Local elections held on November 2nd across the country were a wake-up call for Democrats at the national level. In the eyes of Republican Minority Leader, California Representative Kevin McCarthy, the results of this year’s elections should serve as a blaring siren for Democrats that their majority is at grave risk in the upcoming Midterm Elections of 2022.
“Today is a wakeup call for Washington Democrats – abandon the partisan, extremist agenda of Washington-based programs that cost trillions of dollars we don’t have for programs nobody wants,” McCarthy triumphantly stated following the results of November 2nd.
Republicans had just pulled off a shocking sweep in the state of Virginia, winning with an underdog candidate for Governor, Glenn Youngkin, and taking control of the state legislature. Republicans also brought the governor’s race in New Jersey down to the wire, with the results too close to call by November 3rd, although Democrat incumbent, Phil Murphy, ultimately was declared the winner.
For McCarthy, it is clear that Republican success in 2021 is a harbinger of a Red Wave in 2022. And the Democrats refusal to abandon unpopular policies and poor leadership, in his opinion, are why Democrats are poised to lose dramatically if they don’t change direction:
“I don’t believe these races are about being a Republican, these races are about failed policies that Democrats have continued to push.
I’m not sure what the Speaker will do. I know we’re on break next week and she’s off to another European trip. I think that would make three in three months.
If I was a Democrat today, one thing I would know is that there is going to be a lot of retirements either before the election or in 370 days.”
While being anything other than Trump seemed to be enough to mobilize the Democrat base in 2020, 2022 will be a whole different animal for Democrats. They will no longer be able to run on “not being Trump.” As they control the federal government, the crisis at the Southern Border, spiraling inflation, the Afghanistan debacle, education controversies, and more, are all problems which lay at the feet of Biden & the Democrats.
For the average American, things have gotten worse, not better, in the last year, and McCarthy believes that Biden will be an anchor dragging Democrat candidates down in 2022:
“If you’re a Democrat and President Biden won your seat by 16 points, you’re in a competitive race next year.“
And how many seats does McCarthy believe Republicans will win in 2022?
“It’ll be more than 70 Democrats that will be competitive. There’s many that are going to lose their races based upon walking off a cliff from Nancy Pelosi pushing them. She may not care to if she loses, she lost 63 the last time she was speaker moving policy that the country didn’t care for.“
We are still a long way off from election night in 2022, but one thing is clear from this year’s local elections: Republicans are resurgent amidst the failed leadership of the last 11 months from politicians in Washington, DC, and Democrats appear to be on the run, for now.
Image Credit: Photo by Michal Matlon on Unsplash
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