Over in the WSJ this morning, Peggy Noonan encourages Joe Biden not to run, as the new Democrats will try to destroy him. I think she is mostly spot on, but it’s this diagnosis of the new Democrats that is worth discussing. A few years ago, Dr. White asked us Bereans if a Christian could be a Democrat.* I remember hemming and hawing and saying something to the effect that yes, one could, and hopefully be an agent of change. Its getting harder to say that, because of this mood that Peggy Noonan notes:

In the old party of classic 20th-century Democratic liberalism, they wanted everyone to rise. Those who suffered impediments—minorities, women, working people trying to unionize—would be given a boost. There’s plenty to go around, America’s a rich country, let the government get in and help.

The direction, or at least the aspiration, was upward, for everybody.
The mood of the rising quadrants of the new party is more pinched—more abstractedly aggrieved, more theoretical. Less human. Now there’s a mood not of Everyone Can Rise but of Some Must Be Taken Down. White people in general, and white males in particular, are guilty of intractable privilege. It’s bitter, resentful, divisive.

We are right to lament the direction in both parties, but I suspect the Republican party is more redeemable as the locus of its problems is in one man, Donald Trump. One day he will no longer be the president and there will be a new contest to define the party. And even in the interim, many of his policies are good even if he is not a good man. But the Democrats are heading a different direction, with pretty much all bad policies, and with some leaders that are almost trying to out-Trump Trump in nastiness all trying to take them there. Seems like one of them will get them there. And given that it will take a while for them to assume power, implement power, and the rest of us to feel the ill-effects of it, they may be there for quite a bit longer.

BTW, I listened to much of Howard Schultz’s town hall on Fox last night, and in an era where there is so little civility, his discussion was a breath of fresh air. Definitely the old school type Democrat. I wish his candidacy the best; we could certainly do worse given the climate noted above. Too bad for me that he’s pro-choice.

* EDIT UPDATE: Given some of the comments, let me add context. This question was part of a BATG chapel prior to the last election, and Dr. White wanted our students to understand how more mature Christians thought about politics. Since many conservative Christians do think its hard to be a Christian and vote Democratic, it was a good question to ask, IMHO. But I don’t disagree with one commenter that a better question is “should a Christian vote Democratic.” My answer hemmed and hawed because I did then, and do think now, that it is hard to be both a Christian that thinks biblically about public policy and vote Democratic, but I didn’t want to explicitly say no you can’t be a Christian and vote Democratic. So I answered then, of course you can vote Democratic and be a Christian. There are all sorts of “it depends” issues. However, as the Democratic policies are getting increasingly radical, it is getting harder to even say this—and that is the heart of this post. For those that want to criticize, please answer the question: Does the current shift leftward in Democratic positions make it easier or harder or no different to support them? I doubt many of you will deny my conclusion that it is getting harder to support them, nor will you deny that the direction they are going is a direction away from honoring God. If you do deny it, please provide your rationale.