I no longer have a sense of how the US midterms will play out. A couple of months ago I’d have said the Dems will have their collective head handed to them. But now the Dobbs decision might sway moderate voters, and Trump continues to take a beating in the media and on Capitol Hill for January 6 although, to me, those hearings still have the feel of contrived theater.
Maybe the Dems will hold on to their narrow majorities in Congress. But then I see the defund and BLM nonsense still going strong, and inflation surging, and I think the Dems can’t hide the truth about their core policies and will pay a price.
Yes, I agree: that’s typically a safe bet to cover. Nobody takes it well to be hit in the wallet after all. The only surprise is that the political class is surprised by this. Could they somehow be divorced from the reality of those they pretend to represent? Surely not.
A lot of emotions are high right now regarding the Dobbs decision. If the election were held tomorrow, then the Democrats might be able to make a decent showing. The problem is many of those emotions will fade and things like inflation, shortages, crime, fuel prices, creepy woke fads, and uncertainty about the direction of the country will start to move to the forefront of voter’s minds again.
I’m not even sure the abortion issue is massive as it used to be anymore. If this had happened ten years ago, the reaction across the country would be explosive. There would have been massive protests and voter drives. Now it seems to be “oh yeah, this ruling is terrible so I am going to growl about it a bit and move on with my life.” Most of the people causing trouble about it are the usual troublemakers. Additionally, many Democrats are furious at their party’s refusal to codify Roe into law on any of number of the many occasions they had the chance. All the party can offer them right now is vote for us and maybe we just might do what we said we would do the last few times. I am honestly shocked at the level of pessimism I am seeing from Democrat voters towards their party and a party civil war looks like it might break out between the progressive and corporate factions of the party.
Last edited 1 year ago by Matt Hindman
Julian Farrows
1 year ago
I sometimes wonder if the Democrat Party isn’t actually a form of controlled opposition – one that is cynically using minorities (both racial and sexual) as a scapegoat for all that is wrong in US society. I think Lenin did this with his ‘useful idiots’ during the Russian Revolution: used the misguided elements of his society to turn against the people and then conveniently employed them as a human shield when the people began looking for an enemy. The BLM and Stonewall movements have become insufferable to a large majority of the population.
Last edited 1 year ago by Julian Farrows
KJ Strand
1 year ago
Always voted Democrat. Not this election or future. I’ve left the party and am looking at third parties or who to write in. I know others like me. Economic issues followed by this kind of nonsense is why. Abortion is an important issue to many Dems, but not at the top of the list when they have to choose between food and housing or food and medications.
Not all Dems are in the elite group though elites seem to have taken over the leadership and don’t bother to hide their unconcern. The Women’s March(es) after Trumps’ election were captured by various factions and elitists. There’s really no women’s movement any more and some women wonder if the more moderate Republicans don’t represent them better. And not just white suburban women, either. Certainly safe streets are a women’s issue.
Norman Powers
1 year ago
Some years ago I met a mother and daughter from LA on a holiday tour event. At lunchtime they turned the conversation at the table to the terrible crimewave in LA, as they told it. What fascinated me about this was that their explanation for it was that the evil Republicans had been under-funding the jails. I really could not understand this at all. Are there even any Republicans in LA? No mention was made of progressive DAs or their policies of releasing criminals / refusing to prosecute them. I didn’t press the point because I didn’t really want to argue with strangers on holiday, so just politely nodded along. But it felt pretty clear that the reason these policies are still kicking around is that too many people living there reflexively blame conservatives for anything bad that happens to them, without appearing able to link their own decisions and views with outcomes. Most strange.
Steve Jolly
1 year ago
The Democrats’ problem is that they are basically two parties, a progressive wing and an establishment wing. The never Trumpers who switched sides over the past half decade and the Clintonian centrists are pulling one way while the Sanders wing is pulling the other, and neither group is as large or enthusiastic as the Republicans.
I no longer have a sense of how the US midterms will play out. A couple of months ago I’d have said the Dems will have their collective head handed to them. But now the Dobbs decision might sway moderate voters, and Trump continues to take a beating in the media and on Capitol Hill for January 6 although, to me, those hearings still have the feel of contrived theater.
Maybe the Dems will hold on to their narrow majorities in Congress. But then I see the defund and BLM nonsense still going strong, and inflation surging, and I think the Dems can’t hide the truth about their core policies and will pay a price.
I don’t have any sense of it either, but if I had to bet, I would bet on “it’s the economy, stupid”.
Yes, I agree: that’s typically a safe bet to cover. Nobody takes it well to be hit in the wallet after all. The only surprise is that the political class is surprised by this. Could they somehow be divorced from the reality of those they pretend to represent? Surely not.
A lot of emotions are high right now regarding the Dobbs decision. If the election were held tomorrow, then the Democrats might be able to make a decent showing. The problem is many of those emotions will fade and things like inflation, shortages, crime, fuel prices, creepy woke fads, and uncertainty about the direction of the country will start to move to the forefront of voter’s minds again.
I’m not even sure the abortion issue is massive as it used to be anymore. If this had happened ten years ago, the reaction across the country would be explosive. There would have been massive protests and voter drives. Now it seems to be “oh yeah, this ruling is terrible so I am going to growl about it a bit and move on with my life.” Most of the people causing trouble about it are the usual troublemakers. Additionally, many Democrats are furious at their party’s refusal to codify Roe into law on any of number of the many occasions they had the chance. All the party can offer them right now is vote for us and maybe we just might do what we said we would do the last few times. I am honestly shocked at the level of pessimism I am seeing from Democrat voters towards their party and a party civil war looks like it might break out between the progressive and corporate factions of the party.
I sometimes wonder if the Democrat Party isn’t actually a form of controlled opposition – one that is cynically using minorities (both racial and sexual) as a scapegoat for all that is wrong in US society. I think Lenin did this with his ‘useful idiots’ during the Russian Revolution: used the misguided elements of his society to turn against the people and then conveniently employed them as a human shield when the people began looking for an enemy. The BLM and Stonewall movements have become insufferable to a large majority of the population.
Always voted Democrat. Not this election or future. I’ve left the party and am looking at third parties or who to write in. I know others like me. Economic issues followed by this kind of nonsense is why. Abortion is an important issue to many Dems, but not at the top of the list when they have to choose between food and housing or food and medications.
Not all Dems are in the elite group though elites seem to have taken over the leadership and don’t bother to hide their unconcern. The Women’s March(es) after Trumps’ election were captured by various factions and elitists. There’s really no women’s movement any more and some women wonder if the more moderate Republicans don’t represent them better. And not just white suburban women, either. Certainly safe streets are a women’s issue.
Some years ago I met a mother and daughter from LA on a holiday tour event. At lunchtime they turned the conversation at the table to the terrible crimewave in LA, as they told it. What fascinated me about this was that their explanation for it was that the evil Republicans had been under-funding the jails. I really could not understand this at all. Are there even any Republicans in LA? No mention was made of progressive DAs or their policies of releasing criminals / refusing to prosecute them. I didn’t press the point because I didn’t really want to argue with strangers on holiday, so just politely nodded along. But it felt pretty clear that the reason these policies are still kicking around is that too many people living there reflexively blame conservatives for anything bad that happens to them, without appearing able to link their own decisions and views with outcomes. Most strange.
The Democrats’ problem is that they are basically two parties, a progressive wing and an establishment wing. The never Trumpers who switched sides over the past half decade and the Clintonian centrists are pulling one way while the Sanders wing is pulling the other, and neither group is as large or enthusiastic as the Republicans.