Tuesday’s U.S. Election Delivers Cold Bath of Reality
Nov. 3, 2021 (EIRNS)—A cold bath of reality was poured down upon the Democratic Party ideologues in the elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The fantasy that politically correct narratives can cover for addressing bread and butter issues of the economy was smashed with a mass desertion from the 10 and 16 point victories in Virginia and New Jersey just 12 months ago—two supposedly solid “blue” states.
In Virginia, Republican Glen Youngkin won by 2.1% over favored former Governor Terry McAuliffe—who had showered Virginia with “Youngkin is Trump” propaganda, and was part of the gang assaulting democracy on January 6, etc. Youngkin actually kept his distance from Trump, pushing a quieter message: lower the gas tax, end the regressive tax on groceries, and spend more on teachers. The Democrats brought in President Biden, VP Harris and former President Obama—all to no avail. Then the Democrats’ cavalier, “benign neglect” promotion of a new policy on access to bathrooms in schools resulted in a 14-year-old girl being sexually assaulted in a school bathroom, which became the final straw, triggering a revolt against a fantasy-ridden political class.
Exit polls indicated that the most important factor in voting decisions was “economy and jobs” at 35%, followed by “critical race theory in schools” at 25%.
A former top GOP strategist told EIR that the election is a “wake-up call” for Democrats. “The Dems ran an atrocious campaign.” They assumed that the hatred of Trump would carry them to victory. What it shows, he added, is that “they have nothing to offer families facing very hard times. Their budget plan stinks, the Green New Deal will penalize all but the most wealthy, there is no consensus among them on how to proceed—what are they offering their base?” The idea that they can hold the House and Senate in 2022, without a dramatic change by the Biden administration and Congressional leaders, is a prime example, he concluded, of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
In New Jersey, Phil Murphy, the sitting Democratic governor with a million more registered Democrats than Republicans, and in a state that Biden won by 16% a year ago, finds himself at this writing locked in a dead heat with the Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli. Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist who had previously worked for Murphy, was asked whether Biden’s fall in the polls was the key to the dismal results for Murphy: “Biden didn’t help, but let’s deal in some hard truths, no matter how unpleasant for Democrats: You don’t nearly blow an election where your party has a 1 million-vote advantage without some awful missteps. You actually need to have concrete plans and a vision for the future other than ‘Donald Trump is the antichrist.’ ”
The Biden team returned to the White House late Tuesday evening from the trip to Glasgow. As described by CNN, there was a grim mood aboard Air Force One, as a weary Biden team now faces the prospect of recriminations over campaign strategies. The question is, will the cold slap of reality end the nightmarish fantasies?
