ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The #WalkAway movement that began in May with hairstylist Brandon Straka explaining why he was leaving the Democratic Party has sprung into a national force, with tens of thousands of reformed, former Dems taking to social media to explain why they, too, think liberalism has gone off the deep end and why they, too, have turned the corner toward conservatism — or at least, toward free thought.

And apparently, liberals are beginning to shake in their boots about the growing effect of #WalkAway.

They need a counter-punch. And fast.

Enter CNN with this headline: “Russian bots are using #WalkAway to try to wound Dems in midterms.”

Oh come now. What is it with the left’s obsession with Russia?

Recall, it was just a couple of short years ago that the left was laughing it up with Barack Obama about the antiquated belief of Russia as an enemy. Ask Mitt Romney; he was the guy Obama mocked for calling Russia a dangerous threat.

Fast-forward to this White House and suddenly, Russia’s back on top of America’s enemy list again?

But blaming the entirety of #WalkAway on Russia is rather like Hillary Clinton faulting the entire world, save herself, for her 2016 election loss.

Just as at least some of Clinton’s loss must be attributed to her poor politicking, at least some of #WalkAway’s stories must be genuine.

And that’s what has Democrats shaking.

The real issue here is the left is just so worried about President Donald Trump’s super-charged economy, and about Robert Mueller’s failure to produce the long-awaited Trump-Russia collusion charges, that those in the Democratic camps have been struggling to find some fight to win this November. They’ve been struggling on that score. And #WalkAway isn’t helping.

So it’s back to the Russian drawing board they go.

“[I]n this 2018-midterm election season, as some predict a blue wave of resistance to Trump … Republicans want to split up the Democratic political opposition and divide black and Latino voters. And Russia looks like it wants to help here, too. But this time it won’t work,” CNN contributor David Love wrote. “The most recent example of this strategy is the #WalkAway hashtag, which is presented as a grassroots effort by former Democrats who are critical of the party’s alleged intimidation, confrontation and lack of civility and want people to walk away from the party.”

It’s all fake and feigned, Love said.

“#WalkAway has also now been connected to Kremlin-linked Russian bots, and it is now the seventh most popular Russia-influenced hashtag,” he went on. “The purpose of this now-astroturf campaign is to manipulate public opinion by creating the illusion that this is a popular movement. In reality, #WalkAway has become pure propaganda, a psychological operation.”

Hogwash.

Dismissing #WalkAway as a creation of Russia propaganda won’t win Democrats votes this November.

What it will do, though, is underscore how unhinged the left has become.

What it will do is reinforce the message that Democrats have simply become the party of desperation.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.