Why Does the Left Resort to Ad Hominem Slurs?
You want to see what the Left’s policies look like in action, look no farther than California, Illinois, and New York where people and businesses are fleeing in droves.
In follow-up to my piece from Sunday night, “We Can No Longer Ignore or Dismiss What the Left Is Doing to Our Kids," I wanted to answer the vital question: why does the Left resort to ad hominem slurs against the Right embellishing “threats to our democracy” instead of good, old fashioned policy debates? The simple answer is because they know the substantive political agenda they support is wildly unpopular with a majority of Americans. Thus, their only hope for winning elections and securing power to force that agenda on us is to demonize the Right and its leaders.
Think back to how they’ve spent ten years labeling Donald Trump a Nazi, Hitler, dictator, authoritarian, and despot, not to mention the zealous lawfare they used to try to imprison him. Barack Obama said we “cling to our guns and religion.” Hillary Clinton called us “deplorables.” Joe Biden referred to us as “extreme MAGA Republicans” and “semi-facists.” Kamala Harris decried us as “MAGA extremists.” They did that because they knew trying to defeat him/us by arguing against his/our substantive agenda wouldn’t work and would require them to openly support unpopular policies.
Take immigration. Trump clearly and unequivocally stated his agenda to shutdown the border, secure it, and deport illegal immigrants. Instead of attacking those positions directly by simply admitting they support unpopular positions like open borders and amnesty for illegal immigrants, the Left attacks Trump personally, including fomenting two assassination attempts against him.
Here are the popular policy issues pushed by the Right followed by what the Left really wants to do, which aren’t popular actions among Americans:
Shutting down the border, securing it, and deporting illegal immigrants VERSUS opening the borders and giving amnesty to illegal immigrants;
Securing elections so that only U.S. citizens who show identification can vote VERSUS having elections in which anyone, including illegal immigrants, in America can vote in any way they want;
Supporting carbon-based energy like natural gas, oil, and nuclear power VERSUS killing carbon-based energy sources and gas-powered vehicles, as well as forcing the adoption of wind and solar energy sources and the driving of electric vehicles;
Pushing for lower taxes and fewer regulations on businesses VERSUS enacting higher taxes and more regulations on businesses;
Backing tough on crime policing, prosecuting, sentencing, and jailing criminals VERSUS endorsing soft on crime ideas in which law enforcement is defunded, prosecutions are declined, sentences are lightened, and jailing is avoided, if possible;
Giving kids in failing schools opportunities to succeed in charter, private, or parochial schools VERSUS locking kids in failing schools in which few learn to read or do math at expected levels;
Governing by the executive and legislative power via constitutional mechanisms VERSUS advocating for judicial imperialism in which lower court judges issue national injunctions on any executive branch action and, if the Right has a majority on the Supreme Court, then packing the court with new, liberal justices who will sanction the Left’s unpopular agenda;
Recognizing the 9th and 10th Amendments in which states should exercise control over much of our lives with the federal government focused on core constitutional powers like defense, foreign affairs, and international trade VERSUS centralizing power in the federal government with unelected bureaucrats in the administration state controlling most areas of our lives;
Defending U.S. sovereignty against incursions by supranational organizations like the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) VERSUS deferring to supranational organizations like the UN and WTO; and
Yes, protecting minors from the transradical agenda in which medical actions on minors are prohibited and sports and bathrooms remain safe VERSUS fully adopting the transradical agenda in which minors are given puberty blockers and surgically altered, biological boys and men play against girls and women in sports, and biological men use women's bathrooms.
With this list of policies comparisons, it is now wonder the Left chooses rhetoric and violence over substantive political debate to win the hearts and minds of a majority of Americans.
You want to see what the Left’s policies look like in action, look no farther than California, Illinois, and New York where people and businesses are fleeing in droves. You want to see what the Right’s policies look like in action, look to the states where the exodus of Blue state people and businesses are fleeing to like Florida and Texas. We can see where the Left’s policies are taking us by looking to see how European nations governed by those policies are doing. Germany and France? Both are dying slow deaths via economic stagnation, mass immigration of hostile people, and deference to bureaucrats in Brussels and The Hague. There is a reason Europe hasn’t produced new global companies like Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, or Google just as there is a reason Texas is rapidly becoming the home of Fortune 500 headquarters and finance.
P.S. Lightcast issued it latest Talent Attraction Scorecard for 2025 which ranks the states, major cities, and smaller cities based on the factors in the above picture. You should take a minute to dig into the rankings, as the data rich rankings and accompanying maps are very revealing. Not surprisingly (except to JobsOhio and Establishment Republicans in Ohio), Ohio is ranked #43 among the states. Not one Ohio city is among the top fifty in any ranking, with most ranked below the 500th spot (Akron at #625, Canton at #700, Cincinnati at #492, Cleveland at #809; Columbus at #362; Dayton at #566, and Toledo at #689). As you can see, the South from Texas to Florida, the Mountain West, and the Southwest states of Arizona and Nevada are thriving when it comes to attracting talent. The Midwest, New England, and Left Coast are not. As I’ve previously noted, based on the 2020 U.S. Census, Ohio lost over 700,000 citizens ages 10-54 since 2000. Those up-and-coming workers and current workers are the talent that other states are attracting to Ohio’s detriment.
Coworking Cafe also issued its ranking of top U.S. cities driving tomorrow’s economy. Again, not one Ohio city made the list. Indianapolis, Indiana, and Jersey City, New Jersey, are the only cities east of Colorado and north of the Mason Dixon Line to make the list. Florida, Arizona, and Texas dominate the list, with California still running on the fumes of Silicon Valley. When will Ohio policymakers get their heads out of their derrieres and realize Ohio must adopt a bold colors, Reaganesque policy agenda to turn it from a dead state walking to a thriving state winning the race among the states?
