The most common-sense Democrat in the Senate has a message for his fellow progressives. Will they ever listen?

Democratic Party strategists are always dreaming of an everyman progressive candidate, a plain-speaking, commonsense, regular old Joe with working-class appeal.

But like their pining for the left’s own Anti-Trump Donald Trump and the left’s own Joe Rogan, the Democratic Party already had all these, and more.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was the left’s version of Donald Trump, obviously. It’s too bad Democratic Party leadership was so dead set against Sen. Sanders as to cheat him out of the nomination. Not once, but several times.

Joe Rogan was the left’s answer to Joe Rogan — before far-left progressives policed him right out of the Democratic Party, and California, for wrongthink. Ditto Elon Musk, who left California and then the Democratic Party for the same reasons.

The Democratic Party also already has a great candidate who exemplifies all the things party leadership and liberal political analysts claim to want.

Sen. John Fetterman.

Fetterman, at times alone, is one of the few Democrats to consistently stand up to the extremist elements wrecking the Democratic Party.

That isn’t to say they thank him.

On the contrary. As Sen. Fetterman explained in an interview this week, hatred on the left is totally out of control. Anyone who says otherwise hasn’t examined the facts.

“You said, ‘I’ve drunk deeply of the venom of both the left and the right. As a connoisseur, I can confirm that the most poisonous, the bitterest, is from the far left.’ That is pretty remarkable to hear you say that as an elected Democrat,” began CNN host Dana Bash in an interview this week with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). “Why?”

“Yeah, you know, it’s just been my personal experience on this thing,” Sen. Fetterman replied frankly. “When I asked my digital team — we’re on all the platforms — I said, ‘What’s the harshest, what’s the most personal?’”

“The answer was immediate: They said, ‘Oh, Bluesky. It’s Bluesky.’”

Bluesky, of course, being the preferred social media milieu of far-left liberal progressives.

“And the difference is, I mean, the right would say really rough things and call me names — some I won’t repeat on TV — but on the left, it was like they want me to die,” Fetterman told Dana Bash. “They were cheering for my next stroke, saying things like, ‘That’s terrible that depression didn’t win,’ or, ‘I hope your kids find you.’”

“They even had a GIF of a stroke happening in someone’s head — cheering,” the Senator revealed. “And they said things like, ‘The doctor let us down. Why did they have to save his life?’

“I mean, just really — I can’t imagine people saying that,” Fetterman confessed. “Wishing death on you. Literally cheering for a stroke. I don’t know what kind of place that comes from. That’s much different than just calling me a name, and it’s been really consistent in that community online.”

And increasingly, it isn’t just online. There’s no point pretending the rise in left-wing political violence isn’t real. 

CSIS data shows left-motivated attacks have climbed steadily since 2016 and spiked again after 2020 — this year is on track to be the most active in decades. And layered on top of that is the explosion of antisemitic incidents since October 7. 

The ADL now records the highest levels ever documented, with a disturbing share coming from spaces that call themselves ‘progressive’ or ‘anti-racist.’ When a movement that preaches tolerance begins normalizing intimidation, vandalism, and outright attacks, it’s not activism — it’s a warning sign for the country.

Democrats should heed the warnings of Fetterman and others like him.

Before it’s too late.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)