Democrats Struggle to Confront Trump-Era Reality Jason L. Riley
https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-struggle-to-confront-trump-era-reality-1540937012
Come Tuesday, we’ll find out whether Democrats have learned anything from Hillary Clinton’s shocking defeat two Novembers ago. No, Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot this time, but that’s a technicality. There’s no doubt these midterm elections are about our current president.
Two years ago Mrs. Clinton focused to the max on her opponent’s character flaws and then famously extended those criticisms to his supporters, the “deplorables.” What the Clinton campaign missed is that voters in battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were well aware of Mr. Trump’s shortcomings but had different priorities. While she was harping on his behavior, he was harping on the issues they cared about most. Mrs. Clinton lost because millions of people who had supported Barack Obama refused to back her and swung to Mr. Trump.
There’s no shortage of liberals who remain in denial about why Mrs. Clinton lost and who refuse to accept the outcome. Instead, they credit Mr. Trump’s triumph to James Comey or Russian interference or white nationalists. The question is whether Democratic candidates in the current cycle have accepted political reality, and the answer is that it depends. Last Friday found Mr. Obama campaigning for Democrats in Detroit and Milwaukee, two places Mrs. Clinton gave short shrift in 2016. He seems to understand that it was the Democratic nominee’s flawed campaign strategy, not the alt-right, that cost her the election.
Similarly, Democrats running for Senate seats in states Mr. Trump carried have used the final weeks of the campaign to focus on issues rather than the president’s Twitter feed. In Arizona, Florida and Missouri Democratic candidates have been talking nonstop about health care, a top concern for voters in both parties. Four years ago, ObamaCare’s unpopularity helped to defeat incumbent Democrats in red states like Arkansas and Louisiana and deliver control of the Senate to Republicans. But support for the law has risen steadily since Mr. Obama left office, and Democrats now see an opening. The upshot is that voters in some parts of the country are being treated to a substantive debate about the costs and merits of single-payer health care and how best to insure people with pre-existing conditions. This is progress.
One week out, polls predict Republicans will add a few seats to their Senate majority and Democrats will (barely) win control of the House. In the Mach-speed political news cycles of the Trump era, however, a week is an eternity. Moreover, there remains a critical mass of Democrats and left-wing commentators who are eager to give the Clinton strategy of character assassination another go. These are the folks trying to link the president’s rhetoric to the synagogue shooter in Pittsburgh and the mail bomber from Florida. They’ve speculated that the White House is involved in covering up the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. For them, the Koch brothers’ political activism can be denounced from the floor of the Senate, while criticism of George Soros is rooted in anti-Semitism.
It’s possible that what didn’t work for Democrats in 2016 could win the day next week, but thus far the strategy seems to be doing more harm than good. The enthusiasm edge Democrats enjoyed for most of the year has disappeared. Maybe upending Brett Kavanaugh’s life based on unsubstantiated allegations about his behavior in high school more than 30 years ago wasn’t such a good idea.
The Central American caravan stunt is unlikely to turn out any differently for Democrats, who are either misreading public sentiment on immigration or think voters are fools. The caravan didn’t develop organically or spontaneously. To the contrary, liberal activists have rounded up thousands of people, coached them on what to say to journalists and immigration officials, and sent them on a dangerous journey north with the intent of causing a scene at the U.S. border. It’s a bald flouting of America’s asylum policies—an attempt to manufacture a crisis for political gain—and the president has a duty to intervene.
To some extent, the Democratic behavior on display of late is born of desperation. Policywise, the Trump presidency has been largely successful. The business tax cuts and deregulation are paying dividends. Economic growth has accelerated, unemployment is low, salaries are increasing, and consumer confidence is strong. The trade war is a mistake but one that most liberals support, alas. And to the extent that Democrats have offered policy prescriptions, they are of the Obama variety and were rejected when voters rejected Mrs. Clinton. Democrats want to put a Trump fright mask on their opponents. But after two years, who’s afraid of Donald Trump?
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