In three years, an American city will host a fierce competition among diverse teams. No, not the Olympics — the Democratic National Convention. Choosing a host city that can showcase the party’s strengths and mask its weaknesses will be an Olympian challenge.
Democrats face a fundamental problem: They have lost touch with the middle of the country. They own the coasts. But the so-called “flyover states” dominate the Electoral College, and those states are moving farther out of reach.
Democrats face a true dilemma. They desperately need a stage to prove they can govern, yet no obvious city offers safe ground.
In 2024, Democrats racked up California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington’s 105 electoral votes by an average margin of 58.2%. But across the remaining 46 states plus Washington, D.C. — worth 433 electoral votes — they managed just 121.
In the “flyover 80%” of America, Democrats won barely a quarter of the vote. That weakness is not a passing problem. If they continue to bleed support outside their coastal strongholds, they will lock themselves out of the White House for good.
Almost a year after their crushing defeat, Democrats remain adrift. Instead of rethinking their message, they cling to the same losing issues: abolishing ICE, defunding the police, hiking taxes, and promoting transgender extremism. The voters have spoken — and rejected all of it.
The numbers are brutal. A recent Wall Street Journal poll put Democrats at a 35-year low, with 63% of Americans holding an unfavorable view of the party. Other surveys tell the same story.
The problem goes deeper than branding. Democrats need more than a new message. They need new issues, new leadership, and a new standard-bearer. Before any of that, though, they need a place to sort out the wreckage.
Republicans have already picked Houston for their 2028 convention. Decision made. For Democrats, as usual, nothing comes quickly — or easily. Even choosing a city exposes the chaos inside the party.
The last 10 Democratic conventions were held in Chicago (2024), Milwaukee (2020), Philadelphia (2016), Charlotte (2012), Denver (2008), Boston (2004), Los Angeles (2000), Chicago (1996), New York (1992), and Atlanta (1988). Big cities, yes — but half were in states that Democrats already win with ease. Those venues provide a friendly reception but do little to help Democrats reconnect with the rest of America.
If Democrats want to matter in 2028, they need to focus on battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, or Nevada. Yet Milwaukee hosted just two conventions ago, and Philadelphia just three. Phoenix or Las Vegas might make sense, but neither city seems interested.
For now, the reported contenders are New Orleans, San Antonio, and Chicago.
New Orleans, colorful as always, may be too colorful: Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been indicted for using public funds to cover up a three-year affair with a cop. The city is also in Louisiana, which Democrats lost by 22 points.
San Antonio’s mayor, Gina Ortiz Jones, is also courting the convention. In a July 1 letter, Ortiz wrote: “Our city — bold, inclusive, and emblematic of the American future — would be a fitting and inspiring home for this historic event.”
Texas Democrats’ recent walkout over redistricting may endear San Antonio to the party’s national brethren, but Republicans have already claimed Houston. Also, Democrats lost Texas by 14 points.
Chicago wants another turn, even after hosting in 2024. But the city also has an enormous crime problem, a failing city government on the verge of complete collapse (wholly owned by Democrats, of course), and “America’s worst mayor.”
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Other reports suggest that Charlotte and Nashville are also interested. Charlotte, in a swing state, at least makes some sense. But Democrats were there in 2012. And both North Carolina and Tennessee sit in Democrats’ weakest region: the South, where they only carried Virginia in 2024 and lost Tennessee by nearly 30 points.
Democrats face a true dilemma. They desperately need a stage to prove they can govern, yet no obvious city offers safe ground. The last thing the party wants is to spotlight its own failures — crime, illegal immigration, defunded police, transgender sanctuaries, looming bankruptcies, punishing taxes, and mass flight from blue cities.
But nearly every Democratic stronghold tells that story.
The party doesn’t just need a reintroduction. It needs a reinvention. And if choosing a convention site proves this difficult, it signals how long — and how painful — that reinvention will be.
Who knew that simply enforcing the law could deter crime? Apparently, everyone but Democrats.
Democrats are furious over President Trump’s decision to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., and deploy the National Guard to restore order. Too bad. From California shoplifting to illegal immigration to crime nationwide, sometimes the obvious answer is the right one: Enforcement works.
Democrats didn’t oppose enforcement out of ignorance. They opposed it because they knew it would work.
In 2014, Democrats convinced Californians that their problems were the result of a broken justice system — one that incarcerated too many people and created “unconstitutional prison overcrowding.”
They sold Proposition 47 as the fix. The measure downgraded “certain low-level offenses, such as drug possession and thefts of property under $950, from potential felonies to misdemeanors.”
Californians bought it, passing Proposition 47 with 60% support. They paid for it dearly over the next decade.
Those “low-level offenses” became high-level problems. Shoplifting surged. Fewer drug prosecutions meant less mandatory recovery treatment, leaving addicts on the street, fueling homelessness.
By 2024, Californians had finally had enough. Proposition 36 was written to undo Proposition 47. Despite Democrat opposition, Proposition 36 passed with 71% support — and overwhelmingly in all 58 counties.
Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom first refused to include enforcement in his budget. It was only partially — and grudgingly — funded by Democrats who had opposed the measure.
Even without full funding, Prop. 36 has worked wonders.
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a recent interview:
We’re seeing a change, and we’re hearing about a change. First, law enforcement across California has been excited about having these new tools to go after the repeat thieves. And we’re hearing directly from the law enforcement officers that they feel emboldened again, empowered. They’re responding to calls that maybe they wouldn’t used to respond to, because now there’s the real potential for accountability.
We’re also hearing from the retailers themselves, the big-box stores, the mom-and-pop shops. They’re seeing a difference. They’re seeing a difference in day-to-day theft that used to be out of control prior to Prop 36. Because, you remember, prior to Prop. 36, somebody could come in and steal every day, ten times a day, every day of the week, and, as long as it was under $950, it was a ticket.
Since implementation, Prop. 36 has led to more than 3,000 felony arrests. Eighty percent of those had prior felony convictions, and 25% had convictions for violent felonies.
Remarkably, the enforcement that worked in California for shoplifting has worked with illegal immigration too.
Customs and Border Protection reported July’s nationwide encounters were the lowest ever: 24,630 — 90% below the monthly average under the Biden administration. Border Patrol apprehensions hit an all-time low of 6,177. The month averaged just 148 apprehensions per day, setting single-day record lows of 88 on the southwest border and 116 nationwide.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s April 29 report for Trump’s first 100 days showed 66,463 illegal aliens arrested and 65,682 removed — including 2,288 gang members, 1,329 accused or convicted sex offenders, and 498 accused or convicted murderers.
Nationwide crime statistics for the first half of 2025 showed similar results. Eleven of 13 major offenses dropped, with only domestic violence up and drug offenses unchanged.
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Homicides fell 17%, while aggravated assaults declined 10%, gun assaults dropped 21%, sexual assaults were down 10%, robbery was down 20%, and carjackings slid 24%. Residential burglaries dropped 19%, larcenies fell 12%, and shoplifting declined 12%.
For those on the left who say that nationwide crime was not Biden’s fault, the American people disagreed. According to RealClearPolitics’ average of national polling, Biden’s last approval rating on crime was 38% — below his 39% overall approval rating.
Democrats have repeatedly blamed amorphous “systems” for crime. For Prop. 47, it was “too much incarceration.” For the Biden administration’s border crisis, it was America’s “broken immigration system.” Biden even claimed he needed “new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed” — something he could have done from day one.
On the national level, they downplayed rising crime — even as Americans saw it firsthand and the FBI later revised its statistics upward.
Enforcement works. Everyone knows it, including Democrats — and especially the most liberal among them. That’s why they pushed for less of it: Prop. 47, open borders, “defund the police,” and “abolish ICE.” They only began to walk back those positions when the public rejected their manifest failures.
Democrats didn’t oppose enforcement out of ignorance. They opposed it because they knew it would work.
Americans love to blame politicians — and often with good reason. But the real power in this country doesn’t rest with the people we elect. It rests with the ones we don’t. Unelected judges now govern America. They don’t interpret laws. They rewrite them.
Activist judges have become the unelected elite now running our country, handing down rulings that override the will of voters, defy elected legislatures, and erase laws they don’t like.
One state is trying to protect life; the other is trying to shield those who end it. And a single judge gets to pick which law counts.
They employ manipulative language to justify their overreach. If you don’t comply, blood is on your hands. Whether it’s the environment, vaccine mandates, border control, or abortion access, the refrain is always the same: Submit to the ruling, or people will die.
The irony couldn’t be more blatant.
In many cases involving abortion policy, it is in fact judges’ rulings that cost lives — lives of the unborn babies impacted by their rogue, dangerous decisions.
Take the recent case in Tennessee, where a federal judge blocked a law that protected minors from being trafficked across state lines for secret abortions. The law didn’t punish women. It didn’t outlaw abortion. It simply required parental involvement, something the majority of Americans support. But for activist judges, parental rights are optional if abortion is the end goal.
In New York, another judge defied federal authority and openly refused to cooperate with Texas law enforcement to hold a doctor accountable for illegally prescribing abortion pills. One state is trying to protect life; the other is trying to shield those who end it. And a single judge gets to pick which law counts.
Meanwhile, a federal judge overturned efforts to defund Planned Parenthood nationwide, even after Congress passed clear budget restrictions. The elected branches — chosen by the people — made a decision. But it didn’t matter. The judge didn’t like it, so the ruling class overruled the people and prioritized its holy grail: abortion.
Judicial activism has turned the courts into abortion war rooms. Judges now see themselves not as interpreters of law but as defenders of an ideology that elevates abortion above the democratic process. Their rulings don’t reflect any laws. They reflect a commitment to abortion at any cost.
It’s not just dangerous. It’s undemocratic.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court is beginning to push back. In a recent ruling, the court clarified that district judges cannot issue nationwide injunctions and block federal policies. It’s a necessary and overdue correction. But it’s only the beginning.
RELATED: Judicial activism strikes again in 14th Amendment decision
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and gave power back to the people. In many states across the country, Americans responded by electing leaders and passing laws to protect the unborn. But today, activist judges are overriding those efforts, blocking pro-life laws and shielding abortionists from accountability.
We need judges who apply the law, not rewrite it. Until that happens, every unborn child, every woman in danger of being exploited by the abortion industry, and every citizen fighting for life will remain at the mercy of unelected rulers.
The Dobbs decision was only the beginning. Now we must press forward to ensure that the will of the people is honored and the most vulnerable among us are finally protected.
When one of Donald Trump’s strongest voting blocs starts to fall off after just six months of a largely successful second term, it’s time for some soul-searching.
Not just because the midterms loom or because 2028 is already on the horizon. The demographic in question — young men — will shape, defend, and lead this country well beyond the next election. If they’ve grown too cynical to bother, the rest of us may be left holding the bag.
When the past and present betray a generation, expect that generation to reshape the future.
Trump’s 2024 performance with 18- to 29-year-old men marked the best Republican showing since George W. Bush won that demographic in 2004 — the last time the GOP won the popular vote. Young men backed Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, then defected to Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Bush 43 pulled them back temporarily, but by the time Obama, Hillary, and Biden came along, Democrats had captured their hearts — and their votes.
Yikes. That’s no way to live. Yet today’s young men are angrier, more cynical, more disruptive — and more serious. They don’t want to “save” Social Security. They want to be saved from it. They aren’t starting out wide-eyed like the Boomers. They didn’t get the luxury of being idealists first and realists later. They started with realism, forged by debt, disillusionment, and betrayal.
These young men want a way of life back. They want accountability for the people who stole it from them.
The average 25-year-old white male is already more “based” than his Reagan-voting grandfather ever was or ever could be. And he’s not finding any comfort in Fox News. So the question is: Will anyone offer him a white pill before he plants the flag of “I just don’t care any more” at the 50-yard line of American life?
This generation won’t follow unless they’re given a mission worth sacrificing for. Trump’s brand won’t carry them forever. They can’t afford homes. They can’t find wives who aren’t steeped in feminist dogma. They can’t compete in a DEI-rigged job market. And now they’re expected to watch the people who ruined their future skate by without consequences?
That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.
Young men like my son don’t want slogans. They want justice. They want our leaders to treat domestic traitors at least as ruthlessly as we’ve treated our allies in trade negotiations. They’ve seen enough memes. If the memes don’t end in prison time, they’ll see them as mockery. They want consequences — and they want them handed out with severe prejudice.
That’s the instinct of men who’ve been cornered for too long. Dread it, run from it — it’s coming. Unless we offer them something better, they’ll start making something worse.
Don’t count on them to keep voting Republican just because the Democrats are just that bad. That’s a losing bet. These young men reject the old paradigms — left, right, Reagan, Bush. Whatever. They’ve even begun questioning the biblical dispensationalism that guided American foreign policy for decades.
When the past and present betray a generation, expect that generation to reshape the future.
Our shot at shaping that future is now. If we fail to hold the deep state accountable yet again, then we’d better produce an economic boom big enough to distract from the urge to burn everything down.
We’ve convinced ourselves that soft, passive men define the modern male. But history — and nature — doesn’t work that way. Sooner or later, the animal comes roaring back — and a new generation rises, looking to settle scores.
Better get ready.
Let’s face the truth. Being Jewish is a marvelous way of life, but it is also a very dangerous one. Jews need to wake up to the fact that there are imminent threats to their safety seemingly everywhere now in our country: in their homes, workplaces, synagogues, community centers, schools, and wherever else they happen to be.
FBI hate crime statistics against Jews are now at the highest they have been in decades. Just in the past several weeks, there have been two high-profile anti-Semitic attacks in America: the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21 and the Molotov cocktail attacks against Jews at a pro-Israel event in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1.
Jewish gun ownership isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Don’t wait. Do it now.
But the truth is, these incidents are not unusual. They are becoming all too common. Anti-Semites from both the radical left and radical right are out for Jewish blood. Their violent, unhinged anger is not going away any time soon.
It is also chilling how many Americans, especially in the younger generations, believe that violence is justified in the name of their political ideals. This is evidenced, for example, by the astonishingly high percentage of younger Americans who sympathize with Luigi Mangione in the murder of a health care executive.
Although Mangione’s case has nothing to do with Jews, it’s indicative of what people think are reasonable forms of activism. Increasingly, people believe that killing innocents is justified and normal.
The fact is, plenty of radicals blame “the Jews” for whatever they happen to be angry about that day — whether it’s the conflicts in the Middle East, America’s economic support for Ukraine, capitalism, globalism, woke ideology, high prices, or whatever else. Both sides have their reasons for wanting to see Jews dead.
Now that we recognize just how precarious Jewish lives have become, American Jews have two solutions going forward. The first is to rely on government to protect us. How is that working out, though? While many attacks are foiled by law enforcement, plenty still slip through the cracks. Unless we’re prepared to turn America into a full-on Orwellian surveillance state that watches everyone’s every move and strips basic freedoms from all, dangerous people will always slip through.
The second solution is more reasonable: Jews must become more self-reliant. That means becoming armed.
Unfortunately, American Jews are among the groups least likely to own guns. According to a survey from the American Jewish Committee, Jewish gun ownership is around 10%. Compare that to roughly 32% for the general population, according to Pew. And the AJC also found that 70% of Jews support strict gun control laws.
The irony is maddening. Jews face greater threats than most, yet they oppose the very means of self-defense they need most. This needs to change.
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Jewish Americans need to buy guns, seek firearms training, and carry legally. Synagogues and community centers should sponsor training workshops and allow lawful carry on premises. They should also build neighborhood watch teams and community security groups.
Most American Jews live in the three most virulently anti-gun states: New York, New Jersey, and California. They need to support state-level reforms to restore the God-given right to self-defense as America’s founders intended.
Two things stand in the way. The first is hoplophobia — irrational fear of guns. Many Jews treat firearms as inherently evil simply because bad people use them. They need to understand good people use them, too.
The second obstacle is uncertainty. For those unfamiliar with gun culture, it can be daunting. But help is easy to find. NRA-certified instructors are available across the country. The NRA website has a full directory. And several excellent Jewish gun-rights organizations already exist — including Cherev Gidon in the Catskills and Magen Am in Los Angeles.
Jewish gun ownership isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Don’t wait. Do it now. Your life, your family, and your community may depend on it.
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