Friday, November 11, 2022

The Lesson for Democrats

Joe Biden, who barely seems to know where he is or where he is going, thought that it was a triumph. He believed that the good showing Democrats had made in Tuesday’s election vindicated his presidency. Other Democratic politicians seem happy to jump on the bandwagon.

Joel Kotkin, however, sees things differently. Whatever the reasons for the relatively strong showings of Democrats on Tuesday, they were not a vote of confidence in today’s Democratic Party. If party leaders follow Biden’s cue and try to do more of the same they are consigning themselves to oblivion. Which, come to think of it, is not such a bad idea.


Kotkin notes that a motley band of progressives remains a dominant faction in the party. This despite the fact that their policy proposals are wildly unpopular.


So, rather than using the next two years to regroup and craft a political programme that could win the next election, the Democrats now appear stuck with a weak leader who appears unfit to deal with the global challenges that will define America in the coming decade. Internally, too, the Democrats look increasingly unstable. A stronger-than-expected Midterms performance doesn’t mask the fact that the progressives remain a dominant faction in the party — with an associated agenda that, outside of deep blue-college towns and core cities, commands remarkably low levels of support, as Barack Obama and others have warned.


Take the anti-work, anti-energy green agenda being promoted by the Squad. We can always ask about Europe's green energy present-- do we want it as your future. It is anti-economic growth:


Over time, the economic implications of Biden’s green agenda may be obvious, but for now they are hidden amid massive deficits and increased transfer payments. However, as Democratic strategist Ruy Teixeira has noted, in the longer run, the party’s emphasis on “de-growth” and austerity is unlikely to attract middle and particularly working-class voters. Already, the political implications of climate policy have ruined the Democrats’ best chance to take the GOP seat in Ohio. Their candidate Tim Ryan may have claimed to support fracking, but his backing of the Pelosi Congressional agenda proved disastrous in a state whose economy is fuelled by natural gas production and hopes to attract new investment, including a possible $20 billion new Intel chip plant in the Columbus suburbs. In Florida, meanwhile, Ron DeSantis won heavily in Latino, historically Democratic regions.


And let’s not ignore the radical leftists who seem to be holding sway in our school system. What are people going to think when they discover that the armies of anti-racist social justice warriors are fundamentally useless in the world economy, and that American jobs will be fleeing the nation, in search of friendlier climes, and in search of competent workers. Until the new order arrives, you cannot vote yourself a living.





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