Strange things can happen when a moribund government seems to be facing its reckoning. In 1990, the Australian Labor Party fully expected to be wiped out at the next election: the result was Labor In Power, an extraordinary documentary where a raft of Labor pollies who figured they had nothing to lose, actually told something like the truth of the Bob Hawke years.
But, most often, the rats simply desert the sinking ship without a squeak, scurrying down the hawsers with as much cheese as they can carry.
Right now, so many rats are deserting the Democrats’ floundering tub, you’d be excused for thinking that Joe Biden is the pied piper of Washington.
As the party braces for a grueling midterm election in November, a rising number of House Democrats are opting not to return to Congress next year.
On Monday, the Florida congressman Ted Deutch announced that he would not seek re-election, bringing the total number of Democratic departures from the House so far this cycle to 31.
And that’s just the House. Things are much better in the Senate, with only one Democrat retiring – but with a razor-thin majority, even that’s not a good sign for the Dems. Nearly a dozen top-level White House aides are also jumping ship.
It’s a worrying trend for Democrats. Congressional retirements are often an early sign of a wave election – for the other party. In 2018, dozens of House Republicans did not seek re-election, including the then House majority leader, Paul Ryan. The party lost 41 seats that year, and Democrats gained control of the chamber, in an election cycle widely viewed as a referendum on Donald Trump.
This year, the political winds are reversed. Republicans are trumpeting each retirement as a sign that Democrats’ hopes of keeping their majority are fading. “Their majority is doomed,” the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman, Mike Berg, said recently. “Retire or lose.”
Though many vacancies are in safely Democratic districts, the rush of retirements come as the party faces significant historical headwinds.
The president’s party almost always loses seats in the midterm elections. And in the House, Democrats can only afford to lose a handful of seats before surrendering control.
Meanwhile, Biden’s approval ratings are swirling down the s-bend. The only person even further down the sewer is his VP, Kamala Harris. Costs of living are spiralling out of control across America and illegal immigrants are flooding unchecked across the southern border. And all the Democrats appear interested in is teaching little children about gay sex, cross-dressing and how evil white people are.
The House is often a reflection of the national American mood, which public opinion polls show is pessimistic. Voters are frustrated with their political leaders and the party is bracing for a backlash. In polling that asks voters which party they would support on an election day – as opposed to which congressional candidate – Republicans repeatedly hold the edge.
The Guardian
At the same time, 15 House Republicans have announced their retirement — many of them notable “RINOs” (Republican In Name Only) and those who earned the wrath of conservative voters for voting to impeach President Trump. RINO incarnate Liz Cheney is turning to Wyoming Democrats in a desperate bid to stay in office.
Another ominous sign for the Democrats is voter registration. In key battleground state Florida (also the home of likely presidential candidate Ron de Santis), Republican voter registrations have outstripped the Democrat’s by 100,000. Democrats are also alienating some of their most reliable voters: women and black voters. The leftist peddling of extremist race and sexuality agendas in schools has enraged and mobilised mothers across the country.
Virginia’s “mama bears” have already delivered a taste of what happens to political parties who try to groom a nation’s children. A world of hurt is looming for leftist ideological kiddy-fiddlers — and the Dems know it.
