Good post. Thanks.

First, your grandfather that sounds like a conservative Democrat from the Greatest Generation would not today, or at least should not today, support the Democrat party as it is.

Democrats today rarely step out of the party line. Unanimous voting in the House for Hakeem Jeffries even though he had been a blatant and vocal election denier. I get this constant criticism from my left friends for generalizing, yet they vote party line every time. And today that party line is connected to the globalist corporatist uniparty and the radical social justice agenda. They say they reject cancel culture, and yet vote for the politicians that promote it. They say they reject war, yet vote for the politicians that get us involved in wars. They say they reject authoritarianism, yet vote for the politicians that implement the most authoritarian and draconian policies. They say they are for the poor and working class, yet vote for the politicians that implement policies that hurt the poor and working class. They say they are for law and order, yet vote for the politicians that dismantle law and order. They say they are for supporting children, yet vote for politicians that push policies that are terrible for children.

I just don't find any truly moderate Democrats today that vote in any way that backs their claim of being moderate.

You can see the polls on opinion s of Democrats on topics like freedom of speech, and other topics and all of it has drifted way left radical and away from the traditional views of Democrats.

"You live in a college town. How many of your friends work at the college? Do you understand the effect of shunning, and of unemployment? Can they afford outrage?"

I don't understand these questions. The town is about 70k people. It is filled with old retirees of the university and students. The old retirees block significant new development with a city ordinance that requires a majority vote. The cost of housing is very high. The university pay and benefits are best in the region. Many of the academics and administrators that retire are millionaires. But they are progressive in that they have adopted the the modern Democrat platform of social justice excess, global warming cult hysteria, COVID hysteria, support for war, support for globalism, support for open borders, support for policies that destroy small business at the benefit of the large corporations, etc... They are nothing like your grandfather.