Dems’ grim outlook for ’26, ‘Palestine’ is a made-up cause and other commentary

From the right: Dems’ Grim Outlook for ’26

“November 2026 may not go the way conventional wisdom suggests,” and Dems may lose, warns the Washington Examiner’s Michael Barone. During midterm elections, “the president’s party almost always loses the House and, slightly less often, Senate seats.” But this time around, “it looks like the Democrats’ baggage, especially from the Biden years, is heavier than the loads Trump Republicans must juggle.” Black marks like “the Russia collusion hoax, COVID-19 school closings, ‘transitory’ inflation, the Hunter Biden laptop, and open borders immigration” have too deeply damaged” Dems’ credibility. Trump and Republicans are also becoming widely popular, with “Republican gains” being “widespread while Democratic gains are scarcely visible.” “Nothing’s inevitable in politics, but so far, the Democrats have not gotten up off the floor.”

Mideast beat: ‘Palestine’ Is a Made-Up Cause

Westerners should “understand that the George Soros-funded agents of Jew Hate and chaos” in the streets “have zero to do with the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world,” argues Christopher Messina at Messy Times. As Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian political analyst notes, protesters claim “ ‘Palestine’ is the cause of all Muslims,” but there’s “no trace of anything called ‘Palestine’ or anything similar to it in the Quran or the Prophetic Hadiths!” Indeed, the “Palestinian Cause” was “invented by the Pan-Arabist communists,” who “attached it to Islam” to “fool ordinary Muslims” and gain “legitimacy” to commit crimes against nations “in the East and the West.” “I am a Muslim,” but Palestine “will never be my cause,” because it hinders “peace” — “a divine obligation of all Muslims.”

Capitol watch: Rep’s War on DC Dementia

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) wants a “way for Congress to evaluate whether some politicians are no longer fit to serve,” reports The Free Press’ Gabe Kaminsky. Most Dems “would rather talk about anything other than the Biden cover-up — and the wider problem of the gerontocracy that runs the party and Washington.” But, Gluesenkamp Perez is pushing“an amendment that would direct the Office of Congressional Conduct to develop a standard to determine House members’ ‘ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment.’ ” Some Democratic colleagues took her move “personally,” and it “failed in her first attempt to tuck it into a federal spending bill, with Democrats and Republicans all voting against its inclusion.” But her office is “still exploring avenues to build a coalition.”

Liberal: Democrats’ Best Way Back

“The Democratic Party faces a conundrum,” observes the Liberal Patriot’s John Halpin. Despite President Trump’s struggles with voters on “his overall job approval rating” and among specific issues, “Democrats are doing even worse with Americans.” They’ve tumbled “from roughly a 3-point net unfavorable rating just before [Joe] Biden was elected in 2020 to a 30-point net unfavorable rating today.” With polls showing more than half of voters believe “Congress isn’t doing enough to keep Trump in line,” a 2026 message “arguing for divided government to stop Republican overreach” may help “Democrats to retake the House.” Ahead of 2028, Democrats should offer “new voices without cultural baggage” and a message of “economic uplift for America’s working- and middle-class families.”

Foreign desk: Chinese Dam’s Regional Threat

China has “officially acknowledged” that it’s building “the biggest dam ever conceived,” gasps Brahma Chellaney at The Hill. The structure will “generate nearly three times as much hydropower” as the massive Three Gorges Dam but “portends a looming geopolitical and environmental crisis.” The new dam “is on a geologic fault line — a recipe for catastrophe.” Moreover, “capturing silt-laden waters before they reach India and Bangladesh, the dam will starve” farmers of crucial riparian nutrients. While China’s dam-building “has long alarmed downstream nations, from Vietnam and Thailand to Nepal,” this project “raises profound questions about regional stability.” By seizing control over regional water, “China is methodically locking in future geopolitical leverage.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board