There's a truckload of truth in the old political saw that the Democratic Party is the party of evil, while the Republicans are the stupid party.  But now it seems as though the Democrats are bound and possessed to be champions in both categories.  Please don't misunderstand me: although Donald Trump elevated the political I.Q. of the GOP significantly by himself alone, as a group the Republicans are still pretty obtuse.

Here we're going to discuss the Democrats, not Republicans.  Take Newsweek magazine.  Its cover story is "Bernie Sanders: Why Democrats can't win midterm 2018 without him."  This may well be true, for what else do the Democrats have?  They have come out against the strong economy and in support of MS-13 animals, and they have no policy ideas.  They have repeatedly shown more concern for illegal aliens than they do for middle-class Americans.  Nancy Pelosi is their face nationally, and they are relying on their hatred of Donald Trump to carry the day. 

This shows the fix the Democrats are in.  That they can't win without Crazy Bernie does not mean they can win with him, either.  Here's why. 

Sanders is running around the country, banging the pots and drums for his radical agenda – universal health care, tuition-free public colleges, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, and the latest: a guaranteed government for all.  The cost?  Cost be damned; Bernie is out for what he deems as "social justice," and this 76-year-old socialist makes no bones about it.

Wacky as Sanders's ideas are to conservatives, polls supposedly show they have a surprising amount of support.  For example, Newsweek cites a Washington Post poll saying 51 percent of American desire a single-payer health care (i.e., Medicare for all).  Another poll claims 63 percent want making state college tuition-free.  And two years after his defeat in the Democrat primaries, Sanders has a 57-percent approval rating according to a CNN poll.  Can any other Democrat match that?

I am as suspicious of polls as anyone.  History shows that in far too many cases, they're used by the liberal media to create attitudes in the public rather than to discover and report on attitudes.  But that does not distract from the fact that Bernie Sanders has a strong appeal, especially among the young. 

The Federalist, a conservative website, cites a poll showing nearly half of Millennials prefer socialism over capitalism.

We can all lament the ignorance of the Millennials as to what socialism actually is, but the fact remains these people vote.  And with the left dominating today's culture and educational institutions as it does, how are the Millennials going to be educated?  As Newsweek puts it: "The American public has become increasingly receptive to his [Sanders's] brand of democratic socialism." 

At this point in time, perhaps the greatest foe Sanders has is the Democrat organization, which is dedicated to identity politics and enmeshed with Hampton and Hollywood billionaires, Wall Street fat cats, and other establishment types.  This primary season has seen the Berniecrats – as they now call themselves – clash with establishment Democrats all across the country.  According to Newsweek, Sanders is batting nearly .500.  Out of 21 Democrat primary races so far, the ten candidates Sanders endorsed have won.  This is quite a decent showing, given that Sanders supports radicals and they are the insurgents. 

Say what you will about Sanders and his policies; the man can inspire and motivate that segment of the population that, for whatever reason, is amenable to his message.  My reading of the tea leaves, however, tells me that his appeal will fall flat among wide swaths of the mainstay of the Democratic Party – namely, blacks and Hispanics.  Sanders can energize his base, but that will come at a heavy cost elsewhere.

So far, Republicans and conservatives have been content to let Sanders be.  They have withheld their fire.  When they do open up, it is questionable how well the Berniecrat agenda will withstand a robust public debate.  My bet is that it won't.