It’s not hard to see these days that the Democratic Party of today is nothing like it used to be. And for lifelong Democrat and Nebraska Senator Mike McDonnell, that’s precisely why he can no longer remain with the party.
During a recent news conference, McDonnell explained he was raised to be a Democrat and was proud to be. He remembers his grandfather asking him, “What are we? We’re Irish, we’re Catholic, and we’re Democrats.”
However, in recent years, that pride has diminished greatly.
Why?
Well, for starters, the party no longer allows him to hold the religious views of his youth. As he mentioned, he is devoutly Catholic. And like most practicing Catholics and Christians, that means he believes that life is a beautiful gift that we should not have control over taking away, especially from the most innocent and vulnerable among us.
Yes, I’m talking about abortion. As a Catholic, McDonnell is strictly pro-life, unlike a certain octogenarian president.
As such, he’s continued to vote for pro-life measures, often at odds with his party for the entirety of his political career.
Naturally, his fellow but ever-left-leaning Democrats have a problem with this. In fact, on March 2, the Nebraska Democratic Party condemned McDonnell in a resolution that effectively censured him and stripped him of all party resources.
Nebraska State Senator Mike McDonnell just left the Democrat Party and became a Republican. Hear his powerful explanation why:
"I have asked the Democratic Party to respect my religious-based pro-life position. Instead, over the last year, they have decided to punish me for… pic.twitter.com/tnKbdfkAR7
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 4, 2024
Since then, he’s continued to vote pro-life, sticking to his faith. And they’ve continued to punish him.
And so, it has finally come to a point that he can no longer, in good conscience, remain a Democrat.
Yes, that means he’s switching parties. In fact, he’s becoming a Republican.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell switches parties to become a Republican pic.twitter.com/afbomektin
— Andrew Ozaki KETV (@ketvlincoln) April 3, 2024
While this alone should be something for his now-former fellow party members to take note of, his switch is more than just a mere slap in the face.
Thanks to an already Republican majority, his move now makes it possible for the state’s unicameral legislature’s GOP majority to be filibuster-proof.
🚨BREAKING: Nebraska's unicameral legislature now has a filibuster proof Republican majority as Sen. Mike McDonnell switches parties from Dem to Rep.
This has massive implications for passing LB764, which would switch Nebraska to a winner-take-all electoral college state and… https://t.co/f1spATMdso
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 3, 2024
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was revenge…
