The Answer Is: Democrats Don't Differ From Socialists Anymore

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09/11/2015 06:38 PM ET

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Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks at a news conference in Des Moines, Iowa. AP View Enlarged Image

Ideology: The head of the Democratic Party keeps refusing to say how her party differs from socialists. Why? Because she doesn't want to publicly admit the truth.

This summer, MSNBC's "Hardball" host Chris Matthews took Debbie Wasserman Schultz by surprise when he asked her: "What is the difference between a Democrat and a socialist."

For the head of the Democratic Party, that should be an easy enough question to answer. But she didn't. So Matthews asked again, and again, to no avail. Instead, Wasserman Schultz blathered on about how the GOP is captive to its extreme right.

A few weeks later, Chuck Todd tried to get her to answer the question on "Meet the Press." Again she refused. Asked a third time at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast for reporters, Wasserman Schultz replied: "I'll give you the same answer that I gave both of them." And then proceeded not to answer the question.

This isn't a game of gotcha. It's a legitimate question that deserves a straight answer. After all, self-described socialist Bernie Sanders is beating Hillary Clinton in some state polls for the Democratic Party nomination.

The reason Wasserman Schultz won't answer the question is because Democrats have moved so far to the left that there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two anymore. Look at Clinton's and Sander's views on the issues.

Both want to sharply hike the minimum wage. Both want to aggressively redistribute wealth in the name of "income equality." Both want to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United campaign finance decision. Both want free child care, paid family leave, more federal aid for college, amnesty, gun control, and so on.

And, as we've detailed several times in this space before, the IBD/TIPP Poll finds most Democrats on the fringe on almost every divisive political issue.

While 68% of independents want a smaller government, almost 60% of Democrats want a bigger one. Almost two-thirds of independents back mandatory deportation of illegals; an equal share of Democrats oppose it. Nearly 70% of Democrats think the government should provide health care to everyone; just a third of independents agree.

As Gallup's Frank Newport put it recently, "Democratic candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination face a significantly more left-leaning party base than their predecessors did over the last 15 years."

The next time a reporter asks Wasserman Schultz that question, they should demand an answer.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/091115-770713-democrats-have-moved-so-far-to-left-they-are-the-extremists.htm#ixzz3llThIndL
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