The Basic Fallacy In The GOP’s Midterm Closing Argument. The Democrats Need To Hammer It

It’s one of the oldest sayings I know, You can’t fight City Hall. It started out as a political bromide about the futility of trying to fight the government if you thought what they were doing sucked, but over time has morphed into an all purpose phrase on the futility of fighting things you can’t control. And that’s the key, fighting things you can’t control, as opposed to fightings you have some control over.

But that’s the task the GOP has set itself to, and if the Democrats are smart, they’ll eviscerate them for it. One of the reasons that so many Democrats are running highly competitive races in what should be a down year is that they had the money to frame their opponents before they even got out of the primaries. The Democratic candidates ran positive messages for themselves, and negative ads slamming their presumed opponents. And when people only get one side of the story, especially over an extended period of time, they tend to believe it.

The GOP has pissed away a golden opportunity. Inflation and gas prices are nothing new, they’ve been rising for almost a year now. But the GOP spent all spring and summer in a mosh pit of conflicting messages, mostly against each other. It’s only now, in the last 6 weeks that the GOP has discovered message discipline and is hammering the economy and gas prices, mostly because they don’t want to talk about abortion. And it may be too late. The 3rd quarter GDP came out today, showing a healthy +2.6% gain, more than expected. The inflation reaction of the report showed that inflation has stalled, and in several categories is already receding, and gas prices are still dropping. All of which Biden hammered like a drum in a speech in Syracuse today.

You can’t fight City Hall. While both parties hammer the other when when one is in control, and inflation is on the loose, most people who don’t wear MAGA gear, and can put 2 sentences together realize and understand that no political party or administration can actually control inflation. It is an economic issue, and not subject to political pressures or solutions.

We all bitch about things we can’t control as a futile act of catharsis, to make us feel better. But we know it won’t help. On the other hand, we all know that there are plenty of things we actually have some control over, where we can make a difference. And if we’re smart, we focus on what we can change.

But the GOP doesn’t seem to grasp this simple, fundamental fact. Their closing argument is that since they recently discovered the economy is for shit, even though it’s getting better, then the only thing that voters should go to the polls and cast a ballot on is something that They can’t control, and neither can the GOP or the Democrats. The hell with everything else, vote the one thing you can’t control!

• Really? If you’re a senior like me, do you actually want to vote to banish the Democrats over an economy they’re fighting to control, and let the GOP get rid of capping your insulin costs at $35 a month? Or stop Medicare from negotiating lower costs with Big Pharma for the other drugs you take? Thanks to inflation I’m getting an 8.7% COLA to my disability next year. You want to give that back so rich sitpokes instead?
• You’re a family of 4, with 2 kids. Do you really want to give the Democrats the Denver Boot over the cost of moo juice, or do you want to give them the chance to codify Roe v Wade, so that you and your husband can control how many more kids you want to serve overpriced milk to?
• You’re an African American or Hispanic waiting hours in line, and jumping through hoops in order to cast your ballots, or do you want the Democrats to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill, and restore some sanity back to your constitutional right?
• You’re a student or graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Do you want to vote the Democrats out because your cheeseburgers and Doritos cost more, allowing the GOP to put you back into indentured servitude, or let Biden and the Democrats wipe out $10-20,000 of that monkey on your back?
• You’re in a same sex relationship. Do you want to drum the Democrats out of office cuz the price of gas is too high, or give them a durable majority, and let them codify same-sex-marriage into law, and flip double barrel birds to the GOP SCOTUS?
• You’re a high school graduate, just going off to college, or a 20 something just launching your life and career. Do you really want to bounce the Democrats because your work clothes cost too damn much, or do you want to risk the GOP not only trying to institute a nationwide abortion ban, but outlawing contraception as well, potentially changing the entire arc of your life?
• Are you a voter who is going into the ballot booth voting solely on the economy? Fine, how about a little Economics 101 for ya? If GOP Trumptard Kreepy Kevin McCarthy becomes the Speaker of the House in January, he’s made it perfectly clear that he will hold the debt ceiling hostage next year in order to force the Democrats to agree to deep cuts in social spending such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. If Biden refuses, he’ll drive us off the fiscal cliff, and launch a depression that will make today look like a boom cycle. And even is he backs off at the last minute, the uncertainty in the market will launch a 2008 style recession. Any questions?

All. Of. This. Is. On.The.Ballot. In. November! The GOP is running on the same, tired old saw of blaming the Democrats for an economy that nobody can control. You know how that’s true? Because they haven’t offered a single legitimate, comprehensive fix for anything that’s wrong with the economy. But the Biden administration has been aggressively actually dealing with the problem, and they’re showing results. Meanwhile, they’re fighting for things that will actually improve the American people’s lives. All Americans, not just rich shitpokes, Trombies, racists. 12 days left. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.