We’re 130 miles from Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit It! The Blues Brothers
Right now, the only cause that the GOP has going into November is a Lost Cause. Unemployment is at a record low, the economy is still growing jobs, inflation is easing, and gas prices are dropping. Biden can point to positive bipartisan accomplishments, and as a result his popularity is back up to a tolerable 45%. The Democrats are back in the ballgame.
I wrote yesterday that I loved Biden’s new messaging campaign, repeatedly tarring the entire GOP as the MAGA GOP, then segueing into a plea for disaffected Democrats, independents, and soft GOP voters to move into the light. Biden is using the bully pulpit to build a kind, gentle off ramp for sane GOP voters and independents to ditch the madness.
But I want to go back in time a little first, because what Biden is trying to do actually predates him. On January 20th, 2017 Trump was inaugurated. He was rewarded with a piss poor crowd, and the largest global mass protest in history the very next day. Every outrage he committed only fueled the fire.
For once, the Democrats got it right. Their candidates and messaging basically ignored Trump, instead focusing on actual kitchen table issues, and providing a sane, functional alternative to the Trump GOP asylum. Between Trump’s constant interference, and a slate of Trombie candidates, the GOP drew the distinction themselves.
And it worked. The Democrats picked up 40 seats in the House. And it wasn’t because independents and soft GOP voters stayed home, we have empirical evidence of that. Because the Democrats won 3 million more votes than the GOP nationally, after winning in 2016 by 4 million votes. Voters crossed over.
And it worked again in 2020. While more moderate and especially GOP women returned to the party for the down ballot races, but stoned Trump at the top of the ticket. Again, we have empirical evidence. The GOP notched more votes than in 2016, by a lot, and yet the Democrats still notched more than a million votes more than they did in 2018.
And it will work again in November, just so long as the Democrats stick to the program. Trump is even more intrusive in 2022 than he was in 2018, and the GOP field of candidates is even more unhinged. And as the contrast grows, the more appealing that nice soft off ramp to sanity starts to look.
And now it’s starting to appear that other Democratic candidates are picking up on the message. Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist is Running a campaign based on love and inclusion, and not hatred and divisiveness. Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro is Building a coalition campaign of Democrats, independents, and Republicans. He likes to boast about the big name conservatives that are showing up for his rallies, and then offering their support and even cutting checks. And Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin is promising to bring a positive, inclusive, issue oriented agenda to Washington, instead of Ron Johnson’s far right ideology.
And even House candidates are picking up on the mantra. They’re still talking about kitchen table issues and accomplishments, and contrasting them with far right GOP obstructionism. Meanwhile, GOP incumbents and candidates are running around screaming like a bunch of howler monkeys, trying to score points with Trump.
Biden has done, and is doing his job. He is nationally tarring the entire GOP as the far right, anti democratic MAGA GOP. And he built that nice, wide, comfy off ramp. As long as the Democrats ignore Trump, and keep talking issues and contrasts, We should be fine in November. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
The 6 GOP Reps who voted against investigating Russia for WAR CRIMES — 4/7/22:
Paul Gosar (Ariz.)
Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.)
Andy Biggs (Ariz.)
Warren Davidson (Ohio),
Thomas Massie (Ky.)
Scott Perry (Pa.)
😀
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So…that would be 6 cigarettes & 6 blindfolds. Stand with mass murderers, reap the whirlwind. Of course the scene from Braveheart comes to mind, where the ruthless king said, ” bring me Wallace…alive if possible. Dead? Just as good.”
Mitch McConnell now having no real power to get the crazies to lay off is another sign. He wants what they do but is far more subtle in approach. Too bad for him that a) he’s never been better than a middle manager as a leader and b) any leader of his stripe has either fled or been driven out of the party. In the likely event that the midterms go badly for the Republicans, Liz Cheney will have all she needs to reconquer her party.
I accidentally hit the down vote but I do beg to differ about him being nothing more than a middle manager. He’s shrewd and calculating and is in no small part responsible for R’s having so much power for far too long. He was able to corral the tea party members of his coalition but his problem is that he foolishly thought he could corral an orangutan in an oversized blue suit and a yard long red tie with an ego even bigger than the his.
He’s NOT a supreme leader…unless he has someone to answer to, he’s useless, as the current situation demonstrates clearly. Contrast that with Schumer or Pelosi and it only becomes more obvious. He was never enough to counter the righteous destruction cozying up to Trump is going to bring. And letting the Tea Party types in the front door was one of his biggest mistakes.
He did manage to destroy our court system by packing it with worthless fed society garbage. That’s not nothing you know. And there are no quick or easy fixes for it. We might see that as being a bad thing but I”m pretty sure Yertle counts it as a feather in his cap.
It’s a rear guard action, Spike, nothing more. Unless it’s got the rest of the government’s backing and/or popular support, it’s fairly worthless in the long run.