My final falling out of like for Democrats
It is rare when an article I read motivates me beyond a letter to the editor, but one has led me to write an op-ed piece.
Several days ago, the eminent Harvard Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal titled: “Why I’m Becoming a Republican.”
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/
Let me first write why this topic so moved me.
I was a Democrat through about the age of 30, when Ronald Reagan caught my interest.
I read about him and his policies and saw all of the criticisms of him. And I became convinced that, like him, my once Democratic roots from my family seemed no longer compelling.
About the same time, I became a devotee in person to Dr. Thomas Szasz, whose skewering of the commonplaces of institutional psychiatry seemed unanswerable-a perception that has become even more firm as society-following Szasz’s death-casts away doubts about the overwhelming number of people who are allegedly “mentally ill.”
As time proceeded, I was not only persuaded by conservatism’s ethical bases but also by what I regarded as the conservative ethic by leaders in my field of rhetoric, primarily by Richard Weaver.
I became what I have been now for decades: an independent, largely due to the fact that I had so many friends in the liberal court, friends who disagreed with me but were civil and decent people. This included and includes Towson University’s Administration, a group of fine people who have protected me majorly from irresponsible vengeful disagreeing people who constitute but a small minority on Towson’s campus.
Back to today and Dershowitz’s piece.
In recent years, I have been struck by the irresponsibility of many many Democratic leaders, such as, but not limited to the evidence-free rantings and often subtle and not-so-subtle anti-Semitism of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and others.
For all of my youth, the Democrats were known as the defenders of Jewish people and Israel. But now I cannot find a strong supporter of Israel outside of Sen. John Fetterman, who wrote days ago: “As Democrats continue to abandon Israel, I’ll be the last man standing if that’s what’s necessary.”
Dershowitz’s article starts starkly but convincingly: “I first registered as a Democrat in 1959. The party’s hostility to Israel is too much.”
He goes on: “The Democratic Party has become the most anti-Israel party in U.S. history. Last week all but seven Senate Democrats voted for an arms embargo against the Jewish state, and an avowed enemy of Israel, Abdul El-Sayed, is gaining ground in the Democratic campaign for U.S. senator from Michigan.
“There is no denying that the hard left, anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party has moved from the fringe to the mainstream. Until recently there was an age gap, with younger voters more strongly opposing Israel, but recent polls suggest that the trend now includes Democrats of all ages. Republicans have their own antisemitic fringe, but for now it remains a fringe.”
Dershowitz remains more liberal than I on many issues. But one of his concluding remarks well summarizes his — and my — take on the Democratic Party, circa 2026: “They may moderate as they get older, but the trend among Democrats is unmistakable: a hard left turn that is most evident in changing attitudes toward Israel.”
Should I move to register as Republican?
Not Yet. Not Yet.
Richard E. Vatz https://wp.towson.edu/vatz/ is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political rhetoric at Towson University and author of The Only Authentic of Persuasion: the Agenda-Spin Model (Bookwrights House, 2024) and over 200 other works, essays, lectures, and op-eds. He is the benefactor of the Richard E. Vatz Best Debater Award at Towson. The Van Bokkelen Auditorium at Towson University has been named after him.