MAUREEN CALLAHAN gives her compelling view on the midterms

Unbridled crime. Our economy – all of our livelihoods – on the brink.

Like so many of you, these are my biggest concerns.

Do you want to guess who I support?

It takes a lot to lose the female voice in our post-Roe era, but here we are. And the Democrats have no one else to blame but themselves.

Normally I don’t vote red. But I’m hardly alone in my defections this election cycle.

In fact, I suspect this election will resemble Trump’s shock in 2016 — at least in New York, where I live. I think a lot of people who usually vote Democrat, probably not against polls, or friends or family, say that for the first time they feel no choice but to vote Republican.

There is a sense of despair, chaos and a tangible desire for change.

But the Democrats don’t seem to be listening.

“I don’t know why that’s so important to you.” At the time Kathy Hochul said that, in response to challenger Lee Zeldin’s concerns about crime – during the solitary debate she deigned to admit – her willful stupidity, her sheer maladaptive liberal elitism, became irrefutable, insufferable and unbearable.

The Democrats and their cohorts in the mainstream media have put orthodoxy and so-called criminal justice reform at the top of their agenda.

Meanwhile, the average working American — once the heart of the party — worries about violent crime, rising inflation, undocumented migrants, the infiltration of critical race theory and all kinds of sexual and gender ideologies in kindergartens and, here in New York City, the elimination of gifted and talented programs and merit-based acceptances to elite high schools, in a misguided pursuit of equality.

Unbridled crime. Our economy – all of our livelihoods – on the brink. Like so many of you, these are my biggest concerns. Do you want to guess who I support?

Normality and rationalism, those coveted conditions that Joe Biden promised us to restore after Trump, are still missing in action.

And for any Democrat who insists this is the most sweeping election ever — well, we’ve all heard that before. Seriously: How often can we hear the sky fall?

Now the Democrats are sounding an even bigger alarm: if we don’t vote for them, our democracy will probably not survive. That’s right – according to them this will be our last free and fair election ever.

Doesn’t this sound like a stick? Vote for us or America will get it between the eyes!

This is a waste threat. Apart from true believers on the far left, no one is falling for this Jedi mind trick – forcing votes by threatening the end of the vote.

Hey progressive fabulists – the average American will never be able to tell how insulting they find this to your face. But that’s what the voting booth is for.

This election is a call to action.

There is a sense of despair, chaos and a tangible desire for change. But the Democrats don’t seem to listen

Voters are being hounded by a party that insists the economy is on a rampage, that COVID is still an emergency, that the police are the bad guys and that all of that crime they fear is in their heads – they’re about to send a very clear message.

They are tired of hearing that if they vote Republican, they are too stupid to understand the issues. (See Hillary Clinton on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show…the women of The View…any opinion in The New York Times last week.)

Here in New York, with one day left before the election, Hochul said Zeldin was “anxious,” about crime, “hyperventilated, trying to scare people for months, and all New Yorkers are on it.”

No, Kathy: All New Yorkers are on to you. Hours before she made that brutal resignation, a man was stabbed on the subway while trying to protect a female rider from being harassed.

And hours before Hochul held a “New York Women Vote” meeting at Barnard College with Hillary and Kamala Harris last week, a woman was assaulted in Hudson River Park, raped so brutally in broad daylight that several bones in her neck were broken.

This is a seemingly safe, clean park in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. The alleged attacker has 25 criminal cases, including two other sexual assaults.

If “New York Woman” votes, that attack cemented my decision.

Voters picked up by a party that insists the economy is on a rampage, that COVID is still an emergency, that the police are the bad guys, and that all of that crime they fear is in their heads – they’re on it. point to send a very clear message

Criminals here have never been more brutal. They loot and loot and terrorize as if they own this city, because they do.

Why? Alvin Bragg, the wimpy, ultra-awake New York District Attorney, refuses to prosecute offenders or ask for bail. Crimes are no longer crimes; they are crimes.

We’re supposed to feel sorry for the criminals, not the victims.

No case was a better example of this inverse approach than Bragg’s decision to charge a hard-working bodega owner with murder for defending himself against an ex-con – who had time to assault a police officer – who killed him. attacked with a bag of chips.

There were surveillance videos and images. New Yorkers saw this. And we were outraged – for the bodega owner. Only after a group effort from fellow New York bodega owners and a drumroll of media criticism did Bragg reverse his decision.

But not before that man, Jose Alba, age 61, spent five days in Rikers, held on bail he couldn’t possibly afford: $250,000.

That says it all.

It’s just one example of New York City’s delicate, mocking approach to our most violent repeat offenders: I’m sorry I bothered you – please accept our apologies and enjoy the rest of your day!

If the Democrats had shown a little humility – if the party had said yes we were wrong, we corrected too much and we get it, we hear you, you’re right, we feel your pain – maybe they had a chance

Since Bill de Blasio, New Yorkers have not wanted to see the backs of two people: Bragg and Hochul. But our governor, like our former mayor, is unable to read the room.

Here’s Hochul on MSNBC recently, after host Stephanie Ruhle broke ranks and told the governor New Yorkers don’t feel safe: Hochul revolved around its swift action in tackling a rise in catalytic converter thefts.

I’m not kidding you.

She wondered why anyone would blame Alvin Bragg for the state of this once great city.

“I’m not sure how firing a district attorney in a New York borough will handle the crime issue,” she said.

Zeldin has promised to declare a state of emergency on day one and fire Alvin Bragg.

This isn’t just New York. Large cities under democratic leadership are seeing a wave of homelessness, the mentally ill, dirt and decay, and violent crime. Just look at LA, bastion of celebrity liberalism on the west coast: everyone from Kim Kardashian to Gwyneth Paltrow to Chris Pratt to Snoop Dogg to no less liberal scion than Maria Shriver, publicly supports GOP mayor candidate Rick Caruso.

“Los Angeles needs someone who is completely focused on the present and the future,” Shriver tweeted in April. “Someone who knows how to bring people from all professions and ranks together to build a thriving, affordable and safe city.”

That’s all people want. It’s not a big question.

If the Democrats had shown a little humility – if the party had said yes, we were wrong, we corrected too much and we get it, we hear you, you’re right, we feel your pain – maybe they had a chance.

But that chance is gone. A mature learning experience is in order.

Ignore the voters – the people who hire and fire – at your peril.