Has the political fog lifted?

FTA
With the country's future hanging in the balance, Americans are getting serious about politics, and it's all good for the political right.

The long-term confusion was a disaster for conservatives, who fare better with ideological differences clearly drawn. The left can rely on emotional appeals and has a faithful mainstream media to do its heavy lifting and damage control. The right must teach to attract voters; it depends on an informed electorate that understands nuanced arguments about how higher taxes on the rich hurt the capital formation necessary for the economy to grow. When the messages aren't clear, the vote goes to the party that promises the most goodies: the Democrats.

The Democratic Party's liberalism has now reached the tipping point, where members can no longer contain their radical fervor behind a façade of moderation. Consider the recent actions, statements, and positions that might not have made the cut in the middle of a triangulation-era presidential campaign:

The national Democratic Party's platform committee endorsed gay marriage for the first time.
* President Obama tipped his socialist hand with a statement that business owners owe others for their success, telling them "you didn't build that."
* President Obama issued an executive order that permits states to waive work requirements for welfare recipients.
* The president thumbed his nose at Americans who expressed concern about Muslims with family connections to terrorist organization by honoring Huma Abedin, who has strong family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, at an "iftar" dinner for Ramadan at the White House.
* In May, President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union, who also happens to be an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.
* In June, the president issued an executive order effectively granting amnesty to the children of illegal immigrants who were brought to this country by their parents.

Leaving their ideological closet is a strategy of defeat for the Democrats. Most of these stances are losing propositions, at least for now. Gay marriage recently faced a test in North Carolina -- a battleground state carried by President Obama in 2008 -- and a state amendment against gay marriage won handily. Polls suggest that up to 75 percent of Americans are against amnesty for illegal immigrants -- and that 75% includes most legal immigrants. With nobody in the Democratic Party urging caution, they are marching over a cliff.