Your first statement is very true. Your second statement, not so much. McAuliffe is just another milque-toast Clintoncrat, so to that end, he wasn't going to be able to overcome any headwind, but the truth is that the duopoly has basically made elections perfunctory. At the state and national level, most everything is decided by the temperature of the room at that moment, and not factors specific to the race. Democrats could be catering to the Church of Satan and it wouldn't make much difference. We're living in a Coke vs. Pepsi world and the vacillation between those two forces is as predictable as the tides. If we don't snap out of it and re-tool our democratic framework, we're doomed.
Basically this. The Democrats' entire campaign was "Young = Trump" (I saw more signs that literally said this, paid for by Dems, than I saw pro-McAuliffe signs). The Republicans' entire campaign was "CRT + BLM = DNC". The latter was more effective than the former, but both campaigns were basically gigantic nothing-burgers centered around culture signaling. I got really depressed yesterday afternoon after I voted. I went down to the local elementary school to cast my ballot, and there were only like 4 things to vote for (AG, Gov, LT Gov, and a school bond). I did not like anyone I voted for. I thought to myself... I'm a very privileged person being allowed to go vote on a weekday without needing to make arrangements for it (childcare, PTO, etc), and yet, it feels so hollow. Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich.
Few things on this article: 1. The "Dem Playbook" is not to run on anti-Trump messaging. It's a sign that Democrats are freaked out by the polling in a specific race, and it worked in Cali to wake up the Dem electorate. But this is NOT the "Dem Playbook" going into 2022. In case you missed it, 98% of the party is banking on passing BBB, and running on that. Only 2 Senators are causing havok in DC, and that chaos is making it look like "Dems are in Disaray." 2. "Only Trump is Trump" is a really really stupid statement. Even for the NYPost. Do you realize that probably 90% of Republican candidates that win their primaries will do so by going TO THE RIGHT of the establishment? In 2022, there will be a sh$t load of Marjorie Taylor Greene's and Matt Geatz's on the ballot, and Dems will need a multi-pronged strategy to freak out their local electorate if the other side is a QAnon fascist while some running against a nice looking sweater vest guy, will need to run on the issues with precision. 3. I'm in the camp that thinks Afghanistan is already in the rear view for Americans. Lastly - I think Democrats in general are polling poorly because they are tied effectively (even though it has nothing to do with the party in most cases) by the SUPER powerful right wing hive mind media sphere to "Woke Culture". CRT was like 95% of the message in the past 12 months from the right. We are dealing with a cultural backlash to the backlash of police brutality, and the right wing is very very effective at making suburban white non-college educated people believe that when a Hollywood actress who is famous for her spot on a sitcom in the 80's sends out a Tweet criticizing Dave Chappelle for anti-Trans views, it's as if Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the Dem city mayor in your town sent that tweet themselves. I cannot stress that last point enough. The reason why Republicans have a major advantage is the profoundly powerful sentiment that the media culture portrays tying cultural waves to the Democratic party. I don't know the answer for Democrats, but the first thing they have to do is realize there has been a DRAMATIC shift in the cultural sentiment, and figure that out. Then the second step will be to solve the economic issues somehow some way, and run on those kitchen table issues. The economy has to improve, and the electorate needs to know it, and more importantly feel it.
I had never heard Critical Race Theory until the GOP dug it up and made it the main plank of their attack. It sucks but this is pure conservative Machiavellian campaigning which they excel at.
And the left has no media collective to counter the messaging around CRT and "woke culture" that the right is running on. I just popped on Morning Joe this morning and one of the first things Joe said was "Democrats have to stop running on woke issues." Imagine you are a suburban white woman with no degree who doesn't pay attention to politics but has an active Facebook page, and FoxNews is always on at her doctors office and at 24 hour fitness. She hears the Dems had a bad night on her local news this morning, and decides to hear what the Left has to say about it, and thinks that she's going to hear the Democratic viewpoint by going as far left as she knows to go.... to MSNBC... and then she hears straight from MSNBC that the Democratic Party is what is purveying "Woke Culture." This is a cultural issue, but not in the way people think. Our information intake in this country is designed with precision to destroy the Democratic party.
One other thing I found odd. Over the past weekend there was a sudden guerilla campaign about an impending ISIS attack on shopping malls in suburban Northern Virginia. It was all over facebook, Nextdoor, etc. But the official channels about the news were really mum and vague. The timing of this seemed really... convenient... to send throngs of conservative leaning soccer parents to the polls.
Dems are either in denial that CRT is being taught in schools, or they say CRT is just teaching history. CRT is teaching kids that being white makes you inherently racist. Most parents aren't going to put up with that.
I'm a giant critic of CRT who lives in the goddamned school districts that all this herp and derp is about and CRT isn't being taught in schools.
I just think conservatives have a built in advantage with “traditions”. They also just know how to campaign better as they are back to focusing on hammering the local and state level with “CRT and covid”. Dems just really lost the messaging at some recent point in the culture wars, and got ahead of itself. Mostly the social progressives who just couldn’t understand when to stop. I just don’t understand how the DNC can be so incompetent as well.
Or the Conservatives aren't going forward with the infrastructure bill. I appreciate your take on this. As a progressive, I never imagined that it could appear that progressives were holding up the bill. What do you feel the progressives should do to in order to push it along? I'm asking because I'm genuinely interested and not because I'm suggesting they aren't holding up the bill. They may well be. I'm just looking for more insight. Sorry if I'm over-explaining my motives in asking the question. But with political discourse often reduced to attempts to slam the other team, I thought I'd make clear that isn't what I'm trying to do.
I thought it was well known... "Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said that progressives would not require the Senate to pass the sprawling social policy bill before voting for the infrastructure bill, as they had previously stipulated. But she said that liberal lawmakers needed to see written text for the $1.85 trillion legislation, and receive assurances from Mr. Biden that the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, would vote for it. Ms. Jayapal also said progressives would insist on voting on both bills back-to-back." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/us/politics/progressives-infrastructure-biden-pelosi-support.html
You are a massive liar. I'm around teachers daily. I Know about TEKS here in Texas which is the set of standards that many states have similarly. Here's the part that deals specifically with any sort of social studies tied to our history and race: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/publ...=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=113&rl=51 If you or any other MAGA has a problem with any of this, why don't you call Gregg Abbott and have him pick another person to chair the board which approves the curriculum themselves. If you think that this "Controversial" curriculum is CRT than all you nutjobs have to do is call you governor who ultimately decides what the curriculum is since they appoint the very person who oversees the elected committee who writes the curriculum. So since you are obviously proven to be lying here.... do you want to retract anything you just said that is an offense to hard working school teachers who are just trying to do their F-ing jobs?????
A Thumping in Virginia Voters warn Democrats to walk away from the Sanders-Pelosi agenda. https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-thumping-in-virginia-11635941150?mod=hp_opin_pos_1 A Thumping in Virginia Voters warn Democrats to walk away from the Sanders-Pelosi agenda. By The Editorial Board Nov. 3, 2021 8:05 am ET Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia Governor’s race on Tuesday is a political thunderclap that should warn Democrats about their ideological overreach. But it may be more important as a template for how Republicans can win back the suburbs after their alienation from the GOP during the Trump Presidency. The rebuke to Democrats was also clear in New Jersey, where Republican Jack Ciattarelli was neck-and-neck Wednesday morning with incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy. Mr. Ciattarelli won back suburban counties in a huge voter swing that pollsters didn’t see coming in a state Joe Biden won by 16 points. *** Mr. Youngkin, a businessman and first-time candidate, defied the historical trend by winning a state that has been trending Democratic. The GOP hadn’t won a statewide Virginia race in more than a decade, and Mr. Biden beat Donald Trump by 10 points. The decisive swing vote had moved away from the GOP in the suburbs around Washington, D.C., Richmond and Virginia Beach. Mr. Youngkin clawed back enough of that vote to defeat former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and sweep the other two top statewide offices. He did so by focusing on quality-of-life issues such as education, public safety, and the cost of living. He didn’t shrink from disputes over culture and school curriculum, but he didn’t approach them as a zealot. He didn’t run a single immigration ad that we heard about, a contrast with the Trump era. He talked like a normal human being. The Republican was helped because this time the zealotry was on the left. Mr. McAuliffe, a centrist when he was raising money for Bill and Hillary Clinton, indulged every obsession of the party’s dominant progressive wing. Keep schools closed, ignore parental objections to teaching critical race theory in schools, and call Mr. Youngkin a “Trumpkin” with sympathy for white supremacists. Mr. McAuliffe closed his campaign by appearing with Randi Weingarten, the teachers union chief who fought to keep schools closed. There’s a political mood killer. Off-year races for Governor aren’t a predictor of 2022, but they should tell Democrats that they’re on a losing path. President Biden ran as a centrist who would unite the country, but he has governed by bowing to the left on nearly everything. He has pushed identity politics and radical spending programs when people care about the soaring price of gasoline. The President’s approval rating has tanked, as independents and even many Democrats have grown disillusioned. The Democratic temptation will be to dismiss their Tuesday thumping as a normal reaction against the party that controls Washington. Congressional leaders will make the case that they must now, more than ever, pass their $4 trillion tax and spending bill lest they demoralize their supporters going into 2022. That’s easy for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to say. She’s probably retiring anyway. But that strategy is volunteering 20 to 30 Democrats in swing suburban districts for political suicide. Virginia Reps. Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger are prime targets. Without Mr. Trump on the ballot, Democrats are less motivated to vote. Their agenda of record social spending and higher taxes has compromised, with inflation and supply shortages, what should be a booming recovery. The smart strategy would be to drop the Bernie Sanders agenda, settle for the Senate infrastructure bill, and recalibrate to win some bipartisan victories. The Virginia defeat gives Mr. Biden the opening he needs to finally say no to the left. It may be the only way to salvage his Presidency. Senator Joe Manchin and the swing-district House Democrats would do their party a favor by withdrawing support for the Sanders-Pelosi entitlement blowout. *** As for the GOP, the Youngkin strategy won’t be replicable everywhere. But it does show a path to regaining support in the suburbs that was lost under Mr. Trump. The GOP in the Trump years won a larger share of the vote in shrinking parts of the country, but a smaller share in the rising areas. Much of this was due to Mr. Trump’s persona and polarizing style that alienated college-educated voters and women. Mr. Youngkin triangulated the Trump dilemma with skill. He didn’t attack the former President but he also didn’t invite him to campaign with him. Mr. McAuliffe tried to wrap Mr. Trump around the Republican but it didn’t work because Mr. Youngkin was so un-Trump-like. He could talk about some of the same cultural issues, such as critical race theory in schools, but without playing into the hands of the Democrats who want to portray all Republicans as racists. Mr. Trump, naturally, tried to take credit for Mr. Youngkin’s victory in statements on Tuesday night. But he was jumping in front of the victory parade. The former President would have hurt Mr. Youngkin had he campaigned for him. The message from Virginia is that voters don’t want the agenda of the progressive left, and they’ll listen to a Republican who forthrightly addresses problems they care about without being a jerk.
This is stupid. It was a thin margin in a race that was expected to be tight. This result tells us nothing we didn't already know about the past or the future.
Haven't even looked at those. Either way, there was no "thumping" in Virginia and there is nothing to be gleaned from that race. It's just a bunch of busy bodies trying to make smoke and noise for clicks.
