Do liberal politicians really advocate socialism?  Do they truly condemn due process?  Are they sincerely committed to abortion?  If so, can they be persuaded to see the light?

Indeed, many of them already have seen it.  Every member of Congress, of either party, is well aware of Venezuela's socialist disaster.  All of them favor due process, at least for themselves, if ever falsely accused.  And most of them (or at least those who have any knowledge) recognize that partial-birth abortions are barbaric.  They are already persuaded, maybe with the exception of a handful of truly demented members.

Then why do so many of them advocate such absurd positions?

It's all about, and only about, money and power.  Period.  Everything they do is centered on those two things. 

The most recent, obvious case in point involves Senator Manchin, Democrat, of West Virginia.  He eventually voted to confirm Judge Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court, but he did so only after a prolonged period of time, during which he had silently acquiesced to those who opposed the nomination.  Did Manchin suddenly wake up on the morning of October 6 and discover that, by golly, Judge Kavanaugh was the right man for the Supreme Court after all?  Did he courageously buck his party leaders and vote on principle to confirm?  Of course not.  Had his vote been the one to decide the issue, one way or the other, does anyone imagine that Justice Kavanaugh would now be Justice Kavanaugh?

Of course not.  Manchin decided to vote for Kavanaugh only after the confirmation was assured, and even then, only with the permission of his party bosses.  Why?  Because he is not stupid, that's why.  He is up for re-election in a solidly pro-Trump state and will almost assuredly be replaced by a Republican if the people of W.Va. perceive him as a liberal.

Manchin is not a liberal, but neither is he a conservative.  He has no principles of statesmanship other than two: get rich, and stay in power.  Those two are sides of the same coin.

If, somehow, horror of horrors, the Democrats flip the Senate and gain majority power there, Manchin (if re-elected) will immediately fall into line with Senator Schumer – and even with Representative Maxine Waters, should that become expedient for him.

It's all a masquerade.  The masks are easily and quickly changed from smile to frown, depending on the shifting political winds and the demands of donors.

Sadly, much the same is true of many Republicans.  A great many of them were horrified that Donald Trump, the man they considered an upstart barbarian, won, against all standard predictions, the presidency.  I have little doubt that had the Democrats taken control of the House in 2017, they would have voted to impeach Trump, and I have almost as little doubt that two thirds of the Senate would have voted to convict, with the help of an ample number of Republicans who now wear red MAGA hats.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell seems to have been the first Republican to wisely see the writing on the wall, even before the 2016 election.  That writing came from grassroots Republicans, who said, We put you in power to (among other things) establish a conservative majority in the Supreme Court.  If you allow yet another liberal onto the bench, then we have no further reason to vote Republican.  Ever.

McConnell seems to have gotten the message, and his 20/20 foresight was confirmed when Trump broke through the Blue Wall and derailed what would have been a corrupt Clinton presidency that threated to inflict a lethal blow to the nation.

We now have indications that every Republican member of Congress has either gotten the message or at least been brought into line by the newly en-spined (a word I made up) Republican statesmen who, at long last, refuse to cower before the heretofore effective dirty tactics of the Democrats.

There is still much to do, and many dangers lie ahead, but for the first time in years, I am proud of my Republican Party.