inadequately protective of democracy — by which he meant, of course, inadequately committed to the priorities of the Democratic Party.
“The most important office in this democracy is the citizen, the ordinary person who says, ‘No, that’s not right.’” he said to applause. “I do think one of the reasons that our commitment to democratic ideals has eroded is that we got pretty comfortable and complacent.”
Of course, no one should understand better than Obama, twice elected president by significant margins, that citizens executed the responsibility of their office in resounding fashion last November. And in return, President Donald Trump has delivered on the agenda he laid out to voters: deporting illegal immigrants, dismantling federal agencies, rolling back radical progressive social policy, deregulating the economy, forcing NATO allies to prioritize defense spending, and, yes, slapping tariffs on trading partners.
Indeed, Trump has followed through on the promises he made to the voters who elected him comprehensively and swiftly. The only possible blip came when Trump ordered a military strike on Yemen, which could be perceived as being contrary to his commitment to “no new wars.” But given the success of the mission, even that’s a stretch.
If a healthy democracy is one in which free and fair elections produce leaders who do what they promised, then American democracy is thriving.
Of course, Obama was right in a different sense. Democrats had become complacent in recent years, but toward the will of the voters, not democracy. Throughout the Biden era and well into the 2024 election campaign, they ignored voter sentiment and pressed ahead with an unpopular agenda. This was especially true about immigration and border security, inflation, and the influence of woke ideology on culture.
Despite record numbers of illegal crossings and rising public outcry, Democrats, led by the Biden White House, allowed the crisis to spiral out of control without lifting a finger. In December 2023, illegal crossings reached new record highs, with U.S. border officials processing over 300,000 migrant encounters at the southern border — enough people to fill up Yankee Stadium six times. In February, a Monmouth poll found that 61% of people felt the border crisis was a “very serious issue.” Yet the Biden administration sat on its hands, waiting to act until June when it became clear the issue jeopardized his reelection campaign.
On inflation and the economy, which registered as the top issue for voters in poll after poll — an April 2024 Associated Press poll found 77% of people viewed the economy as a “top issue” for the government to address — Democrats made every effort to pump more money into the economy, exacerbating the issue. They then brushed off concerns, assuring voters the pain was merely “transitory.”
ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS BULLY HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES
Democrats were equally “complacent” in the face of growing concerns that cultural progressivism was poisoning the minds of children. Throughout the Biden era, they pushed policies promoting gender ideology — including transgender participation in women’s sports and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in schools — despite warnings from the public that it had gone too far. Rather than respond to voters concerned by these moves, Democrats called them bigots and pushed ahead. The Biden Justice Department even went so far as to label parents voicing these concerns at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.”
Democrats want the country to believe that democracy is on the brink of collapse. But the system is working exactly as intended. They’d be better off convincing more voters to join their cause. After all, isn’t that how democracy is supposed to work?
