Mucho kudos to Big John Fetterman for calling ’em like he sees ‘em, straight up, no chaser.

As the 2026 midterm elections get closer, there are plenty of scenarios to speculate about. Will traditional conventional wisdom win out and Republicans lose? Will the rapid takeover of the Democratic Party by Democratic Socialists announce their presence with multiple wins across the country? While most Democrats have a deer-in-the-headlights stare when they are asked about the party’s massive surge to the left, there is one who continues to call out his own party, regardless of what it may mean for him personally.

One of the biggest, and seemingly ongoing points of speculation comes in the form of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). Fetterman has repeatedly expressed concern about the party shift to the left, and, while he says he has “no plans” to leave the party, if it officially becomes the “anti-Israel” party, he’s done. Fetterman attended the Hill Nation Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, where he stated:

“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel. If our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.”

Back in May, Fetterman penned an Op-Ed in The Washington Post, entitled, “I haven’t changed. Here’s what has.” In it, he wrote:

Though I was elected as a Democrat, I’m proud to serve all Pennsylvanians. It has become increasingly lonely to serve in that way, but I firmly believe it’s what is needed. My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says. The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.

So, what are Fetterman’s “lines in the sand?”

• Israel
• Open borders
• Party Toxicity
• Anti-Trump reflex
• Obstruction and government shutdowns
• Defund the police
• Lack of “working across the aisle”
• Poor candidate vetting
• Rejection of voter ID

Isn’t this basically the Democrats’ entire platform? Fetterman also mentioned support from people like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), also a self-described Democratic Socialist, and his strong support for scandal-plagued former Maine Senatorial candidate Graham Platner, which, Fetterman said, made him “angry.” He also would not discuss what he referred to as “private conversations” with Republicans about leaving the Democratic Party, but in his Op-Ed, said he would become an independent first.

Given his positions on things like abortion, legalized marijuana, LGBT rights, and being pro-labor, Fetterman was refreshingly honest and concluded his Op-Ed saying, “I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” But at some point, will he sound like many from his own party, and even former President Ronald Reagan, also a former Democrat, and admit that, “I didn’t leave my party; my party left me”?

What John Fetterman looks like to me is a pretty typical old-school liberal Dem, a sincere patriot whose ideals and principles were totally mainstream before the party’s recent radical swerve to the extreme Left. It’s a damnable shame that he’s quite the rara avis these days, and it hurts the entire country that this should be so.