Difficult to defend

‘The Squad’ leaves Dems in a hard place

FOLLOWING more national division after our president’s tweets aimed at four progressive congresswomen, Democrats united to say he was wrong. Makes sense. If a president of the other party takes on yours, you defend.

But when one of the congresswomen starts pushing indefensible policy, that puts Democrats in a difficult spot.

Democrats are eager to retake the White House in 2020. And their odds depend mainly on how effective they can be at quieting down the far-left progressives so as not to scare off everybody else. Especially those of us between the coasts.

Some voters may be tired of President Trump’s attitude and habit of constantly picking fights. But that’s not nearly enough to drive them into the arms of $15 minimum wage, free college and double the debt. If most independents had to choose between a good economy with a combative president and giving the keys to Democrats eager to spend, spend, spend, enough will probably hold their noses and vote for Mr. Trump.

As they did in 2016.

So it doesn’t bode well for Democrats when one of the “squad” starts pushing anti-Israel policies. The majority of Americans still stand with Israel, whether due to strategic Middle Eastern valuable partnerships or because of shared religious and cultural values.

In March, Gallup found 59 percent of Americans still sympathize with Israelis over Palestinians in their never-ending conflict. So when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) pushed for a resolution supporting the right to boycott Israel, it didn’t take long for Democrats, especially centrist Dems in red territory, to get frustrated. Here’s more from Fox News:

“Omar’s resolution seeks to push back against U.S. laws banning the boycott of Israel and affirms the right of Americans to organize boycotts of foreign countries if they so wish. While the resolution doesn’t explicitly name Israel or the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, she told media outlets that the resolution concerns the Jewish state.”

If Democrats have any hope of taking back the White House or even keeping the House they won in 2018, they know any policies that can be construed as an attack on Israel aren’t helpful. And President Trump sees this very clearly.

And Rep. Omar is not a foolish woman. She knows how much discord this policy sows. Why push it? Are her constituents in Minnesota really pining for anti-Israeli policies? Who knows? We’re several states down to the south of that. We suspect that our delegation won’t support such a resolution.

But we do know that it has political implications. Just not the way Rep. Omar may intend.