The one positive outcome from Democrats getting hammered in 2022, assuming that democracy itself survives, will be mass housecleaning.
I just watched Rep. Nancy Pelosi interviewed on one of the Sunday morning talk shows. She spoke about the right-wing shooter (no, he wasn’t crazy–he knew exactly what he was doing) who murdered nearly a dozen innocent unarmed people in Buffalo yesterday. Pelosi also addressed the Republicans’ outrageous repeal of Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
While Pelosi was bumbling and stumbling through her disoriented replies, I realized just how much of a huge problem PUBLIC COMMUNICATION is for Democrats in virtually all elections and even during normal cycles of governance when public attitudes take shape. While Democrats are on the mark and clearly represent a MAJORITY OF AMERICANS on important issues like abortion rights, gun control, universal health care, infrastructure improvements, and so forth, most political analysts (including myself) foresee big losses in 2022, and perhaps 2024. Betting markets agree.
So, what’s the problem when America sides with Democrats on all the important issues of the day….and then votes to elect a majority of Republicans? This is self-defeating madness.
The multitude of reasons are plentiful. But the biggest reason is, I believe: [1] Lousy communicators and [2] Weak messaging.
Pelosi will never be confused as a firebrand liberal (she’s not even much of a liberal if you truly understand the political landscape). Worse, she’s not alone. Despite the power of the bully pulpit, President Joe Biden also lacks the sizzle to inspire the masses, which is an absolutely ESSENTIAL quality of leadership.
Of course, we wanted stability in 2020, not a daily clown show more suited to reality television. After the cringeworthy embarrassment of Donald Trump infecting our daily lives when we woke up every day to a new shitpile at the door, Biden remains a refreshing constant. Using a historical comparison, I liken Biden to Gerald Ford half a century ago, who was then branded as boring and clumsy. Immediately after the Nixon debacle, we desperately needed a steady taskmaster who understood government — and Ford was the perfect stabilizer. Biden is much the same.
Nonetheless, Biden FAILS to inspire. And that’s a problem. That’s a huge problem. It might even be a fatal problem given the fickle electorate has the attention span of a gnat and now demands constant tickling with political entertainment. Trump might be crazy and dangerous, but his dirt-dumb simpleton messaging has always proven effective. Even critics must admit this. And that’s what Democrats are running against now. It’s Wally Cox vs. P.T. Barnum. The game has changed. American politics is a circus.
Other Democratic voices aren’t much better. Sen. Chuck Schumer is doing about as admirable a job as he can as Senate Majority Leader given the chamber is evenly split 50-50 (more like 48-52 in favor of Republicans), but he’s never going to be confused with his late New York State contemporary, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a man of great intellect and passion who was his mentor. And that’s the problem. Democrats don’t have any Daniel Patrick Monyihans anymore. Bernie Sanders comes close, but (at age 80) his best days as a national political figure are behind him.
Beyond the “big three” (President, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader), Democratic voices might as well be a muffled scream in an abyss. Some of this is an age problem, but it goes deeper than that. Younger Republican officeholders may be ripping the country apart, yet they’re also stirring up excitement and lighting gas fires across swing states. Sure, the messaging is ugly, divisive, and clearly in the minority–yet independents are heavily swayed by impulsive emotion and the base gobbles it up. Moths always are drawn to the flame. Screaming about inflation, gas prices, and immigrants and blaming Democrats for inevitable post-COVID problems resonates with a clueless morass that dredges up their political leanings from troll factory memes wrapped in American flags and Bibles posted on Facebook.
The one positive outcome from Democrats getting hammered in 2022, assuming that democracy itself survives, will be mass housecleaning. Make that a House and Senate cleaning at the top. It makes Biden an instant lame duck, and pretty much ends the legislative dynasty of Pelosi-Schumer. The latter is a good thing.
While we must continue to fight and certainly vote in 2022 and beyond as if our lives depend on it, the time for a reevaluation of Democratic leadership is here. Even if Democrats somehow survive a massacre, this MUST be the final two sessions of Pelosi and Schumer at the top of the political pyramid. While both are more than capable as legislative tacticians, national politics has devolved into something unrecognizable when the Pelosis and Schumers were first elected to Congress decades ago. It’s become a street fight and social media war. And now it’s time for Democrats (and especially liberals) to pick some new generals.
Bad communicators lose. Even worse, they take down the people around them.