The Democratic Party sure could have used Mikie Sherrill in her bomber jacket on Tuesday night.
After witnessing the tone-deaf, performative spectacle put on by her colleagues, Mikie must be relieved she decided the skip the president’s address to Congress. Desperate to win back the middle by portraying President Trump as a petulant child, democrats waved signs in the air, interrupted the president’s speech, and walked out of the chamber. This was apparently their way of convincing voters they were the grown-ups in the room.
Mikie didn’t skip the address because her presence would “degrade democracy”, as she bizarrely claimed. She did it because she couldn’t afford to be lumped in with the deeply unserious people who have come to dominate her party’s platforms. That’s much too risky when you are running for governor. Much too risky if your military service is the alpha and omega of your campaign. To be forced to defend the seemingly infinite number of issues on which Mikie and her party are on the wrong side would be a distraction from the content-light, American Flag-waving charm offensive that has become her gubernatorial campaign.
And that actually makes good strategic sense, given the alternative.
Imagine having to explain to New Jerseyans why you refused to stand for a 13-year-old cancer patient.
Imagine having to explain to New Jerseyans why you refused to stand for a grieving family whose child was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant.
Imagine having to explain to New Jerseyans why you refused to stand for a girl who was permanently disabled after being forced to play sports against a biological male.
Imagine, as a loud and proud military veteran, having to explain – in your bomber jacket – why you refused to stand when the President of the United States announced we had finally apprehended the mastermind behind the Abbey Gate bombing, which killed thirteen of our troops during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
It would be tough to square that circle.
So to Ms. Sherrill: in the interest of being one of the grown ups in the room and supporting the quarter of a million New Jersey veterans you claim to be looking out for:
Condemn your party for their apparent willingness to hate a president more than a terrorist who killed our soldiers and Marines.
Otherwise, lose the bomber jacket and stop trying to convince us you are a different kind of Democrat.
