As conservatives, we’re fond of praising marriage and family, and for good reason — marriage is both a cornerstone and a hallmark of a healthy society. The conservative movement can’t seem to get its fill of telling young people to marry, settle down, and have kids. That’s fair enough. But unfortunately, eager to marry everyone off, conservatives tend to skip over one crucial detail: how exactly you get there. For all their discussion of marriage, most conservatives don’t seem to touch the topic of dating with a 10-foot pole. And to the extent they do discuss it, that discussion typically centers on the beginning of dating. They encourage men to make the first move and ask women out, or warn women against making the first move themselves. Or, their discussion centers on what not to do: don’t have sex before marriage, and definitely don’t move in together. But no one talks about what healthy dating should look like. There’s no practical discussion of how to date in a way that’s likely to lead to marriage, or how to get to know someone and discern whether you should marry them while also maintaining healthy boundaries in the understanding that you aren’t yet married. This leaves young conservatives caught between two flawed views of dating. On the one hand, they’re faced with the destructive habits of their peers — hookup culture, casual dating, or even long-term dating relationships with no intention of marriage. On the other hand, they’re confronted by the romanticism of the older generation and the ideal of the knight in shining armor, a perspective that mainly consists of strictures for the man to open the door, pay for dates, or show up with flowers, and for the woman to be “feminine” — bonus points for wearing a sundress. While some of these principles have value, none of them address the actual day-to-day or week-to-week of dating, and it’s easy for them to turn into pressure to act a certain way simply to meet certain standards. Perhaps it’s this blackhole that accounts for the fact that, while 69% of those ages 18-34 who have never been married say they hope to be married, a full 50% of singles aren’t currently looking to date or enter a relationship. Trapped between a hookup culture that leaves people feeling empty and broken and a romantic idealism that places performative pressure on both parties, many may decide dating is too difficult and that they have “more important priorities.” For those who do decide to date, there’s a relative dearth of older role models who exemplify healthy marital relationships, let alone healthy dating relationships. In recent years, overall marriage numbers have declined; divorces among older couples have increased; and the number of couples, including older couples, cohabitating with an unmarried partner has increased. Add to that the chronic pervasiveness of utterly flawed dating perspectives online, and you’ve got a recipe for the current situation: one in which well-intentioned young people are left on their own, groping in the dark for wisdom to guide their dating lives. This leaves many struggling to successfully navigate relationships. According to one survey, 67 percent of “daters” say their dating life is either not going too well or not going well at all. As a result, many relationships otherwise full of potential end up amounting to nothing, falling prey to miscommunication, social pressures, or other issues — many of which could be easily remedied with a dose of wisdom from an elder. If conservatives are serious about wanting young people to get married, it’s time to stop simply preaching the merits of marriage and start offering practical advice on how to get there. Otherwise, we may stay stuck where we are now: a society where most people hope for marriage but few are capable of taking the necessary steps to achieve it. Mary Mobley is an Editorial Fellow in the Strategic Communications department of the Heritage Foundation. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani —who openly espouses socialist positions and makes statements reminiscent of Karl Marx — received harsh criticism after a video surfaced showing him saying that in the past, he had stopped working and relied on his parents’ money. “I worked until January, and then I took time away from my job, and one of the major reasons I could do so was because I knew that if I ran out of my savings, my family would be able to support me,” he stated. "I knew that if I ran out of my savings my family would be able to support me" — Mamdani Must be nice! pic.twitter.com/22CJRQwNqk — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) July 15, 2025 Mamdani’s father is a hard-Left professor at Columbia University, and his mother is a successful filmmaker who once owned a $2 million Chelsea loft in New York City, according to the New York Post. “Mamdani attended Bank Street, a prestigious Manhattan private school that now costs as much as $66,000 a year for elementary school students, before graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, one of the city’s best public schools. Next, he studied Africana Studies at Bowdoin College, a private liberal arts school in Maine,” Forbes noted. Mamdani’s own job history is sketchy, to put it mildly. “Mr. Mamdani’s résumé is comparatively slight,” The New York Times reported. “The son of a renowned filmmaker and academic, he bounced among gigs — working on one of his mother’s movies, as a rapper, a campaign organizer, a part-time tutor and a foreclosure counselor — before winning a seat in the Assembly in 2020.” “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money,’ -Margaret Thatcher,” Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich wrote on X. “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” -Margaret Thatcher https://t.co/62uMphEupI — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 15, 2025 “The one thing my parents told me: if you aren’t working and you don’t have money, we cannot and will not support you. This guy is very comfortable with other people’s money,” New York Post columnist Kirsten Fleming echoed. The one thing my parents told me: if you aren't working and you don't have money, we cannot and will not support you. This guy is very comfortable with other people's money. https://t.co/COZ6anlNWH — Kirsten Fleming (@KirFlem) July 15, 2025 “Classic Socialism: Once I blow through my money, I’ll take yours,” former CIA officer Bryan Dean Wright wrote. Classic Socialism: Once I blow through my money, I’ll take yours. https://t.co/TjLlaP82HQ — BDW (@BryanDeanWright) July 15, 2025 “A true silver spoon socialist right here,” the X account Western Lensman commented. A true silver spoon socialist right here — Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 15, 2025 Mamdani has proposed building a network of city-run, subsidized grocery stores and nationalizing utility companies. “The Democratic nominee estimates his agenda will cost taxpayers $10 billion annually. His solution for financing the hefty price tag is to increase taxes on big corporations and the wealthy,” Time Magazine reported. In 2021, at a meeting of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani stated in a video, “Right now, if we’re talking about the cancellation of student debt, if we’re talking about Medicare for all, you know, these are issues which have the groundswell of popular support across this country. But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it’s BDS or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment.” “Mamdani’s socialism nomenclature is no joke or aspiration,” billionaire Bill Ackman wrote in response. “It is the business plan of a movement that he is leading and, for now, winning.” .@ZohranKMamdani in his own words a three-minute must listen. Mamdani’s socialism nomenclature is no joke or aspiration. It is the business plan of a movement that he is leading and, for now, winning. Don’t rely on my summary. Listen to him speak his own words. https://t.co/QLeWGETkIu — Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) June 30, 2025  

California Democrats have plans to redraw the state’s districts, potentially threatening the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives. According to California Democrats, their move was prompted by news that Texas might try to redraw its districts to gain more Congressional seats. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has “directed the state Legislature to discuss redistricting in an upcoming special legislative session,” KCRA noted. California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said of Texas, “They’re playing by a different set of rules.” On Wednesday, the California Democratic congressional delegation met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and reportedly discussed ideas for gaining even more seats to overturn the perilously slim majority Republicans hold in the House, Punchbowl News reports. “The games they play aren’t working and the more people get educated on what’s going on, the more they’re going to fight back,” California Assemblymember Leticia Castillo of Riverside, who left the Democratic Party and became a Republican, said of California’s Democrats. In 2010, California voters approved Proposition 20, a constitutional amendment that transferred redistricting authority to an independent commission. Punchbowl News indicated that two plans are afoot to try to gain more seats, writing, “California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sees two ways to overcome it.” One route would be for Newsom to call a special session of the legislature that would offer voters the chance to “pause” the commission or rescind its redistricting power. California voters would have to approve this in a special election. The news site cautioned that such a route would entail heavy costs due to the funds required to disseminate the message over the airwaves. But one way to win over GOP voters might be to include a conservative favorite, such as implementing voter ID, in the proposition. A second route would be to redraw districts and claim California’s constitution does not explicitly forbid mid-decade redistricting, which would likely prompt a lawsuit. Newsom has called such a scenario “a novel legal question.” One roadblock to redistricting is the Voting Rights Act, which may protect districts from being redrawn as they have majority Latino populations, and redrawing them would endanger such a majority. Targeted GOP districts that have reportedly been discussed include those of GOP Reps. Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley, Darrell Issa, Young Kim, David Valadao, and Doug LaMalfa. “We want our gavels back,” Rep. Mark Takano, who would be the new chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee should Democrats regain the majority in the House, stated. “That’s what this is about.” In 2011, to counter the even-handedness of the 2010 proposition, California Democrats devised a plan to influence the nonpartisan commission. Pro Publica reported: Working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — a national arm of the party that provides money and support to Democratic candidates — members were told to begin “strategizing about potential future district lines,” according to another email.  The citizens’ commission had pledged to create districts based on testimony from the communities themselves, not from parties or statewide political players. To get around that, Democrats surreptitiously enlisted local voters, elected officials, labor unions and community groups to testify in support of configurations that coincided with the party’s interests. When they appeared before the commission, those groups identified themselves as ordinary Californians and did not disclose their ties to the party.

A poll from Reuters/Ipsos conducted this week showed that a large majority of Americans believe the federal government is hiding information on the Jeffrey Epstein case, as President Donald Trump calls those continuing to focus on the case “pretty bad people.” The poll, which surveyed 1,027 U.S. adults and ran on Tuesday and Wednesday, found that 69% of respondents said that the federal government is covering up details about Epstein’s alleged client list. Only 6% said there was no cover-up, and 25% said they were unsure or did not answer. The survey results also showed that around two-thirds of Republicans believe the government is hiding something about Epstein’s supposed clients. On Epstein’s death, 60% of Americans said the federal government is hiding information from the public, including 55% of Republicans. Trump has been asked about the case multiple times this week, and on Wednesday, he lashed out at his “past supporters” who he says have fallen for a “hoax” pushed by Democrats. “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bulls***’ hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.” He added that he no longer wants the support of those who continue to focus on the Epstein case. In a press gaggle on Tuesday night, Trump told reporters, “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.” The Trump administration’s handling of the case has sparked controversy among the president’s base as Republicans and Democrats gear up for the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats have already latched onto the issue to attack Trump, voting in the House to release the Epstein files, a move that Republicans called a political stunt and a power grab. Among all of the issues respondents were asked about in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump scored the worst on his handling of the Epstein case, with just 17% of Americans approving of the job his administration has done on the issue. Thirty-five percent of Republicans said they approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein case compared to 30% who disapproved. The rest of the Republicans polled either said they were unsure or didn’t answer the question. Conservatives have blasted Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case after the Department of Justice said last week that it did not find evidence of a client list existing and concluded that Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell in 2019. Bondi said in February that she had the client list sitting on her desk, but months later, she clarified that she meant that she was reviewing the Epstein files. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino were also reportedly frustrated with Bondi’s handling of the case, and Bongino considered resigning if Bondi remained in her position. Trump said that Bondi did “very well” handling the Epstein case, and is also continuing to back Patel and Bongino as the White House attempts to smooth things over. Bongino has not resigned, and Trump said on Sunday that he’s “in good shape.” Bongino’s official X account, which is usually active, has not posted since last Wednesday. Some right-wing political commentators and Republican lawmakers have urged the administration to be more transparent with the details surrounding the Epstein case. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said earlier this week that he’s “for transparency” on the issue. “It’s a very delicate subject. We should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” Johnson said.

'We want our gavels back'

'I think Democrats have lost that'