Bill MaherBill Maher’s “Real Time” show on HBO has become something of a unicorn in the modern political media landscape, a place where liberals and conservatives can actually have substantive conversations rather than simply sling mud.
A big part of what allows for this unique discourse is that Maher is an unconventional Democrat. He’s something of a dinosaur, with a political view that seems stuck in the tar pits of 1990s Bill Clintonism. He is in some ways the avatar of the Democratic Party that was.
Maher remains pro-Israel, regularly rolls his eyes at the excesses of wokism and the trans movement, has a friendly respect for President Donald Trump, with whom he has dined, and in general is a poster child of “I didn’t leave the party, the party left me.” He’s even friends with Kid Rock!
This has led many conservatives to suggest that Maher is a better fit in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. Jump in, the water is fine, they say.
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But this misses an essential point. Maher is not a Republican, he is a Democrat. Conservatives should be rooting for him to influence his party in positive ways, not to abandon it.
Maher always makes me think of my cousin Jimmy, who has been a big fan for decades. Jimmy is in many ways the quintessential Pennsylvania Democrat. He is successful, has a beautiful Catholic family, and like me, grew up believing in the Teamsters and the pope.
I asked Jimmy what he liked so much about Maher and he told me, “I like Bill Maher a lot because he calls a spade a spade, based on facts and science and not ideological craziness. He calls out the crazy for what it is. I like that he does it regardless of who he’s talking about, left or right.”
This is maybe a bit more of a glowing review than I would give to Maher, but it’s not far off the mark. More importantly, based on conversations I have with Democrats around the country, more of them think like Maher, than think like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-NY, or commie podcaster Hasan Piker.
In this way, Maher is something like a focus group of one.
And it’s not just Maher clinging to the principles of the old Party of Jefferson and Jackson. Sen. John Fetterman D-Pa., also insists on being an old-school Democrat rather than changing sides and joining the GOP.
But honestly, for all the attacks against Fetterman from the left of his party, there is no major policy issue that the senator supports that was not a mainstream Democratic position as recently as 2020.
The plain truth here is that Maher, my cousin Jimmy and Fetterman are never going to be Republicans. It’s like asking Magic Johnson to play for the Celtics. But they may be the voices that bring their party, and our nation, back from the edge.
On Saturday night, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a third attempt was made on the life of President Trump. It almost feels normal at this point, but it is not normal, and while everyone for the next 12 hours will discuss taking down the temperature, Maher really does it.
Because of the power of the presidency under our Constitution, we will always have two parties, one that controls the White House, and another composed of everyone else. It behooves all of us for both to be measured, responsible and nonviolent.
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Maher does our nation inestimably more good as the reasonable, old-timey, joint-smoking Democrat than he does as a turncoat nouveau Trumper, and as beacon of sanity in a party flinging itself wildly to the left, he helps everyone.
So let’s stop trying to turn Maher into a Republican. We don’t need to chant “One of us!” because he is not one of us. He is a Democrat, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps the greatest testament to the importance of Maher is his remarkable staying power. In a media ecosystem in which political shows and anchors rise and fall like so many ships in a storm, he has been a Rock of Gibraltar.
Just as for decades “The McLaughlin Group” was the space for the right and left to respectfully cross rhetorical swords, today it is “Real Time” that fills this vital role, and for better or worse, it only really works, quite specifically, because Bill Maher is, and always will be, a Democrat.
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