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(Donald Trump (on the left) and Governor-Elect of Virginia Glenn Younkin (on the right). (Photos by Getty Images)
Last night, a prominent off-year election did not end well for Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey. Republican Glenn Youngkin won the governor's race in Virginia, which is a state that Biden won by 10 percentage points just a year ago. New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy also faces an uphill battle as he is trying to win reelection in the Garden State, which is something no Democratic governor has been able to do in the last four decades — the race in New Jersey is still too close to call.
There are significant arguments to be made about why these campaigns were so difficult for Democrats that don’t involve President Biden’s current approval ratings. Virginia has consistently tended to elect a US President from one party and then a year later, elected a governor from the opposite party. But, the race in New Jersey was not expected to be as close as it has become, despite the hurdles that incumbent Governor Murphy has faced.
Perhaps most alarming is the success of Republican campaigns this year focusing on state-wide issues that mirror national issues. Some of these topics, such as education, have traditionally taken a back seat to issues like the economy. Virginia, which always elects a new governor one year after presidential races, has long been seen as a political bellwether for both parties, which gives analysts an idea of the political terrain the country is facing in the next election. Timing is also essential in political races and it is impossible to predict what will be happening as we head into election week next year, or even two years after that for the next presidential election.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Yesterday’s election was no doubt a confirmation that Republican candidates have maneuvered a new path through the wreckage of Trump’s loss last year by slightly distancing themselves from Trump, while espousing his policies. The tactic of convincing some voters in Virginia that there was an issue with education, allowed conservatives to continue stoking the Trump flame by using a more covert version of the former president’s racist dog-whistle tactics.
Is the blow of last night an ominous tell for Democrats about what is to come? If so, can this information be valuable and useful now by giving everyone important intel on how the Republican Party is mutating? Will this strategy be significantly impacted if Donald Trump officially enters the 2024 Presidential Race? Please tell me what you think about all of this below — I am anxious to get your take on this to help inform my position on what comes next.
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I'm tired of watching the MSM massage the issues to continue to present some wacky sort of "even-handed" coverage. Youngkin's racist, elitist messages were presented as plausible & his supporters were characterized as 'normal, every-day' parents & working people, when they were actually activists disguising their true motives. The MSM needs to accept their share of the blame while our country implodes - they aided and abetted this idiocy and the only way we can overcome even a portion of it is to pass a voting rights act, then enforce the bejeebers out of it.
The next step is to reinstate some form of the old 'Fairness Doctrine,' wherein both sides are guaranteed equal time on EVERY media platform, including the RWNJs like Brietbart, OAN, Right Side, Newsmax, and Fox. Until we take steps to combat the 'Yellow Journalism' that has overtaken our MSM, we will continue to see the entire country devolve into chaos in our governing, policies, and policing.
The problem, as I see it, is that Youngkin manufactured the "state issues" that he ran against. Thus, another "'ghost' who wasn't on the ballot." I don't think it matters whether you're running against a "ghost" person or "ghost" issues, it's still illusory and the MSM should have called it out as such.
Placing the blame on MSM or any reporting agency, wasn't the point, Terry ran against Trump who wasn't on the ballot. Having held the office he should had a better handle on any real issues, considering both ABC and NBC both addressed the racial education issue and the NYT covered Toni Morrison's book
Again, ABC & NBC "addressed" the racial education issue, but did not call it out as being a specious argument to begin with. They framed it as some supposedly legitimate concern for the parents who are fighting it - and it shouldn't even be a concern in the first place. NYT's "coverage" of the push to ban Morrison's book was framed as a legitimate concern by a parent, when the truth is that the "parent" concerned is a RW activist. If our media sources aren't going to do the digging necessary to present both sides truthfully, we're never going to be able to win the "hearts and minds," due to the constant barrage of misleading, slanted, or outright false information that is allowed to circulate.
Totally agree, most anchors òr commentators are only on for a half hour at best but have to repeat yesterday's or the weekends new, how could they cover facts....
I think race is playing a much bigger role than anybody wants to admit or is willing to say, it's that simple. And racial identity among whites runs much deeper than we care to acknowledge. After the train wreck of the Trump years, you can still get white voters to vote against their own economic interests, job interests, retirement interests and healthcare interests just by assuring them of their perceived standing at the top of the racial hierarchy. Honestly I don't even know the way forward from here, the country is broken.
Democrats need to understand ONE THING and ONE THING only. INACTION has a price, MIXED MESSAGING has a price, failure to HAMMER YOUR MESSAGE at every opportunity has a price.
Let’s hope they understand this and deal with it.
@SpeakerPelosi @SenSchumer
Stop passing bills and just saying
“Look what we just did…”!
Be out there
EVERY SECOND OF
EVERY MINUTE OF
EVERY DAY REMINDING PEOPLE!
Use the MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUR AMPLE STAFF, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF CONGRESS!
Democrats were crying no money, they want big money out of politics then spent the campaign crying for money take it from where it's òffered Citizens United is going away over night
I actually turned off the tv last night because I was getting so depressed at the returns. I wasn't shocked by Virginia, where McCauliffe ran what I thought was a fairly uninspiring campaign. Further, Glenn Youngkin was laser-focused on the two issues; CRT (even though anyone who is well-informed knows that it's not even taught in Virginia schools) as well as "parental choice" (with respect to education and "health choices"). These resonated with many voters and it seems like McAuliffe had absolutely no answer to them. As well, his efforts to link Youngkin to Trump clearly fell flat.
Personally, I see the result in New Jersey as being even more ominous. Yes, I know that NJ has a pattern of electing governors who are from the opposite party as the President, but Murphy was fairly popular and had received plaudits for the way he handled the pandemic. Yet, he is barely ahead this morning (by a little over 1,600 votes) of a guy who appeared at a "stop the steal" rally.
The midterm elections are a year away, so there is still some time for the Democrats to get SOMETHING done on a national level (PLEASE forget about BBB for the time being and focus on voting rights, guys? PLEASE?????). If they don't, what happens in 2022 will dwarf what happened in 2010.
They do much on voting rights until kill the filibuster which doesn't have the movement needed, I NEVER LIKED THE BAD ENGLISH title coming someone married to a teacher, voters wanted smarter, more consideration for different points of view, and unity.....
Totally agree. If Democrats don't somehow manage to pass major legislation that benefits most people then they'll likely lose it all. Sadly they only seem somewhat interested.
There is an old political cliche that "Democrats fall apart; Republicans fall in line". It's never been more accurate than in the last year or so. Look, it may not be popular among the supporters of the progressive caucus, but guess what, this country "isn't there", at least not yet. So, get done what you can, stop fighting with each other (and yes, my anger/criticism is also directed at Senators Manchin (who has become an expert at moving the goalposts) and Sinema (who knows what the #$&*^$ she wants, since she won't deign to talk to us commoners, other than that she apparently favours high drug prices for Medicare)), and GET SH-T DONE. PASS VOTING RIGHTS LEGISLATION, before the Republicans legislate/gerrymander the Democrats right out of existence). THEN, work on BBB.
Sorry for the angry tone of my message. I'm just so frustrated and disheartened this morning, probably the most I have felt this way since the Orange Asscactus was elected in 2016.
Money has been a sore point with me they followed Trump movement to keep charging seniors recurring donations but get insulted when it's offered from businesses or Corp. Yet they never get enough support to kill òr over turn Citizen United
Have been on the progressive side of Dems forever and busy fighting for LGBTQ+ equality for about 30 years. I agree. Get things done. Make big asks, but also fall in line when you can make things better for voters. We're stuck with Manchin and Sinema (who I called out as an attention seeker 10 years ago in AZ). Do what can be done. Get better messaging on the progressive ideals and pull the country back to the center, then center-left. Slowly. Take the fight to the insurrectionists. Now.
I stopped reading Cillizza a while ago; I got very tired of his constant 'drip, drip, drip' criticisms of Democrats. Every week it was something else that the Dems were doing wrong - and I needed to hear what few bright spots we could point to so I could keep hoping for a reverse swing of the pendulum.
I am so angry and disheartened. It’s like every single cliche about Dems is being proven true. Between the last night election and the BBB fights, Dems are proving “Dems in disarray” is real. It’s as if dems in congress do not understand the precipice our democracy sits upon. I know a lot of other dems who feel the same way - a lot of disgust and disappointment in our party, even to the point of wanting to leave the party. Also, I am thoroughly angry at MSM. They amplify dem culture wars because dems aren’t trying to over turn something popular like ACA. Headlines everywhere this morning make it sound like Biden has no chance of being re-elected. My disgust with this whole system and the dems inability to have any control over messaging, makes me turn away from all of it. Like many, all I can think about is what the state of our country will look like in with another Trump prez.
How to win back white women who just voted, convincingly, for a Republican conservative candidate a day after the SCOTUS heard a case, that Republicans championed, to eradicate their right to reproductive health care? Damn good question.
The problem with a 3rd party is it only pulls votes from the Dems, & Rethugs win. Perfect example of this is 2016, where too many, but not enough independents voted for Bernie in the General, even though he'd lost the primary & had no chance to win. It didn't hurt the Rethugs at all, but took needed votes from HRC. As a result, we suffered through the most destructive, corrupt administration in this Country's history.
The 3rd party idea is just that, an idea that inpractucality doesn't work. The people the voted 3rd party in 2016 should've thought a whole lot longer & more rationally about their vote, & not wasted it on a supposed "protest" vote. Dems told them what would happen & it did. Protesting is when you get out in the street with a sign. Voting is a serious right that we could lose under another Rethug/Fascist administration.
I'm tired of watching the MSM massage the issues to continue to present some wacky sort of "even-handed" coverage. Youngkin's racist, elitist messages were presented as plausible & his supporters were characterized as 'normal, every-day' parents & working people, when they were actually activists disguising their true motives. The MSM needs to accept their share of the blame while our country implodes - they aided and abetted this idiocy and the only way we can overcome even a portion of it is to pass a voting rights act, then enforce the bejeebers out of it.
The next step is to reinstate some form of the old 'Fairness Doctrine,' wherein both sides are guaranteed equal time on EVERY media platform, including the RWNJs like Brietbart, OAN, Right Side, Newsmax, and Fox. Until we take steps to combat the 'Yellow Journalism' that has overtaken our MSM, we will continue to see the entire country devolve into chaos in our governing, policies, and policing.
Great suggestions here.
But he did address the concerns of the state issues not run against a "ghost" who wasn't on the ballot....
The problem, as I see it, is that Youngkin manufactured the "state issues" that he ran against. Thus, another "'ghost' who wasn't on the ballot." I don't think it matters whether you're running against a "ghost" person or "ghost" issues, it's still illusory and the MSM should have called it out as such.
Placing the blame on MSM or any reporting agency, wasn't the point, Terry ran against Trump who wasn't on the ballot. Having held the office he should had a better handle on any real issues, considering both ABC and NBC both addressed the racial education issue and the NYT covered Toni Morrison's book
Again, ABC & NBC "addressed" the racial education issue, but did not call it out as being a specious argument to begin with. They framed it as some supposedly legitimate concern for the parents who are fighting it - and it shouldn't even be a concern in the first place. NYT's "coverage" of the push to ban Morrison's book was framed as a legitimate concern by a parent, when the truth is that the "parent" concerned is a RW activist. If our media sources aren't going to do the digging necessary to present both sides truthfully, we're never going to be able to win the "hearts and minds," due to the constant barrage of misleading, slanted, or outright false information that is allowed to circulate.
Totally agree, most anchors òr commentators are only on for a half hour at best but have to repeat yesterday's or the weekends new, how could they cover facts....
More of the Congressional TRIAD Money, Greed and Power
I think race is playing a much bigger role than anybody wants to admit or is willing to say, it's that simple. And racial identity among whites runs much deeper than we care to acknowledge. After the train wreck of the Trump years, you can still get white voters to vote against their own economic interests, job interests, retirement interests and healthcare interests just by assuring them of their perceived standing at the top of the racial hierarchy. Honestly I don't even know the way forward from here, the country is broken.
Yes-great point. I agree.
Democrats need to understand ONE THING and ONE THING only. INACTION has a price, MIXED MESSAGING has a price, failure to HAMMER YOUR MESSAGE at every opportunity has a price.
Let’s hope they understand this and deal with it.
@SpeakerPelosi @SenSchumer
Stop passing bills and just saying
“Look what we just did…”!
Be out there
EVERY SECOND OF
EVERY MINUTE OF
EVERY DAY REMINDING PEOPLE!
Use the MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUR AMPLE STAFF, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF CONGRESS!
WELL SAID (per ushe)!
And THANK YOU! For what you do. Suffering in silence never works for anyone and you give all of us some much needed community.
Thanks ANGER can indeed be POWER
Anger is galvanizing.
Democrats were crying no money, they want big money out of politics then spent the campaign crying for money take it from where it's òffered Citizens United is going away over night
To a point, but betting on a come means your betting awful long odds, when you can't United the party........
I’d rather they be painfully dysfunctional (which they are) than United behind a lie like their counterparts.
They don’t use their voices or their cudgels effectively.
Amen
I actually turned off the tv last night because I was getting so depressed at the returns. I wasn't shocked by Virginia, where McCauliffe ran what I thought was a fairly uninspiring campaign. Further, Glenn Youngkin was laser-focused on the two issues; CRT (even though anyone who is well-informed knows that it's not even taught in Virginia schools) as well as "parental choice" (with respect to education and "health choices"). These resonated with many voters and it seems like McAuliffe had absolutely no answer to them. As well, his efforts to link Youngkin to Trump clearly fell flat.
Personally, I see the result in New Jersey as being even more ominous. Yes, I know that NJ has a pattern of electing governors who are from the opposite party as the President, but Murphy was fairly popular and had received plaudits for the way he handled the pandemic. Yet, he is barely ahead this morning (by a little over 1,600 votes) of a guy who appeared at a "stop the steal" rally.
The midterm elections are a year away, so there is still some time for the Democrats to get SOMETHING done on a national level (PLEASE forget about BBB for the time being and focus on voting rights, guys? PLEASE?????). If they don't, what happens in 2022 will dwarf what happened in 2010.
Agreed. We need to start the branding work now for sure.
They do much on voting rights until kill the filibuster which doesn't have the movement needed, I NEVER LIKED THE BAD ENGLISH title coming someone married to a teacher, voters wanted smarter, more consideration for different points of view, and unity.....
Totally agree. If Democrats don't somehow manage to pass major legislation that benefits most people then they'll likely lose it all. Sadly they only seem somewhat interested.
There is an old political cliche that "Democrats fall apart; Republicans fall in line". It's never been more accurate than in the last year or so. Look, it may not be popular among the supporters of the progressive caucus, but guess what, this country "isn't there", at least not yet. So, get done what you can, stop fighting with each other (and yes, my anger/criticism is also directed at Senators Manchin (who has become an expert at moving the goalposts) and Sinema (who knows what the #$&*^$ she wants, since she won't deign to talk to us commoners, other than that she apparently favours high drug prices for Medicare)), and GET SH-T DONE. PASS VOTING RIGHTS LEGISLATION, before the Republicans legislate/gerrymander the Democrats right out of existence). THEN, work on BBB.
Sorry for the angry tone of my message. I'm just so frustrated and disheartened this morning, probably the most I have felt this way since the Orange Asscactus was elected in 2016.
We need to mutate in the same way that Republicans always do so brilliantly-I don't like to say that it takes money, but money never hurts.
Money has been a sore point with me they followed Trump movement to keep charging seniors recurring donations but get insulted when it's offered from businesses or Corp. Yet they never get enough support to kill òr over turn Citizen United
Have been on the progressive side of Dems forever and busy fighting for LGBTQ+ equality for about 30 years. I agree. Get things done. Make big asks, but also fall in line when you can make things better for voters. We're stuck with Manchin and Sinema (who I called out as an attention seeker 10 years ago in AZ). Do what can be done. Get better messaging on the progressive ideals and pull the country back to the center, then center-left. Slowly. Take the fight to the insurrectionists. Now.
At least Murphy is now ahead by about 5,700 votes, still well within the margin of effort but at least trending in the right direction.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/03/politics/2021-election-glenn-youngkin-virginia-new-jersey/index.html
I stopped reading Cillizza a while ago; I got very tired of his constant 'drip, drip, drip' criticisms of Democrats. Every week it was something else that the Dems were doing wrong - and I needed to hear what few bright spots we could point to so I could keep hoping for a reverse swing of the pendulum.
Understood but that doesn’t mean that he’s wrong here.
I am so angry and disheartened. It’s like every single cliche about Dems is being proven true. Between the last night election and the BBB fights, Dems are proving “Dems in disarray” is real. It’s as if dems in congress do not understand the precipice our democracy sits upon. I know a lot of other dems who feel the same way - a lot of disgust and disappointment in our party, even to the point of wanting to leave the party. Also, I am thoroughly angry at MSM. They amplify dem culture wars because dems aren’t trying to over turn something popular like ACA. Headlines everywhere this morning make it sound like Biden has no chance of being re-elected. My disgust with this whole system and the dems inability to have any control over messaging, makes me turn away from all of it. Like many, all I can think about is what the state of our country will look like in with another Trump prez.
How to win back white women who just voted, convincingly, for a Republican conservative candidate a day after the SCOTUS heard a case, that Republicans championed, to eradicate their right to reproductive health care? Damn good question.
Is it terrible of me to wish horrible things for Virginia in the next four years? Probably. But give me 24 hours to change my mind, OK?
They had 3 plans none of which played just so one senator could make a profit for his family
I left in 2015, if half the smart ones would leave from both parties we could vote GREEN, and at least win on climate change
The problem with a 3rd party is it only pulls votes from the Dems, & Rethugs win. Perfect example of this is 2016, where too many, but not enough independents voted for Bernie in the General, even though he'd lost the primary & had no chance to win. It didn't hurt the Rethugs at all, but took needed votes from HRC. As a result, we suffered through the most destructive, corrupt administration in this Country's history.
The 3rd party idea is just that, an idea that inpractucality doesn't work. The people the voted 3rd party in 2016 should've thought a whole lot longer & more rationally about their vote, & not wasted it on a supposed "protest" vote. Dems told them what would happen & it did. Protesting is when you get out in the street with a sign. Voting is a serious right that we could lose under another Rethug/Fascist administration.
Think about that the next time you vote.
We need more then two parties, 300 million people have got to have more the 2 ideas...