Sen. Mark Kelly wants you to know he's not one of those Democrats. The Arizona senator took to Katie Couric's podcast Thursday to distance himself from the defund-the-police, open-borders, dismantle-the-Pentagon wing of his party — the same wing that set the agenda while he voted in lockstep.
"There are folks out there that say things that just don't make sense to the American people, like abolish the police or get rid of jails and prisons, get rid of the border, defund the Pentagon," Kelly said. "Those things don't make sense. That's not the Democratic Party I'm in. Those aren't the policies I support."
Convenient timing. With midterms approaching and a 2028 presidential run under active consideration, Kelly is suddenly discovering that the fringe positions his party championed are political poison.
Kelly acknowledged the risk. When Couric asked whether the party's ideological divide could hurt candidates in November, he admitted: "It could cost us some seats. I think that's very, very possible."
The polling explains the panic. A Quinnipiac University poll in May found just 20% of voters approved of congressional Democrats; 72% disapproved. Even among Democrats, 50% disapproved of their own party. A Fox News poll in April found 61% of registered voters said Democrats were focused on the "wrong" issues, with 58% viewing the party unfavorably.
Yet Democrats still lead the generic ballot 53% to 46%, per a July Fox News poll — the highest generic-ballot number for either party since 1996. Benzinga noted Democrats also lead on voter motivation, 68% to 57%.
Kelly's rebranding arrives as democratic socialists notch real wins. The New York Post reported that DSA-backed candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, DSA member Darializa Avila Chevalier ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, and DSA-endorsed state lawmaker Claire Valdez won the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. The fringe Kelly disavows is taking over the party's ticket.
The establishment press will call this "moderation." Call it what it is: a cynical pivot to escape accountability for the defund-and-decay agenda Kelly helped enable. He told Couric he tends to "steer away from the stuff that is never going to happen, that is just about creating a lot of noise." But he didn't steer his party away from it when it was driving policy and burning cities.
Kelly is also building a national machine. Per Reuters, he has more than $22 million stockpiled — the largest war chest among potential 2028 Democratic contenders. He says he's raised or distributed $10 million this cycle backing "electable" candidates. His wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, is pushing him toward a White House bid. "She's about, you know, what's the best thing for the country?" Kelly said. "If we come to the conclusion that, you know, I'm the right person for this and my family's on board."
The question Kelly won't answer: if these policies never made sense, why did Democrats pursue them — and why did senators like Kelly only find their voice when the polls turned south?
