The president’s party almost always loses congressional seats in midterm elections, so the Democrats must defy history to hold back an increasingly authoritarian Republican party. It is therefore little melodramatic to call the time leading up to November 8 the last chance to save American democracy.
Congress, especially the Senate, is hopeless. That puts the blame on an unlikely key figure, Joe Biden. He sold himself to the electorate as a career-long compromiser, a safe, predictable moderate as an antidote to the daily madness of the Trump show. Rather than simply avoiding mistakes and keeping the chair warm in the Oval Office, Biden is now the last line of defense. Having started his presidency with America’s bailout plan, the only way to keep the lackluster Democratic Congress in power beyond 2022 is for her man in the White House to present an ambitious plan to prevent disaster.
The contradiction at the heart of the Democrats’ mainstream game plan — play it safe and stand up for moderates — is that even proponents of this strategy emphasize that we stand on the edge a crisis of democracy. If that’s true, everything must be on the table. The impending danger speaks for getting bigger – not allowing the historical trend and insulting non-voters afterwards.
Biden’s approval rating broke with younger voters more than any other group. Hypocritical lectures about the obligation to vote for Blue No Matter Who do not seem to motivate young people to vote. retreat into a Schumer-style fantasy For every younger, more progressive voter who has alienated himself in the last 14 months to be replaced by two sane moderates deeply impressed by the work of the Democratic Congress is admitting defeat by another name.
Democratic advisors will be the first to remind you that younger voters are unreliable. Winning strategies aimed at increasing youth voter turnout are risky. Still, she and other disaffected constituencies could be the Democrats’ last hope, and given the solid support for Biden among the oldest segment of the electorate, a logical place to look. Lottery tickets have high odds, but if you need to make a million dollars overnight, a lottery ticket is your best bet.
While the Biden administration can point to some victories in the coming campaign season, Passing the Postal Services Reform Act will not cut it among voters who feel campaign promises have not been kept or backed up in ways voters regrettably expect of Democrats. Considering that Congress cannot be relied on to tie its own shoes at this point, here’s what a “October surprise‘ aimed at people who aren’t already fully committed to voting for Democrats in November could look like.
