For nearly two years, some Democrats, liberal consultants, and the media have tried to argue that conservatives are doing better than them in the polls due to a lack of a “message.” Is that really their problem as voters prepare to head to the polls tomorrow and polls show that the potential red wave that was forming last winter is re-emerging in the weeks leading into election day? Do Democrats really have a messaging problem, or is it tied to failed policies that most Americans disagree with?
In 2021, President Joe Biden said he wanted to finish the work that former President Barack Obama started but failed to finish – the “fundamental transformation of America.” Biden unambiguously stated that he intended to transform America’s energy, economy, political system, government, and society. Yet, is that really what most Americans voted for in 2020 when they asked Electoral College members to cast their ballot for the Democrat who embraced the far-left?
I think the Left got their assumed mandate all wrong. Let’s put this in context. In 2020, polls showed congressional Republicans getting a shellacking. It didn’t happen. Every incumbent House Republican successfully defended their re-election bid. In addition, the GOP picked up 16 seats, despite President Donald Trump losing to Biden. That gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) one of the smallest House majorities in nearly a century. Due to two runoff Senate elections in Georgia, Democrats picked up the two Senate seats to give a 50/50 tie in the upper chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaker. That’s hardly a mandate in either case.
In addition, Republicans also added to their state legislative majorities around the country by picking off New Hampshire. In total, Republicans control both state legislative chambers and governorships in 21 states compared to 15 Democratic ones.
Despite the electoral reality, Biden and congressional Democrats tried to govern as if they had a real mandate from voters. Biden stifled American energy production by revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and fighting to reduce drilling on federal lands. Congressional Democrats added nearly $2 trillion to the economy through the 2,465-page American Rescue Act in 2021. Yet, prominent Democrats economists in former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Obama Treasury official Steven Rattner warned that would spark a serious inflation problem as people emerged from lockdowns to spend all the free money the government gave them.
Between the reduction in US energy production, people not returning to work, and inflation – the Left helped create a booming economic crisis along with the Federal Reserve, with a likely recession in 2023. What about the woke far-left agenda regarding transgender males participating in women’s sports or the promotion of Critical Race Theory (CRT)? Do they believe everyone has forgotten about the Democrat’s COVID-19 policies, lockdowns, and restrictions on Constitutional rights such as freedom of religion?
To compound matters, Democrats proposed transforming America through the Build Back Better agenda that would transition the free market economy to one dependent on government. In the process, it would significantly expand the size of an already out-of-control and bloated federal bureaucracy, empower government over people, trap citizens in government programs, and push renewable technologies faster than the technology was able to take over for fossil fuels. The agenda included the following:
- A $1 trillion tax hike – the largest since 1968 when then-President Lyndon Johnson (D) imposed a temporary income tax surcharge on individuals and corporations. Ironically, inflation skyrocketed after the move in 1968 and 1969.
- $25 million for “anti-discrimination and bias training.”
- The government could use a tax credit for “compensation of local news journalists” to determine what was news and what was not.
- $125 billion for activists and bureaucrats to fight against landlords defending their rights in court against delinquent tenants.
- $4.5 billion for a federal housing takeover by strong-arming local governments into changing zoning rules instead of allowing communities to decide for themselves the features of their communities.
- $26.5 billion for transportation programs relating to social justice and Green New Deal programs.
- $13.3 billion allowing the government to spend on advertising programs that would make people more dependent on government programs instead of helping them become independent contributors to society.
- $7.5 billion “community” slush fund to create “equitable civic infrastructure” and “capacity building,” which would allow bureaucrats the ability to fund housing projects as they see fit, creating the opportunity for corruption and inefficient use of government dollars.
- Expanded Medicare and Medicaid at a time the programs would ultimately lead to a government run-healthcare system that would discourage new treatments and cures and lead to government rationing of healthcare.
- Creating new federal preschool and childcare programs that would limit education and increase costs.
- Climate change policies were more fashioned on cronyism than actual climate change solutions. It would have resulted in even less energy production, higher energy costs, and less reliability for consumers.
This is the Democrats’ message — instead of working hard to earn prosperity, they’ll give you just enough to continue voting for them. You need them. How would you make it without their generous use of public dollars?
The result of Biden’s policies and the failed Democratic legislation is that they didn’t focus on the issues important to America. While the economy is out of control, crime is rising. At the same time, parents are watching their kids’ education decline and their prospects not looking good as their own for the future.
Is their failed agenda really the message Democrats want to run on? Of course not, which is why they don’t have a message. It’s the reason they are focusing on abortion and the supposed claim that Republicans would eradicate democracy. It’s about all they have left to campaign on. They have to create illusions and misinformation to distract Americans.
How bad is it for Democrats?
According to a new ABC/Washington Post poll, the following are the issues voters care about:
- The economy – 80%
- Inflation – 77%
- Education & Schools – 75%
- Threats to Democracy – 74%
- Crime – 69%
- Abortion – 62%
- Immigration – 59%
- Climate Change – 48%
Now, let’s put the “threats to democracy” in context… 47% of Democrats think it’s a problem, and 43% of Republicans think it’s a problem. So, does that mean the Democrats’ message broke through on the issue? Hardly. Especially considering the time, effort, and money they poured into making it a significant campaign issue.
Here’s the reality — Democrats are the very thing they campaigned against. They voted almost unanimously for policies that reduce personal freedoms and responsibilities — the very bedrock of democracy as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
So, as you head to the polls tomorrow, ask yourself who is gaslighting whom and why?
Don Purdum. MPS, Political Analyst
Copyright 2022, ConservativeEra.com
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