Mid-Terms Post Mortem: Did Democrats “Democracy Is On The Ballot” Work?

There are many reasons to be considered for what has been a blown election for Republicans. Trump for one. Democrats pushing abortion, which plays to many women, without mentioning they want abortion up to birth. Lindsay Graham and a few other Republicans saying they want to pass a national abortion ban did not help. We can dive into all sorts of notions, but, what about

Biden’s Democracy Argument Worked

In the last two weeks of the election cycle, as the news seemed to be getting worse and worse for Democrats hoping to avoid a historic midterm election shellacking, party leaders opted to go all in on one particular theme—that democracy itself was on the ballot. Here, voters had a historic choice to make: Vote to save the republic, or squander it. Across the aisle, the GOP had marshaled an army of candidates behind election denialism and a vision of an illiberal United States. In his final campaign speech, President Joe Biden told the crowd assembled at Bowie State University in Maryland that the country was at “an inflection point.”

“We know in our bones that our democracy is at risk, and we know that this is your moment to defend it, preserve or protect it, choose it,” he said.

It was a tall order. And let’s face it, it was a little bit belated. As we’ve chronicled on these pages, Democrats haven’t always spent the past two years as democracy’s most ardent defenders. Too many senators preferred to keep the filibuster rather than get rid of it to pass the laws necessary to confront a well-organized and well-funded effort among Republicans to curb voting rights across the country. Even the Biden administration seemed dismissive at one point, referring to voting rights as just one more niche issue among many.

Obviously, this is from a far left organization, in this case, The New Republic. But, do they have a point? I think they might. Democrats, from Biden to Democrats running for office to their mouthpieces to their pet Credentialed Media, all pushed this notion, and all pushed it the same way. How much did this play into the the distribution of votes? Did they flip a lot of Independents, who were more scared of “losing their democracy” than crushing inflation, food prices, clothing prices, and a bad economy? Of growing crime? Of wackjobs teaching their kids? And so much more? Did it drive a lot of squishy Democrats who might have flipped, or just stayed home, out to vote Democrat? Did it get the muddle headed youngsters who do not usually show up to show up?

It surely not the only reason, but, it certainly has a ring of truth. I can see Democrats poll testing it, and, seeing that it had an effect, all running with it. Because they did all run with it, did they not?

In truth, you wouldn’t be thought entirely daft if you fretted that Democrats were, at the very least, talking over the heads of the electorate. Polls ahead of the midterms consistently showed that matters such as the January 6 attacks weren’t foremost on people’s minds; democracy defense seemed like a bad bet. But the exit polls told a different story. Per Axios: “National polling showed abortion and democracy turned out to be big issues with voters. Coverage in the run-up to midterms had focused heavily on pocketbook issues.” In other words, the Democrats’ plan worked, and the media whiffed badly in their read of the electorate’s mood.

Republicans never saw it coming, and why should they have? We saw all the polls on what Americans care about. That the nation was on the wrong track. That people were upset over inflation, the economy, and crime. It didn’t need to move the needle a lot, just enough to blunt the GOP on those battleground seats in the House, Senate, and even governor races. Add it with other things, and you might not even get a red puddle. At best, Walker beats Warnock, and it’s 50-50. The GOP may not even take the House. There are 11 seats that are possible for winning 6, as the GOP has 212 wins as of this time. And they blew it on 7 races they should have held.

Give Dems credit: they’re the party of Big, authoritarian government (which we witnessed during COVID, with Joe and his vaccine mandates, with Dems telling parents to piss off, with the EV push, and so much more), anathema to democracy, to freedom, and they convinced people that the party of freedom is bad.

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12 Responses to “Mid-Terms Post Mortem: Did Democrats “Democracy Is On The Ballot” Work?”

  1. H says:

    Teach
    Masks and vaccinations saved lives.
    1 million Americans died. Red states had higher death rates than blue states. Big authoritative government saves lives: obey, wear your damn seat belts and stop complaining about lost freedoms. If you don’t want the benefits of social living among other humans, move to the wilderness. If you ride busses in the city don’t smoke and wear a mask
    Don’t make others sick, cover your mouth when you cough even if it is not against the law

    • L.G.Brandon!, L.G.Brandon! says:

      Masks and vaccinations saved lives.

      Prove it. Exactly how many lives were saved? Since the “vaccinations” were no such thing and since the maskes provably stopped nothing and since the two combined stopped nothing you should be embarrassed to keep repeating all this crap. https://youtu.be/Jel6QrIjxRI

      Big authoritative government saves lives: obey,

      We noticed that in the last century when “big authorative government(s)” murdered about 18 million people. BTW, they were all left wing. That’s what you people are best at: murder.

      At what point did you decide to go fullon Hitlerian? You and your elf friend dowd seem to believe every government scam that comes down the pike. Do you lefties ever think for yourselves before the governments you love so much line you up and shoot you?

  2. Professor Hale says:

    It is highly ironic that the party that no longer needs voters is proposing to save “democracy”. First they created a system of superdelegates to ensure no outsider could win the democratic party primary, then they refine vote manufacturing and gathering in safe cities to ensure victories in those states.

    Even given the total loyalty of democratic party line voters (never more than 42% of electorate), it is unreasonably unlikely that the party in charge during record breaking inflation and 8 quarters of economic decline wins re-election in nearly every location. All the polling, even loyal Democratic party polling, said this could not happen.

    There is no surer way to destroy democracy than to undermine faith in the outcome. That is what democrats have done.

    • Elwood P. Dowd says:

      Still stuck on The Big Lie? It appears the American voters rejected The Big Lie and its author.

      tRump, YOU, MAGAts, tRumpists and nuGOPhers have worked to “undermine faith in the outcome”. YOU! Yet, Americans turned out in record numbers for a mid-term election that you claim no one has faith in. And now you falsely claim fraud. Of course, you do.

      What should terrify anti-democracy types is that near record numbers of young voters turned out and voted against you.

      It turns out that voters realized that inflation is transient but the loss of democratic principles to authoritarians can be chronic. Voters realized a clumsy Biden is less a threat than is a criminal tRump.

      The American people are still waiting for your persuasive evidence that the Democrats are “manufacturing” votes…

      Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s time for you tRumpists to stop whining and start listening to and working for the American people.

      • Professor Hale says:

        Your words would be more convincing if you have not been running a daily mis-information campaign here for the past 5+ years. There is no point in anyone reading what you write. For the record, I do appreciate your short-lived attempt to tone down the pottie-mouth. Your work ethic visiting here and copy-pasting millions of words is also commendable. it would have been better if they were original words, but you work with what you have.

        For the record, the “Big Lie” is AGW. Anything Trump may have done or said pales in significance, scope, cost or any other measure of “bigness”. Another “Big Lie” was Silent Spring, which may or may not have saved any songbirds, but did kill 5 million African children. It’s OK. They were African and no one in American cities had to watch them die, so it didn’t really happen.

        How many lies do you think it takes to lose credibility on every topic?

        • Elwood P. Dowd says:

          There is actual evidence supporting AGW, but we acknowledge your rapid pivot from the Election Denialism (The Big Lie), supported only by tRump’s bluster.

          And then a further pivot to Silent Spring! Kudos for your boldness!

          No, Rachel Carson did not kill 5 million African children! The US banned the widespread use of DDT in 1972, but DDT is still used today in Africa to combat malaria. In the US blood serum levels of DDT and DDE (metabolite of DDT that is an androgen receptor antagonist!), have dropped significantly since the 1970s. As a professor you should know this.

          By all means, please correct any misinformation I type.

          BTW, I was called an “asshole” the other day here by CarolAnn, but don’t blame me for Teach’s refusal to enforce his own guidelines.

          • Professor Hale says:

            Cut-paste. Not one original word. I’m sure it will come as a great comfort to those children’s parents that they didn’t really die of malaria. Maybe they died of Covid, or from being 2 degrees too warm.

          • L.G.Brandon!, L.G.Brandon! says:

            There is no substantiated evedence of AGW other than manipulated models and paid off scientists for hire to agree for money. You guys have already shot your credibility to shit so there’s no point in trying to talk your way back. We ain’t buing the crap you’re selling.

            You’re doing the same thing with all your Wuhan lies and the fascist abominations you created to deal with your lies. Now you want “forgivness” and try to walk it all back. Screw you. You caused great harm and misery over a flu.

            You keep maintaining your election steal denialism as though we don’t see your lies and the cheating that goes on with ballot harvesting and all your other tricks. You are the same type of thug that populated the SS in 1942. No morals, no compassion just a pure evil drive for power.

            Rachael Carson did not kill 5 million kids herself, but she set in motion the fake science that did just as you are now setting up the fake science to destroy America, capitalism an freedom. Carson was a racist and a genocidist. So are you. You have zero compassion for people you don’t agree with because you are lost in your own hate and faux morality.

            Regarding CarolAnn if you were spouting off your crap she was right to call you an asshole. You don’t see it but you really are one. Often. The very fact that you refuse to correct yourself when you are wrong proves that. You and people like you cannot face nor admit the truth. And you’d die before offering an appology to anyone. Ask the guy whose wife you called a whore.

            No more TDS, now it’s DeSantisitis. That should keep you snowflakes crazy for a few years! LOL

          • Elwood P. Dowd says:

            The nutty perfesser continues his lies and slurs based on little but his hatred of the truth and his anger that his beloved tRump is a POS loser. What did I cut and paste, loser?

            Said the perfesser’s hero on Truth Social (an actual cut n paste), loser:

            “It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault. Spending money to defeat great Republican candidates instead of backing Blake Masters and others was a big mistake. Giving 4 Trillion Dollars to the Radical Left for the Green New Deal, not Infrastructure, was an even bigger mistake. He blew the Midterms, and everyone despises him and his otherwise lovely wife, Coco Chow!”

          • Professor Hale says:

            Jeff,
            Once again, you prove you know NOTHING about me. Despite commenting here for as long as you have, you would think you would pick up even a smidgen of truth about me. I, on the other hand know enough about you to remember you are not worth debating. You don’t listen. Your entire “truth” is what other people tell you with no skepticism at all if the source is a democratic party approved voice. I don’t need to hate you or hate the truth to see that you are boring.

  3. UnkleC says:

    Obviously their tactics worked to some extent, the dems were able to steal the senate and possibly the house. The R’s carry much of the blame here, they knew the d’s would cheat, the d’s knew that the R’s knew they were going to cheat, the d’s cheated and the R’s let them. The democratic republic is in a perilous condition. The “Uni-party” won the big races and the people are losing their freedom.

    • Elwood P. Dowd says:

      No. Just because your team lost doesn’t mean the other team cheated.

      You Repubs need to grow some hair on their balls and learn to act like men. Sometimes you lose.

      We do agree that our democratic republic is in peril, but from the nihilistic anarchists like trump and his zombie supporters.

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