OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A veteran Democratic strategist predicted doom for her party in the 2022 midterm elections. Hilary Rosen, a longtime Dem operative, attributed a coming bloodbath in the election due to the party’s tone-deafness on major issues that voters care about — such as gas prices and the U.S. economy.
She also argued that the Democratic Party’s decision to emphasize ‘the future of democracy’ over economic issues will be to blame for a massive defeat in the national elections on Tuesday.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, the Democratic strategist stunned viewers by railing against her party’s misplaced priorities. Watch:
“I’m a loyal Democrat, but I am not happy,” Rosen said. “I just think that we did not listen to voters in this election. And I think we’re gonna have a bad night.”
“This conversation’s not going to have much impact on Tuesday, but I hope it has an impact going forward,” she continued. “Because when voters tell you over and over and over again that they care mostly about the economy, listen to them, stop talking about ‘democracy being at stake,’ ‘democracy’s at stake,’ because people are fighting so much about what elections mean. I mean, voters have told us what they wanted to hear, and I don’t think Democrats have really delivered this cycle.”
“I think that’s actually very true about the national messaging that’s going on,” Bakari Sellers responded. “But you actually have some good candidates who are following your advice. You have people like Mark Kelly, who is running a great race. You have people like Raphael Warnock. And who’s running a great race? Josh Shapiro, Fettrman and Tim Ryan…
“Well, we have the unfortunate combination of strong gubernatorial candidates — I was just in Arizona and spent some time there, talked to a bunch of voters, and Mark Kelly’s popular,” she added. “But Kari Lake is more popular and the combination of Kari Lake’s popularity and Joe Biden’s unpopularity is going to hurt Mark Kelly.”
“So, I think we’re in trouble because of the top of the ticket,” she said.
In an MSNBC published last week, the author notes the Democrats’ abandonment of the January 6 ‘ultra-mega MAGA extremists’ narrative ahead of the midterm elections.
“After devoting a great deal of attention to investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection this year, the Democrats have chosen mostly to omit the issue from their midterm campaigns and focus instead on issues like abortion and economic policy,” the MSNBC story argued. “That’s a shrewd move: The Democratic establishment is paying close attention to what’s top of mind for voters, and focusing on tangible matters is a safer bet than more abstract ones.”
“Some liberal and progressive commentators are dismayed that Democrats are not putting Jan. 6 at the center of their campaign strategy,” the article continued.
“To neglect the role that Trump-aligned Republicans have already played in assaulting democracy is political malpractice,” warned John Nichols in The Nation.
“The United States is facing the greatest danger to its constitutional system since at least the 1950s, if not the 1850s, and millions of people are like: Yeah, but gas, man,” The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols recently complained.
A CNN survey from late October showed that likely voters said the economy was easily the most important issue determining their vote in the midterm elections. The poll found 51 percent of likely voters consider “the economy and inflation” the top issue, compared to just 9 percent who believed “voting rights and election integrity” were most important.
