“faculty lounge politics” — with its emphasis on Critical Race Theory, racial quotas, transgenderism and defunding the police — has become an obvious flaw in their political strategy.”
I think that this strategy is a bit more than flawed, buddy. Unhinged, and divorced from reality is what I presume you are saying. So say it
Good post, but I don’t see how you can say that Biden didn’t have a lot of support. He got the most votes in US history, beat Trump by 6-7 million votes, and had a significant electoral college victory.
Biden had some support but tens of millions voted for him because he was not Trump. Some will always vote D no matter what. The election was much closer than you suggest.
“Fundamentally, non-racial social democratic programs of expanding health care, an infrastructure programme focused on roads and bridges, a clear strategy to deal with China all could work to expand, not shrink, the party base.”
Totally agree but not only won’t the Dems do this, they can’t do it. Biden made a Faustian bargain with the progressive left to get elected and now the bill has come due. He was never a popular President and didn’t receive a clear mandate from the American people. His one redeeming feature was he isn’t Trump and that attribute is increasingly irrelevant.
Where I live people who have school age children are literally terrified that school closures might be imposed again this winter due to covid. Homeschooling their kids was a heavy burden and they don’t want to do it again. As the author notes, control of the pandemic, stimulating the economy, keeping schools open (and, yes, getting CRT out of schools) are the issues that will make or break the Dems.
A few weeks ago the newspapers were full of the ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. That was supposedly a threat to the Biden presidency. Nah. Most people don’t care. They’re worried about bread and butter issues.
The Dems have to come up with a good argument for being allowed to remain in power. Not being Trump is no longer good enough.
I hear the same from people I know in the US. To this, I would add crime, taxes, and the cost of home ownership as the biggest issues. Tackling these issues (aside from obvious culture war) is the recipe for Republican success in future, I think. The Democrats and their allies in the big corporations and labour unions (mafias, really, with no concern for their members) have betrayed core sections of the electorate : parents, families, legal workers, etc. By default, the Republicans have become the party of normal people. And normal people in the US can remember that, even if they were personally repulsed by Donald Trump, their fortunes were rising during the Trump presidency. During Obama’s time, it was mostly the rich who got richer.
You apparently live outside of the U.S., but have more of a grasp of the issues than most who live here. That, in a nutshell, has been the problem for decades…..a completely and shockingly ignorant electorate. Social media is a big part of the issue, as people simply believe anything these days without discernment or thought.
Let’s hope they learn – though I’m not holding my breath. Normally, they just go, “what’s wrong with these dumb people!” and then double-down on calling them thick and racist just a little louder, because, obviously, once the voters understand how thick and racist they are, they’re bound to vote democrat!
Matt Hindman
2 years ago
I don’t know if Kotkin has been paying a bit of attention, but the reason McCauliffe could not go after Youngkin for the Carlyle group is because McCauliffe is a major investor with them.
Last edited 2 years ago by Matt Hindman
James Joyce
2 years ago
This piece reeks of anti-Trumpism and bitter contempt for his “minions.” Trump was and is a vulgarian, but his policies were mostly excellent, and most importantly, he was not a professional politician, who have steered the course of American decline for fifty or sixty years. Trump did his best to blow up the status quo and accomplished much, despite the resistance of the Deep State (a real thing), many of whom live off posh government salaries in the suburbs of Northern Virginia.
The tone is insulting. Let’s go Brandon!
“Trump was and is a vulgarian, but his policies were mostly excellent..” This is interesting to me. Maybe it is cynical but I vote for policies and not for the person. François Mitterrand had a (not very) secret second family, but that was not what made him a very bad president. George W Bush (apparently) had moral standards but he had catastrophic professional judgement. Now the Democrats, the same people who said that Bill Clinton’s interference with a young intern at the White House was a ‘personal matter’, are very disturbed that Trump is too vulgar and sleeps with porn actresses. This is very transparent. They claim to care about integrity but clearly they have none.
Trump prevented the restoration of Clinton Inc to the White House, and for that alone I am grateful to the man.
Warren T
2 years ago
A WAPO article this morning referred to the Democrats linking these stunning losses to the fact that all those blue voters, who suddenly switched to red, was really due to Biden not being able to implement far left policies on social programs and climate change. Yes, they actually said this with a straight face.
At least it wasn’t the usual tripe about not being able to get their message out. Simply laughable.
Maybe keep quiet about that. No need to dispel the illusion.
Cheryl Jones
2 years ago
The left WANT to call it resurgent Trumpism in order to demonise it. There is obviously NO likelihood they will reflect on their own failures. They will just see it as another example of America/the right are irredeemably evil and racist – and that they need to fight even more.
Gerard McGlynn
2 years ago
The rebalancing of American politics has begun, hopefully. Love him or loath him Trump had to happen. The political dynasties, the Bushes the Clintons, all the “professional” politicians, the bubble elites had to go. They were once called the Silent Majority, but the blue collar voice was still being ignored until Trump.
Mikey Mike
2 years ago
Joel Kotkin’s articles always sound like a letter to himself, as if two competing halves of his personality are in a desperate battle. There is his rational self who wants to be thoughtful and objective locking horns with the addled, angry partisan who has a sort of tourettes for associating Republicans with the nearest convenient evil. It’s like the guy in the park who’s having an argument with an unseen adversary.
Ray Zacek
2 years ago
“Bidenism” was never actually alive. The man has never been anything but an ignorant hack and a corrupt one too. He presides now over the implosion of the Democrat party; most of its functionaries are far too arrogant and insular to learn any lesson.
Su Mac
2 years ago
New Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears – what a woman !! And in her promo she aligns herself absolutely with the last Trump 2020 campaign. And Youngkin aligns himself directly with “election integrity” Not sure how that sits with this analysis..
Dr Stephen Nightingale
2 years ago
Certainly can’t be the sagging economy as it affects Northern Virginia, since NoVa has been the principal beneficiary of the ever inflating Defence budget currently around 800 billion a year. Loudoun County was completely rural when I arrived in the 80s. Now it’s a complete suburban/defence enclave mess. Fairfax County has long been a DOD agency and contractor hub. Prince William and Fauqier are also being rapidly suburbanized.
I think it is Virginia’s tendency to always alternate between Republican and Democrat governors that is still operative.
Is undoubtedly correct. The fact that no-one can serve as Governor in Virginia for two consecutive terms means that there is never an “incumbent” factor, and, bearing in mind most turnouts are low seats can change hands and often do. Anyone attempting to construct a forcast for the next few years is largely guessing.
Incidentally CRT is not taught in schools in Virginia or anywhere else in the US
With regard to CRT he made a statement without evidence. Maybe he thinks parents are lying when they say that it’s being taught in schools (via praxis) or is unaware of Twitter posts with teachers boasting that they’re teaching it. A half truth is a whole lie, maybe he’ll be telling us next that CRT actually stands for Culturally Responsible Teaching.
Last edited 2 years ago by Andrew Raiment
Dustshoe Richinrut
2 years ago
I seem to recall earlier times when American cultural icons from Rocky to rock stars to Tootsie to US track-and-field sprint relay teams wrapped themselves up in the Stars And Stripes, all hailing their happiness and freedoms. I’m probably thinking of the 1980s. A horrible, horrible time … because there was no internet, no smart phones and people were thus highly ignorant of their history, unlike today, when we can tap into all our ills and blemishes and own up to being horrible, horrible people.
People might actually be waking up to the fact that in the technology age, they ought to be happy, confident and treasured. Their long-gone forbears, who had had so little, perhaps, would expect them to perk up and shake off the Left’s rampant denunciations of them. So the swing to the Republicans is happening.
Emre Emre
2 years ago
Ironically, Trump seems to be the biggest obstacle to Trumpism today.
Linda Hutchinson
2 years ago
The Republicans’ shock win proves Bidenism is dead
Is there such a thing as Bidenism? Genuine question.
LCarey Rowland
2 years ago
This certainly does make very good sense.
Red Sanders
2 years ago
Hit this sentence, and as a brain-dead minion, I lacked the intelligence of the author, so went on to something else that might be comprehensible to my jello mind.
“Not surprisingly the egomaniacal Trump and his minions will claim credit for the GOP gains.”
“faculty lounge politics” — with its emphasis on Critical Race Theory, racial quotas, transgenderism and defunding the police — has become an obvious flaw in their political strategy.”
I think that this strategy is a bit more than flawed, buddy. Unhinged, and divorced from reality is what I presume you are saying. So say it
I saw Marco Rubio saying it was no longer Left versus Right in America but rather Crazy versus Normal. Seems accurate to me.
Good post, but I don’t see how you can say that Biden didn’t have a lot of support. He got the most votes in US history, beat Trump by 6-7 million votes, and had a significant electoral college victory.
Biden had some support but tens of millions voted for him because he was not Trump. Some will always vote D no matter what. The election was much closer than you suggest.
It’s a shame for you that Zuck’s bucks weren’t brought to bear on Virginia – maybe he can be persuaded to fund another election heist in 2024.
Dead Lives Matter
He didn’t even campaign. A trick of software?
Biden would’ve lost running unopposed.
“Fundamentally, non-racial social democratic programs of expanding health care, an infrastructure programme focused on roads and bridges, a clear strategy to deal with China all could work to expand, not shrink, the party base.”
Totally agree but not only won’t the Dems do this, they can’t do it. Biden made a Faustian bargain with the progressive left to get elected and now the bill has come due. He was never a popular President and didn’t receive a clear mandate from the American people. His one redeeming feature was he isn’t Trump and that attribute is increasingly irrelevant.
Where I live people who have school age children are literally terrified that school closures might be imposed again this winter due to covid. Homeschooling their kids was a heavy burden and they don’t want to do it again. As the author notes, control of the pandemic, stimulating the economy, keeping schools open (and, yes, getting CRT out of schools) are the issues that will make or break the Dems.
A few weeks ago the newspapers were full of the ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. That was supposedly a threat to the Biden presidency. Nah. Most people don’t care. They’re worried about bread and butter issues.
The Dems have to come up with a good argument for being allowed to remain in power. Not being Trump is no longer good enough.
I hear the same from people I know in the US. To this, I would add crime, taxes, and the cost of home ownership as the biggest issues. Tackling these issues (aside from obvious culture war) is the recipe for Republican success in future, I think. The Democrats and their allies in the big corporations and labour unions (mafias, really, with no concern for their members) have betrayed core sections of the electorate : parents, families, legal workers, etc. By default, the Republicans have become the party of normal people. And normal people in the US can remember that, even if they were personally repulsed by Donald Trump, their fortunes were rising during the Trump presidency. During Obama’s time, it was mostly the rich who got richer.
You apparently live outside of the U.S., but have more of a grasp of the issues than most who live here. That, in a nutshell, has been the problem for decades…..a completely and shockingly ignorant electorate. Social media is a big part of the issue, as people simply believe anything these days without discernment or thought.
Good post.
Let’s hope they learn – though I’m not holding my breath. Normally, they just go, “what’s wrong with these dumb people!” and then double-down on calling them thick and racist just a little louder, because, obviously, once the voters understand how thick and racist they are, they’re bound to vote democrat!
I don’t know if Kotkin has been paying a bit of attention, but the reason McCauliffe could not go after Youngkin for the Carlyle group is because McCauliffe is a major investor with them.
This piece reeks of anti-Trumpism and bitter contempt for his “minions.” Trump was and is a vulgarian, but his policies were mostly excellent, and most importantly, he was not a professional politician, who have steered the course of American decline for fifty or sixty years. Trump did his best to blow up the status quo and accomplished much, despite the resistance of the Deep State (a real thing), many of whom live off posh government salaries in the suburbs of Northern Virginia.
The tone is insulting.
Let’s go Brandon!
“Trump was and is a vulgarian, but his policies were mostly excellent..” This is interesting to me. Maybe it is cynical but I vote for policies and not for the person. François Mitterrand had a (not very) secret second family, but that was not what made him a very bad president. George W Bush (apparently) had moral standards but he had catastrophic professional judgement. Now the Democrats, the same people who said that Bill Clinton’s interference with a young intern at the White House was a ‘personal matter’, are very disturbed that Trump is too vulgar and sleeps with porn actresses. This is very transparent. They claim to care about integrity but clearly they have none.
Trump prevented the restoration of Clinton Inc to the White House, and for that alone I am grateful to the man.
A WAPO article this morning referred to the Democrats linking these stunning losses to the fact that all those blue voters, who suddenly switched to red, was really due to Biden not being able to implement far left policies on social programs and climate change. Yes, they actually said this with a straight face.
At least it wasn’t the usual tripe about not being able to get their message out. Simply laughable.
I’m reminded of Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters who complain that Labour lost the last UK General election because its manifesto was not left wing enough.
Maybe keep quiet about that. No need to dispel the illusion.
The left WANT to call it resurgent Trumpism in order to demonise it. There is obviously NO likelihood they will reflect on their own failures. They will just see it as another example of America/the right are irredeemably evil and racist – and that they need to fight even more.
The rebalancing of American politics has begun, hopefully. Love him or loath him Trump had to happen. The political dynasties, the Bushes the Clintons, all the “professional” politicians, the bubble elites had to go. They were once called the Silent Majority, but the blue collar voice was still being ignored until Trump.
Joel Kotkin’s articles always sound like a letter to himself, as if two competing halves of his personality are in a desperate battle. There is his rational self who wants to be thoughtful and objective locking horns with the addled, angry partisan who has a sort of tourettes for associating Republicans with the nearest convenient evil. It’s like the guy in the park who’s having an argument with an unseen adversary.
“Bidenism” was never actually alive. The man has never been anything but an ignorant hack and a corrupt one too. He presides now over the implosion of the Democrat party; most of its functionaries are far too arrogant and insular to learn any lesson.
New Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears – what a woman !! And in her promo she aligns herself absolutely with the last Trump 2020 campaign. And Youngkin aligns himself directly with “election integrity” Not sure how that sits with this analysis..
Certainly can’t be the sagging economy as it affects Northern Virginia, since NoVa has been the principal beneficiary of the ever inflating Defence budget currently around 800 billion a year. Loudoun County was completely rural when I arrived in the 80s. Now it’s a complete suburban/defence enclave mess. Fairfax County has long been a DOD agency and contractor hub. Prince William and Fauqier are also being rapidly suburbanized.
I think it is Virginia’s tendency to always alternate between Republican and Democrat governors that is still operative.
Is undoubtedly correct. The fact that no-one can serve as Governor in Virginia for two consecutive terms means that there is never an “incumbent” factor, and, bearing in mind most turnouts are low seats can change hands and often do. Anyone attempting to construct a forcast for the next few years is largely guessing.
Incidentally CRT is not taught in schools in Virginia or anywhere else in the US
“Incidentally CRT is not taught in schools in Virginia or anywhere else in the US”.
Evidence?
Or are you suggesting Harvard Law modules aren’t being taught at K12 level. Praxis: practice, as distinguished from theory.
What is wrong with Richard’s post? Just stating a few facts.
With regard to CRT he made a statement without evidence. Maybe he thinks parents are lying when they say that it’s being taught in schools (via praxis) or is unaware of Twitter posts with teachers boasting that they’re teaching it. A half truth is a whole lie, maybe he’ll be telling us next that CRT actually stands for Culturally Responsible Teaching.
I seem to recall earlier times when American cultural icons from Rocky to rock stars to Tootsie to US track-and-field sprint relay teams wrapped themselves up in the Stars And Stripes, all hailing their happiness and freedoms. I’m probably thinking of the 1980s. A horrible, horrible time … because there was no internet, no smart phones and people were thus highly ignorant of their history, unlike today, when we can tap into all our ills and blemishes and own up to being horrible, horrible people.
People might actually be waking up to the fact that in the technology age, they ought to be happy, confident and treasured. Their long-gone forbears, who had had so little, perhaps, would expect them to perk up and shake off the Left’s rampant denunciations of them. So the swing to the Republicans is happening.
Ironically, Trump seems to be the biggest obstacle to Trumpism today.
The Republicans’ shock win proves Bidenism is dead
Is there such a thing as Bidenism? Genuine question.
This certainly does make very good sense.
Hit this sentence, and as a brain-dead minion, I lacked the intelligence of the author, so went on to something else that might be comprehensible to my jello mind.
“Not surprisingly the egomaniacal Trump and his minions will claim credit for the GOP gains.”