Last night’s election results, especially in the Virginia and New Jersey Gubernatorial races, demonstrate that people are impatient for results, will sour on candidates that speak down on them, and are willing to reward the enemies of Democracy if they do not get what they want.
This should be a wake-up call for Democrats across the country.
While the New Jersey Governors race will probably conclude with Democrat Phil Murphy’s reelection, that contest and the Virginia one should not have even been close for their Republican challengers, less than a year after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, to win.
So what went wrong?
1) Progressive and Centrist Democrats in Washington, as Dana Milbank articulated in his post-election Washington Post column, have spent too much time bickering and distrusting each other over the final details of the Build Back Better Plan while holding up passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure plan. While Senators Sinema and Manchin bear the brunt of the responsibility here by scaring progressives into wondering if they would vote for anything in Build Back Better, the real blame is Democrats (including those in the Biden/Harris Administration) wasting precious months going on long recesses and not working with a sense of urgency during the summer to conclude a social infrastructure deal that would have united both sides. Virginia Candidate Terry McAuffile was virtually begging the Democrats to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal. So was Virginia Senator Mark Warner. They saw what this inaction on this legislation was doing for Democrats’ chances with voters, many of whom are exposed to the daily narratives of Democratic infighting from the Washington Press Corps.
2) A case can also be made that McAuffile made the gaffe of the political season by saying, in a debate against now Governor-Elect Youngkin, that parents had no say in shaping their child’s education. Even Democratic commentator Van Jones cited that as a crucial mistake for that campaign, especially for mothers across the state. McAuffile probably wins the election if he does not make that comment.
3) Failure to recognize that polls seem to be not taking into account a group of fringe right Trumpists that are turning out and voting like they did in 2020. There is also the lingering issue of maintaining ties with the rural community. The Republican candidate made up lost ground there in this cycle with the perception (despite his policy positions) that he was not like Donald Trump.
4) While turnout among Democratic groups was relatively high, it was still not as large as Karen Tumulty noted, from the midterms of 2018. While Democratic groups do have a right to be annoyed that the two infrastructure bills have not passed yet, they should have still turned out in greater numbers. It is a shame that these people really have short-term memories and perceptions. Do they not remember that it was the Biden/Harris Administration and Democratic Congress that passed the COVID relief bill (without any Republican votes) which intensified the Coronavirus vaccination efforts, sent $1400 checks to people, provided expanded unemployment insurance, reduced child poverty and unemployment, expanded access to health care, and increased aid to public schools and cities. Do they not remember that it is the Democratic Party that is the only major political entity that is working to punish the Domestic Terrorists who launched the January 6 insurrection and protect Democracy and voter rights. Do they think Glenn Youngkin is different from Donald Trump? His policy statements and media ads that cater to the Republican base suggest he is not. Supporters of the Democratic party need to think about the long term and not just short-term gratification. That attitude just rewards the people that support the anti-democratic and progressive policies the Democratic groups say they are against.
Fortunately, there is some good news from last night (November 2, 2021.) Governor Murphy will probably pull out a victory in New Jersey.
Democratic Mayoral candidates did well across the country in places like New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh.
Democrats won the Congressional special elections in Ohio they were supposed to win.
Perhaps, most important from a messaging standpoint, Minneapolis voters rejected a plan to overhaul that city’s police department. While that will not stop Republican operatives from producing false ads saying Democrats do not support police (this coming from the same party that is working to protect the criminals from January 6,) it would have been extremely problematic had it passed.
Democrats have a year to learn from November 2, 2021’s results and work to regain and solidify their standing with voters.
There is still an opportunity to make gains in the 2022 elections if they pass the infrastructure bills (especially now that there is an apparent deal on prescription drug prices which Senator Sinema supports,) safeguard voter rights, provide public safety, engage with the voters on both the local and national issues that are important to them, and remind the people about what the Democrats are doing to help them, their families, and the nation.
But they need to wake up and start working on that NOW.
I agree 100% with Liza. Congressional Dems and the MSM have failed to expose Sinema and Manchin being paid big money as corporate prostitutes to obstruct all legislation which would cut into their profits. They have been guilty of covering up and focusing on a false narrative of infighting. BS. Sinema & Manchin are DINOS for the RepubliKKKans, Big Pharma, Fossil Fool Industry and Health Insurance corps. Sinema supports a racist Jim Crow filibuster, which violates the Social Work Code of Ethics. But let’s not talk about that. McAuliffe failed to discuss the racist dog whistle of CRT(only taught in Law School) and ignored the rural folks easily manipulated by racists. Our democracy is on the brink of destruction. Dems better start focusing on facts and stop playing nice nice with traitors and obstructionists
You’re right, Liza is always spot on. I remember CBS President Les Moonves in 2015 or 2016 saying that the Vulgar Talking Yam was bad for the country but good for CBS. Reminiscent of Benedict Arnold’s logic that selling out to King George was bad for the American Revolution but good for him.
Liza is spot on as usual.
But I’d add the mainstream media to the list of offenders, along with Manchin and Sinema, who are hurting good causes.
The coverage of Biden is criminal, it’s clear they want the ratings, and money, they made from 2015 up to January 20 this year.
The Times, WaPo, cable news, Politico, all of them, are unreadable and unwatchable these days, because they frame everything as the sky falling all the time.
No matter what happens with the big bills the Dems are pushing, the media will say Biden/Pelosi failed, even though both bills will be bigger in scale and do more than anything before.
They’ll be historic.
They won’t cover that, they’ll say they failed to get everything and say the D’s can’t govern and drive the approval ratings down.
They won’t cover the good things in the bills beyond maybe the occasional short bullet list with no details followed by a OMG list of things they didn’t get.
I see the same behavior that we all complained about back in 2016 and during the four year orange reign of terror after that, and it’s clear why.
They want T4ump back, because their corporate owners want those ratings and the money they bring, and more than anything they want another 1.7 trillion dollar tax cut.
Disgusting.
Primary Sinema Project
@PrimarySinemaAZ
https://twitter.com/PrimarySinemaAZ/status/1455900696033759239
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1h
THREAD: Last night, Terry McAuliffe lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin. While Biden won the state by 10% last November, yesterday’s exit polls showed that only 43% of Virginians currently approve of President Biden, compared to 56% who disapprove.
As Sen. Sinema and Manchin have blocked President Biden’s popular agenda for the past 10 months, robbing the Dem Party of critical political wins, they’ve driven the president’s approval rating down nationally and hurt Democrats’ chances of winning races in states like Virginia.
Senators Sinema and Manchin have put the entire Democratic Party in peril.
Instead of continuing the playbook of delivering tangible results to the American people that proved successful for Biden in his first months in office, Sinema and Manchin have ground Biden’s presidency to a halt.
Clearly, Senator Sinema is not solely responsible for the loss last night in Virginia. But we can’t ignore the central role she played in getting Democrats to this point – with an unpopular President, an agenda in pieces, and few major accomplishments to run on.
It’s hard to win off-year races when you have a demoralized and frustrated Democratic base, and it will be even harder in 2022. This is a preview of what will happen next year in the midterms if Sinema continues down this path.
Thanks, Sinema. And what was her reason for this? It shouldn’t have been in the COVID relief bill?
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
@RevDrBarber
Democrats, Remember: If you had kept $15/hr living wage in COVID relief helping poor and low-income voters, it would have also changed the debate in Virginia.
8:04 AM · Nov 3, 2021·Twitter Web App
“Progressive and Centrist Democrats in Washington… have spent too much time bickering and distrusting each other over the final details of the Build Back Better Plan while holding up passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure plan.”
This is bull feathers. The progressives were unfortunately put in position where they had no choice but to hold up passage of the BIF because there are two TRAITORS in the Senate. FFS, could we just start calling things what they are? Anyhow, wasn’t that the original plan, to pass the two bills together?
How in the blazing hell are the progressives supposed to be dealing with Sinema? And then there’s Manchin who has apparently decided that he is the de facto president of the USA. How are the progressives supposed to be dealing with Manchin?
Another thing, while I’m ranting here. Things such as reversing the Trump tax cuts and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices are not “details”, they are major POLICY decisions that have major impacts on the lives of tens of millions of people. Just saying…
And I wouldn’t get too excited about the prescription drug compromise that Sinema has supposedly agreed to. Medicare should be able to negotiate prices on ALL drugs, a “compromise” on this issue is wrong, basically just politicians playing with people’s lives.