On Monday, a writer for The New York Times, panicked that the GOP will effectively attack the Democratic Party in 2020 for their embrace of infanticide, anti-Semitism, and race toward socialism, wrote that the GOP effort was “meant to strangle the new Democratic majority in its infancy” and that the GOP was using “hardball tactics.”
Writer Sheryl Gay Stolberg tried her best to limn the Republicans as malevolent, asserting that they “demonize” Democrats. She began her desperate defense by writing:
In the 116th Congress, if you’re a Democrat, you’re either a socialist, a baby killer or an anti-Semite. That, at least, is what Republicans want voters to think, as they seek to demonize Democrats well in advance of the 2020 elections by painting them as left-wing crazies who will destroy the American economy, murder newborn babies and turn a blind eye to bigotry against Jews.
Stolberg asserted that the GOP effort to target the Democrats for their support of abortion and socialism was “set in motion this month by President Trump” at his State of the Union Address, when he referenced “new calls to adopt socialism in our country” and termed legislation from Democrats in New York and Virginia as permitting “a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.” Stolberg said Trump had “mischaracterized” the Democrats’ legislation.
Stolberg cited the GOP targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for her anti-Semitism and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” as socialist.
One wonders if Stolberg has a problem with the GOP simply stating facts…
Stolberg wrote, “Democrats see an insidious effort to use women and minorities, especially women of color, as the new symbols of the radical ‘other.'” Then she quoted Ocasio-Cortez claiming, “I guess they used that argument to its end, and so they have to find someone new. And who else to use except folks like myself and other freshmen congresswomen? We’re least like them in every way possible, so I think it’s a potent symbol.”
Stolberg interviewed Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who confirmed that the GOP would indeed target Democrats over all of the aforementioned issues. He stated, “Socialism is the greatest vulnerability by far that the House Democrats have,” and asserted that he had urged his team to focus on “all the extreme wild ideas” that Democrats pursue “on a daily basis, on an hourly basis if it’s available.”
Stolberg wrote that the GOP had seized on a draft of the “Green New Deal” that contained outrageous phrases such as urging economic security for “all who are unable or unwilling to work.” She referred to the draft as one of several “Democratic stumbles,” noting that Ocasio-Cortez later deleted the draft after criticism abounded.
Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and former Trump White House official, confirmed Stolberg’s fears, saying. “Democrats have handed Republicans this messaging on a silver platter … All these controversies dovetail perfectly with the president’s messaging at the State of the Union.”
Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois, the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, blustered, “Washington Republicans are set back now, and all they’re playing on is exaggerations and fear.”
Emmer summed up simply, “This is all about compare and contrast.”