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Reflections on yesterday’s elections — 35 Comments

  1. Didn’t they think there would be a backlash? Or did they think the public really would come right along with them? Or did they think they could always cheat their way to power despite offending and alarming and insulting such a large swatch of people? Or did they think the MSM pulling for them and lying for them would be enough to ensure victory?

    It’s likely some combination of all of those, but also the siloing off of any contrasting opinion thanks to social media. It’s easy to believe that everyone thinks as you do if you never actually really communicate with anyone outside of you’re own idealogical bubble. And you’ll never understand those who may disagree with you if you don’t have discourse with them.

    Of course the problem for leftists is that they really don’t want to understand their opposition. In fact they don’t want to hear from them at all. They want the opposition silenced, deplatformed, and ostracized. Consequently they live in a delusional world of their own making.

  2. If I were more coherent and a better communicator I would have typed what Nonapod wrote.

    I’ve heard two interviews with John McWhorter regarding his new book, “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America” and it seems like Professor McWhorter has done an excellent job of detailing a phenomenon many of us perceive. This is a mission. A movement.

    True believers don’t care if their religion is in the minority or majority. They will continue to fight for its tenets no matter how much or little opposition they receive. I guess the question is, “how many Dems have drunk the kool-aid?” My guess is the leadership, like Pelosi and Schumer, are perfectly happy to cast some of the parishioners aside to hold onto the reins.

  3. Not to pull a black cloud out of a silver lining but it is important to remember that in order to get last night’s results, we literally had to have the top Democrat in Virginia say out loud in front of cameras “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach” AND we had to have a story break in the closing weeks of the campaign of a Virginia school literally covering up for a rapist, seemingly out of fear of offending the transgender community.

    And even with all THAT, NBC News exit polls showed 62% of college-educated white women STILL voted for McAullife.

    There’s a long fight ahead of us.

    Mike

  4. I don’t think the Dem leadership is unaware of its problems. I believe they knew they were way over their skis and a backlash was coming. The US has slid leftward over the decades but not so far as to back today’s hard left.

    The original plan in 2016 was to continue to push left Fabian style with Pres. Hillary and let demographics finish the job.

    Then Trump happened. They panicked and spent the next four years trying to get rid of him By Any Means Necessary. They managed by hook and crook to pull Biden over the finish line. But no more Mr. Nice Guy.

    They saw their chance to “fundamentally transform America” in a few fell strokes — stack the Court, change election rules to favor fraud, admit Puerto Rico and DC as states, open the border, weaponize the DOJ, censor conservative viewoints, ram through vast expansion of federal power etc.

    It was a gamble and with this election the window for those plans has closed for now.

    The Democrats will always be a menace, but their opportunity to run the table in this year and the next is, knock on wood, over.

  5. Yes on the perfect storm which took out McAuliffe, but what’s the explanation for the New Jersey election? The Republican may or may not win, which is even more shocking than the Virginia results. The left has been baring its authoritarian teeth, and the public doesn’t like it.

  6. From 538 on VA white women’s vote:
    ________________________________

    Virginia 2020 —> White women
    50% Biden (D), 49% Trump (R)

    Virginia 2021 —> White women
    57% Youngkin (R), 43% McAuliffe (D)

    A 15-point swing to the GOP with this group.
    ________________________________

    Systemic racism. Knew we couldn’t trust the white sistahs…

    Seriously, this looks like the difference which made the difference.

  7. Neo wrote: “So, why have the Democrats gone so far to the left the last couple of years?”

    This is a question that has nagged at me over the past two years. I find it very hard to believe your average Democrat (except for those living in places like NY and CA) are taken by Biden’s and Pelosi’s extreme (even radical) social and fiscal policies. Just the thought of declaring you need to pass a $3.5T spending bill without even fleshing out what will be in it until after the fact tells me the size of the bill, more than its contents, was the important issue. What kind of legislation is this? Totally divorced from reality, in my estimation. Legislation to make a fiscal statement, I would say. Is it possible Pelosi, Bernie and AOC sat down and said “let’s spend $3.5Trillion — we can figure out later what we’re going to spend it on.”? Sure, there’s bound to be enough “leakage” in such a bill that your supporters get a big chunk of cash, but seriously, is that any way to set policy?

    I think (hope) Youngkin’s win in Virginia signals a resurgence of more rational voting. I hope this is repeated many times over in next year’s elections, but as Mbunge has pointed out, elections often swing on seemingly random events. We cannot count on a critical mass of random events occurring next October and November. Nor can we count on a giant influx of young, energetic campaigners like Youngkin all over the country.

  8. MBunge,

    Yup. Youngkin really campaigned well, but it’s almost certain that, had McAuliffe not made such a boneheaded, egregiously maddening statement in the debate McAuliffe still would have won. I think even Youngkin would agree that if Loudon County schools had not tried to prosecute a father for protesting their cover up of his daughter’s rape, McAuliffe would be the Governor elect. I don’t think the Republican can count on events like that as “October surprises” in many upcoming campaigns.

  9. Kate,

    New Jersey elected Chris Christie more than once.

    I see the current results there as a repudiation of Murphy and his draconian COVID policies, as well as the state’s early, death toll. I could see a lot of people of various political strips all having reasons to want to see Murphy gone, even just tiredness of the pandemic and wanting to get it in the rearview mirror with a new face.

  10. Another point in Virginia is minority voting. According to what I read, Hispanics voted 54% for Youngkin. Black voters went 86% or so for McAuliffe, but in recent decades the black vote for Democrats has been in the mid-90% range.

  11. Besides McAuliffe’s boneheaded statements about parents, we can also thank the NSBA and AG Garland for the Virginia result. Concerned parents are not terrorists.

  12. On the other hand, the farther to the left the Dems go, the more likely they are to say “boneheaded” things when questioned.

    It’s not just an accident. It’s the famous Kinsley Gaffe:
    ______________________________________

    A Kinsley gaffe occurs when a political gaffe reveals some truth that a politician did not intend to admit. The term comes from journalist Michael Kinsley, who said, “A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.”

    –wiki

  13. Related:
    A NYC liberal mom asks:
    “Why Are Moms Like Me Being Called Domestic Terrorists?”
    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/482979/

    Key graf (but read the whole thing:
    “…As it turns out, the threat is me. The threat is parents showing up to dress down school boards over their dereliction of duty. That is what the NSBA considers a crime…”

  14. Another Democratic Party lunatic spews:

    “Former Obama campaign manager says Democrats need to ‘go on the offense’ on CRT.
    “‘Are you scared for your kids to learn about slavery?’ Plouffe asked.”
    https://www.foxnews.com/media/david-plouffe-democrats-go-offense-critical-race-theory

    Lies, Unlimited.
    Projection, Inc.
    Deception ‘R Us.
    Incredible but true.

    Such brazen deceit is hard to imagine—though Plouffe is a former Obama campaign manager and as such is capable of saying anything and everything—and he does.

  15. “According to what I read, Hispanics voted 54% for Youngkin. Black voters went 86% or so for McAuliffe”

    This is the Achilles heel of the Democratic Party and the Left when it comes to winning elections. African-Americans have been voting for Democrats for 60 years and, no matter what you think of that, it’s become a cultural and social tradition in black communities that is going to take a LOOOOOOOOONG time to change.

    Latinos are a whole different ball game. They don’t have the established internal political structure and lack the same historical motivations. No matter what the GOP does, getting more than 14% of the black vote is going to be hard for years if not decades to come. Getting 40% or a majority of the Latino vote? That’s doable right now.

    Of course, Republicans have to understand they’re not going to get Latino votes by just aping Democratic policies and slogans.

    Mike

  16. A skeptical “But…”:
    “[The victory in Virginia] is great and all, don’t get me wrong—but it’s not fixing any of our structural problems.”
    https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1455881128267636738
    (Interesting comments…)

    And another:
    “Notwithstanding GOP jubilation, Virginia was close, too close. Next time, it might turn out differently with more mail-in ballots, more ballot harvesting and more rescanning.
    “If the GOP wants to win regularly, they will need to start undoing fortification, especially mail-in.”
    https://twitter.com/HansMahncke/status/1455900052703092736
    (Also with worthwhile comments.)

  17. After 2020 and this NJ fiasco I’m thinking that the US has quite a few jurisdictions that don’t have the required “republican form of government,” but then that’s just some old racist parchment that nobody understands.

  18. FWIW, my expectation is that the Democrats and their media allies (including social media) will spend the next 2 years deplatforming and discrediting Republicans, especially as climate denialists (the new “racism”). The Dems’ legislative agenda is probably dead so expect a boatload of executive orders instead.

  19. One thing I keep seeing screamed loudly by the Democrats and press is the term

    “Dog whistle racism” Not only do they get the metaphor wrong, as they would be the dog.

    But I would argue what they are practicing is “Dog treat racism” They simply throw that racist treat wherever they want. And the Democrats just keep sniffing around until they find it. And much like a dog you can just make the throwing motion with no treat. And they will keep looking anyway.

  20. New Jersey update:
    1.
    “Ciattarelli campaign reacts to AP decision: ‘Irresponsible’ to call vote this early for Murphy”;
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ciattarelli-campaign-reacts-to-ap-call-irresponsible-to-call-vote-too-early
    2.
    “Hit the courts and fight hard! Without vote fraud, Ciattarelli wins New Jersey hands down”:
    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/11/hit_the_courts_and_fight_hard_without_vote_fraud_ciattarelli_wins_new_jersey_hands_down.html
    3.
    “Gov. Murphy Declares Victory in New Jersey; Ciattarelli Does Not Concede”:
    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/montville/sections/elections/articles/gov-murphy-declares-victory-in-new-jersey-ciattarelli-does-not-concede

    Seems as though the fat lady hasn’t yet made an appearance in NJ (and if she is looming over the horizon, then she’s as tone deaf as Terry McAuliffe….)

  21. Another maverick, if in another discipline:
    “The Teen Trans Craze — The truth is now out there”
    https://spectator.org/abigail-shrier-teen-trans-craze/
    H/T Blazingcatfur blog.

    And yet, the hysteria generated around gender dysphoria seems eerily similar to the hysteria generated in other areas:
    – COVID-19
    – Global Warming
    – CRT (i.e., the need to inculcate anti-caucasian sentiment in education and elsewhere)
    – Cancel culture (and wokeness in general).
    – etc.

    These have all become parts of the “Narrative. All of them are being promoted by the “Biden” regime.

    How does one stop the madness?
    How does one push back against it and ultimately defeat it?

    File under: The Age of Hysteria?

  22. I understand that the Left meme that CRT isn’t taught in school, and Rs just wanna keep history of slavery and racism out of schools dominates the news, right now.

    A commenter at Instapundit posted screen caps from the Virginia State Department of Educrats, er, education, showing that they do so teach CRT, explicitly.
    SEE HERE
    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/483097/#comment-5595964409

  23. Neo, they do it because that is what Trotskyites do. See the Labour Party in the U.K. The Democratic Party has become Corbynized.

  24. “so far to the left the last couple of years”

    Last *couple* of years? I quit voting Democrat for good in 2004 because it was clear to me then the Michael Moore wing had taken over. In fact didn’t you leave the party around the same time for the same reason, neo? The nomination of Obama only confirmed it. And arguably we both should have done so much earlier.

    Nevertheless though the party has long been accustomed to racist-baiting they do seem to have really gone off the cliff. My guess one of the reasons for this is Trump. His emphasis on nationalism and pointedly non-PC demeanor gave them license, at least in their minds, to double and triple down on their race card. Of course they needed their MFM stooges to ignore inconvenient truths like the fact that Trump increased his support among Hispanics and blacks in 2020 and IF he was actually defeated it was because he lost support among white suburban soccer moms.

    Now those soccer moms are finding out they traded mean tweets for mean schools. If things work out well this will turn into yet another example of Trump rope-a-doping his opponents into fatal mistakes. But yes, still a lot of work to be done.

  25. Insty hits the ball out of the park. The first two are links to stories; the third is pure Reynolds.

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/483121/

    HAHA: Teacher forced out after January 6 photo wins seat on school board in Massachusetts.

    UPDATE: At least 8 Republicans who attended Jan. 6 rally elected into office.

    In less than a decade, people who weren’t there will be claiming that they were.

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