In a week that began with a liberal panic attack over ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz possibly running for president as an independent, prominent Democrats laid out a series of extreme positions keeping the party in a sprint to the left.
Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) called for the elimination of private insurance plans in her version of "Medicare for all" before walking it back and saying she was open to other pathways that preserve that industry.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) had already flip-flopped on her support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and apologized for a 2012 tweet saying Israel had "hypnotized the world." Then, this week, she said the idea Israel was the Middle East's sole democracy almost made her "chuckle" because of its Jewish nation-state law, and she compared it to Iran.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), not long after saying the world would end by 2031 because of climate change, said the existence of billionaires in America was "wrong."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), after pitching an "ultra-millionaire" flat tax on people with fortunes of at least $50 million, sternly called for capitalism with "serious rules."
Finally, in Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam (D.) defended a failed abortion bill in the state house that would allow for third-trimester abortions up to the point of birth. He laid out a scenario where a deformed or nonviable baby could be born, kept comfortable, resuscitated, and then euthanized after the mother and physician had a "discussion." He strongly denied embracing infanticide with his remarks.
Delegate Kathy Tran (D.) admitted her bill, which loosens restrictions for third-trimester abortions in Virginia, allowed for abortions up to the point of birth. One of the reasons would have been if a physician agreed the mother's "mental" health would be impaired by the birth of the child.