Joe Battenfeld: Democrats want hearts of voters, but party has lost its heart

Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald on Sep 15, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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Before Democrats can go after the hearts and souls of voters, they have to prove they have a heart and soul.

The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk was a missed opportunity for the party to show unanimous compassion for Kirk’s family without blaming President Donald Trump or Republicans for escalating political violence.

Trump hater Seth Moulton wants to be a standard bearer for the Democratic Party, yet the Massachusetts congressman could not help himself hours after Kirk’s murder.

“If the president is serious about stopping political violence, then maybe he should start by rescinding the pardons for all the domestic terrorists who came to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to kill cops, to kill Speaker Pelosi, to kill Vice President Pence,” he pontificated on liberal CNN on Thursday, just after the horrific Kirk shooting.

That from a Democrat who desperately wants to be president and will run to every camera that will give him a platform.

“Let’s have an honest conversation about the origins of this political violence and why it has risen so dramatically since Donald Trump’s first term,” he added. “We need to have that conversation if we’re serious about stopping it.”

He later accused Republicans of fostering political violence, citing statistics he said show most extremist attacks are coming from the right wing – not the left wing.

“Seventy-six percent are from right-wing extremists, 4% are from left-wing extremists. I condemn that 4%. But we also need to be honest as a nation about where this violence is coming from. And oh, by the way, it’s probably an appropriate time to talk about guns, too,” he added.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called Moulton’s words “truly disgusting.”

Maybe to top Moulton for grandstanding, local Democratic public defender and Governor’s Councilor Mara Dolan is calling on Gov. Maura Healey to stop lowering flags honoring Kirk. President Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff across the country, and Healey is abiding by that proclamation.

“He was not an elected representative of the people,” Dolan posted on social media. “He was racist, sexist, homophobic, and did not support Massachusetts values of justice and freedom.”

And she’s approving judges. Perfect.

Healey wisely limited her statement about Kirk to a simple plea to stop all political attacks and offer condolences. Some other Democrats did the same thing.

“Violence has no place in our politics – ever,” Healey posted. “What happened to Charlie Kirk is horrific and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Was that so hard?

But Democrats are so programmed to trash Republicans they can’t stop themselves. It’s constant extreme vitriol.

Democrats don’t do themselves any good trying to publicly rationalize Kirk’s murder. It’s tone deaf, a bad look and not smart politics.