When Democrats support radical and unpopular policy, WaPo, others think the story is Republicans ‘pouncing’

WaEx: It has been a bad week for the Democratic Party and an even worse one for the press.

Prominent Democrats, including some 2020 hopefuls, came out this week in support of fundamentally radical positions. So, naturally, newsrooms are trying hard to make the story about the Republican efforts to take advantage of this.

And I’m not exaggerating when I say some Democrats have gone full radical. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., for example, advocated Monday for the elimination of private health insurance. She also endorsed banning private ownership of cars. Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., continued this week to defend her wealth confiscation tax, lashing out in response to criticism her plan received from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz by accusing him of being a billionaire “ who [thinks he] can buy the presidency to keep the system rigged for” himself. Among the non-presidential candidates, Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam gave Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran’s ultra-permissive late-term abortion bill an enthusiastic two thumbs up Wednesday. The bill removes current restrictions on third trimester abortions, allowing for the terminating procedure to be performed even when the mother is dilating.

On Thursday, after a week of Democrats going further to the hard left, the Washington Post published a headline that reads, “Republicans seize on liberal positions to paint Democrats as radical.” The print version of the headline reads, “As Democrats talk liberal positions, GOP pounces.” The New York Times went with, “Trump, Pence Lead G.O.P. Seizure of Late-Term Abortion as a Potent 2020 Issue.”

There it is. There’s that dusty, well-worn “ Republicans pounce” trope. It never fails. In fact, newsrooms are so predictable when it comes to rolling out these “seize” and “pounce” headlines in the wake of Democratic debacles, that I’m convinced they do it now to troll right-leaning readers.  read more