It was 176 years ago, in October of 1854, that a British light cavalry brigade exhibited tremendous courage, never to be forgotten, on a Crimean War battlefield. In what became known as the Charge of the Light Brigade, over 600 cavalrymen rode into the “valley of death.” It was a frontal assault against Russian artillery which, unfortunately for the Brits, was well prepared for them. The withering direct fire claimed tremendous casualties, eventually forcing the cavalry to retreat. While the brigade knew beforehand the wall of fire it would encounter that day, the assault was totally unnecessary—the tragic result of a misunderstood order.

As we face congressional elections this November, one senses it is the Democrat party that is riding into the valley of death. Unlike the light brigade that knew beforehand what it faced, it appears the Democrats are totally clueless. If its leaders had a clue, would they not have recognized the strategic error they have made in failing to reset the party’s ideological compass? Have they misunderstood what its members really need?

While the light brigade had both knowledge and courage, the Democrats’ leadership can claim neither. And to even suggest its failure to change the party’s ideological bearing is courageous simply confuses courage with stupidity. There is absolutely no way to view clinging to unpopular beliefs as anything other than a motivation for power at any price, rather than acting in the country’s best interests.

It was a misunderstood order that was the brigade’s undoing; it is misunderstood voters who may be the basis for the undoing of the Democrat party’s power play in the upcoming elections. Such an undoing must be weighing heavy on the minds of Democrats as NYC democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani recently learned his September 20-point lead has now been cut in half. And, in the race for governor in New Jersey—a state in which Democrats have held the office for all but eight years since 1990—it has come down to a one-point lead by their candidate.

If you remember the “tough guy” character Fonz from the 1974–1984 television comedy “Happy Days,” you will remember he had difficulty accepting responsibility when it came to admitting, “I’m wrong.” Despite the Democrat party receiving the lowest polling numbers in 35 years from voters, its leaders continue to remain on the wrong side of issues that are near and dear to them, unwilling to say “We were wrong.”

While they blindly support illegal immigrants in hopes they will become future supporters of their party, they fail to recognize that a majority of Americans want them deported. But so committed are these leaders to those who violate our entry laws, they have continued to support them financially with taxpayer money, to the detriment of U.S. citizens, while fostering falsehoods, media smears, and violent attacks by extremists against law enforcement.

What sane government invites illegals in with open borders and then provides them with shelter, healthcare, food and cash? Our government remains shut down because Republicans reject Democrats’ demand to reinstate $200 billion over a decade in non-citizen medical coverage—effectively an effort designed to buy future votes for their party at the expense of American taxpayers. (Meanwhile, ICE’s budget has had to be increased by $170 billion to clean up the open border mess created by the prior administration.)

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) is among the most recent Democrats to make provocative statements that could well incite violence. She falsely suggested California sanctuary status could allow it to arrest federal agents acting on President Donald Trump’s orders, who could then be prosecuted and convicted—but ineligible for a presidential pardon as such pardons are inapplicable to state convictions.

Pelosi is correct about presidential pardons, but incorrect about claiming federal agents can be arrested for violating state laws (they cannot as long as they are acting legally in accordance with their authority). Nonetheless, she irresponsibly shows more interest in prosecuting federal agents for enforcing federal law with no interest in arresting illegals for violating it.

South Carolina conservative and gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace recently revealed a wasteful flow of taxpayer dollars that could be benefitting U.S. citizens but is not. She pointed out that one of the bluest states in the Union—a Democrat stronghold in presidential elections, recognized as one of the “Big Three” alongside California and New York, demonstrated by the fact that all its executive offices in both legislative branches are held by party members—-is channeling $1 billion to non-governmental organizations supporting illegal aliens.

This governmental largesse flows from the state of Illinois, underscoring where Democrats place their priorities. Meanwhile, party leaders fail to meet the needs of our Americans in uniform, irresponsibly voting down a bill to pay them during the government shutdown. Hopefully, Democrat voters are beginning to see their leaders do not embrace the same values most Americans do.

The Charge of the Light Brigade was memorialized in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In it, he referenced the tragedy of a misunderstood order being responsible for the ill-fated attack writing, “The British soldier will do his duty, even to certain death, and is not paralyzed by the feeling that he is the victim of some hideous blunder.” Hopefully, this November, Democrat voters will do their duty at the election booth, voting for what is clearly in the best interests of their country and not of their party.