2022 Election Summary by T. M. Strait: Saturday Political Soap Box 290

 Here is what you have been waiting for.

The summary of Election 2022 and what it means by the unrenowned political analyst T. M. Strait, whose posts over the last decade have received around 30 views apiece (more or less).

So, what do I think of the last election?

It went much better than I expected, but I don't think it was the fabulous slam dunk Democratic celebration that many media commentators and Democratic activists thought it was. It's true that they did as well for a first-term President's midterms as you could expect, dating back to Roosevelt.

But...neither did they have any significant breakthroughs that help Biden govern. The House is thinly Republican but Republican nonetheless. And the Republican MAGA crazies hold the balance of power. Expect no significant legislation. Expect Hunter Biden's laptop 24/7. Expect constant calls for impeachment. 

The Senate is in better shape. It may help expedite federal appointments (judges, cabinet officials, etc.). But, despite the "improved" majority and media overconfidence, we're still at the mercy of Manchin and Sinema. Schumer on Wednesday: Woohoo! We have 51 Democrats and are a solid majority! Sinema on Friday: Hold my beer.

Here are my major takeaways from the 2020 election:

Incumbents Rule, Challengers Drool

Although incumbents usually win into the 90% range, this election cycle was particularly incumbency. In the Senate, every Democratic incumbent won, but so did every Republican. The only changeover occurred in Pennsylvania, where Fetterman beat an out-of-state snake oil salesman.

It was more of a victory for incumbency than for either political party.

Gen Z is coming!  

As a bona fide political nerd, I've been listening to political elections since before puberty. I can't ever recall hearing where the youth vote made a difference. But it did this time. And I am amazed and thrilled.

As older generations fade, the impact of Gen Z will rise. Political affiliation often gets affixed early, and it sticks. We've been stuck with the Boomers and Reagan Babies for a long time. And, yes, I'm a Boomer, but I got influenced by politics earlier than most of my peers (60s), and I came from a liberal home. Nothing is 100%, but there were too many of us conned by Nixon, and then Reagen; too many that got swallowed by Greed is Good.

New York and California are Really Bad at Gerrymandering

Believe it or not, if New York and California had done a better job at forming new Congressional districts and taken campaigning a little more seriously, the Democrats would have held the House. Seriously. I'm not kidding. The guy who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Sean Maloney, lost his race (partially redistricted) to his Republican challenger. I mean, my God, we almost lost Katie Porter, the California Democratic SUPERSTAR!

Stop listening to James Carville

In many ways, I like James Carville. He is a vocal advocate for Democrats,  But his concept of Democrats is stuck in the old Third Way compromise Clinton Era. For God's sake, don't let your Progressive flag fly. Be fiesty, but only advocate policies that can best be described as Republican Lite. Well, bullcrap! I want a party that STANDS for something. We're never going to get the progressive values and policy solutions that Americans show they favor in poll after poll.

That doesn't mean you have to be a flower child. You have to show an affinity for the working man. Two Progressives that did this and WON were John Fetterman and Raphael Warnock.  

As the election got to the last day, Joe Scarborough and other media moderates/conservatives were singing the praises of Tim Ryan, Democrat running for Senate in Ohio. Ryan was feisty but also s conservative/moderate, not taking any really bold stances. Ryan debated well. Ryan also lost to a genuinely creepy MAGA Republican, JD Vance. It was about the only Trump-endorsed candidate that won (particularly when you consider those Trump actually rallied for).

And I know. You're saying that was Ohio. It's pretty red. True, but Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown wins there election after election, and he is a no-bones about it Progressive.

Issues that Mattered

Abortion mattered. Republicans caught the car and now they don't know what to do with it. Unfortunately, they are on the wrong side of this, and every state referendum will show what a mistake they made.

Democracy mattered. Virtually every election denier lost. 

Yes, for some, inflation mattered. Particularly for Republican voters.

Issues that Didn't Matter

It breaks my heart, but COVID didn't matter. If it did, Kemp and DeSantis would have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

LGBTQ+ hatred, CRT, immigration - none of these had a major impact. Yes, there is a fraction of the American people for whom these issues matter a great deal, especially in the most MAGA areas, so it really didn't change things.

Global warming/climate change did not have much influence, except for maybe Gen Z.  We will pay the price for ignoring this.

Trump is Toast

His influence only proved to work in a negative direction.

I know. It's been said many times, in many ways, that Trump is a goner. But there's something different this time.

I think it's finally sinking in what a political loser he is.

This is not all cream and gravy.  

You need to be fearfully aware of...

THE IDES OF DeSANTIS!

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Ok, this is much longer than I thought. It's more of an essay than a summary. It probably means I'll only get 12 who read it instead of 30.

Sigh.

Windmill tilting is exhausting.

The Georgia Ideal

I know. This is a stupid time to post this if I want to persuade anybody. Most of my Georgia readers have probably already early voted.   The rest of my Georgia friends are probably already firm in their decision.

Nevertheless, I would like to make clear my view.

Setting partisanship completely aside, Senator Raphael Warnock is the ideal representative of the best of Georgia.

The very best of the state can be seen in his story and conduct. In his faith, spirit, and inspirational hope, he is Georgia to the core.

He has worked across the aisle, assisting with bipartisan legislation that makes the country, especially Georgia, a better place. He advocates for the interests of Georgians, regardless of political affiliation.

I don't know if he'll always vote for the party and/or the White House. I don't care. But I know he'll always prioritize the needs of everyday working Georgians.

He may be one of the best speakers in the Senate, and not just for those in the Senate now, but in the history of the Senate. I swell with state pride every time I hear him speak.

I don't know if he'll win or lose today. This state is not as blue as I hoped. Not yet. But it has shown a tendency to reject extremists (except in some gerrymandered Congressional districts). So, there is some hope.

Herschel Walker may have represented the University of Georgia as an extraordinary and gifted athlete. But Raphael Warnock is best suited to represent the state as a whole.

I don't want this short post to be about the many inadequacies of Texas resident Herschel Walker. Even those who vote for him are well aware of those. If you're not, I hope you're enjoying the taste of sand.*

I look forward to the next six years of Senator Warnock representing the state of Georgia.

And if not? Well, Georgia, you've just made the worst trade of the 21st Century.

*do I need to spell this out? You taste sand because your head is buried in it. You know. Like an ostrich. Oy. These things are no longer fun when you have to explain them so much.

Absentee Ballot

 

As you can see, Ellie is riveted by the soccer game between USA and Iran.  

Alison and I have become devoted soccer fans (or what is known everywhere else in the world as 'football'). We love Atlanta United in the MLS and the Portland Thorns in the NWSL. We are thrilled to have a competitive USA team in the World Cup/

But that's not my only reason for following the sport. It's a way for me to communicate with my far-flung older boys (Greg in Pasadena, California, and Doug in the Catskills of New York State). It gives this aging introvert a chance to text each other while we watch the games. I get to know more about their lives and just share everyday bonding. Do I love soccer? Yes. Do I love even more being able to share time with my boys? Absolutely!

Here's a picture of the celebration as America goes up 1 to 0 (the final score). Christian Pulisic dramatically gave up his own body to score the goal, colliding with the goalie, injuring himself, and was out the second half.  

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Oh yes. I forgot. The title of this post is Absentee Ballot.

We have a crucial election coming up. Georgia has a runoff and must decide between the professional and highly competent current Senator, Reverand Raphael Warnock, and Texas resident/Trump sycophant Herschel Walker. Seems like a no-brainer, but given the MAGA impulses that overrule common sense among many in this state. and the blind partisanship that leads people to vote for people THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD NOT, this election is much closer than it has any right to be.

Georgia Republicans, in a fit of voter suppression frenzy, have changed the runoff from nine weeks to four. They originally had scheduled only five days of early voting, with no Saturday voting (a big ef you to working voters). My son, Benjamin, is away at school and will not be here for the initially scheduled voting days.  

He started filling out an absentee ballot request form online a couple of weeks ago but hit bureaucratic snafus when it required steps that he could not readily complete. By the time he came to visit us for Thanksgiving, he had completed the form but had yet to mail it.

MEANWHILE...Georgia courts ruled that Saturday voting could not be barred. I read that some Georgia counties were now offering Saturday voting.  

We went to our county election board and discovered that our county was NOT offering Saturday voting. Okay, fine. Benjamin turned in his absentee ballot request. They looked at it, said it was fine, and that they would mail him an absentee ballot to his college address that day. I thought they could just give it to him, but that is not allowed. It has to be mailed. Fine.

I'm not trying to say anything negative about the election board. They have been friendly, polite, and helpful. They understandably have to follow the rules. They were also frustrated that the legislature had created such a tight turnaround time.

I checked with Benjamin this morning. He had yet to receive the absentee ballot. Look, Benjamin is very busy right now. He is trying to prepare for some very stressful finals and end-of-the-semester projects. He is trying to do the best he can.

At this point, if he gets the ballot, he'll have to overnight it to be sure it gets back in time. Do I hate the idea that he has to, in essence, pay to have his vote counted? I'm not thrilled, but the vote counting means more to us at this point.

Benjamin is not alone in this. Post-election analysis shows that GEN Z (Benjamin's generation) had an outsized effect on the election. Young people made a difference.  

So, this runoff will be hard for many college students to turn around in time.

But that's not a bug of the Republican election changes. It's a feature. They want to minimize the youth vote, and this is a wicked clever way to accomplish that.

I wish Georgia would go to an instant runoff system like they have in Alaska and Maine. Then we wouldn't have to go through this mess.

But Georgia probably won't do that. It makes too much sense.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Proud Warnock Voter

November Seconds

 

Just a short one today, and thematically unsound to boot. Feel knee twinges, so I need to make my desktop time short.

It's November already. I didn't write Monday or Tuesday - involved in Church Treasury work that disrupted my schedule. I know I'm writing less, but maybe next week will be better. Yeah, right.

With Reverand Kit retired, there's more to do now. We have to cover more bases.

I'm preparing for two speeches. One as part of the Church Stewardship campaign this Sunday. And then Monday at the Regional Library Board. I will do my best to adopt an extemporaneous style and not write everything down. It's a risk, but it may help the speeches seem more natural.

We distributed candy on Halloween night. We had a good crowd, but it was down since the last time we did it. There were a wide variety of costumes, although Harley Quinn and Spider-Man had a slight edge. Harley Quinn's history is varied. Sometimes she's a villain, sometimes a hero. There is an all-age version, a teen version, and an adult version. I'll have to do a blog story about it sometime.

Time keeps on slipping into the future, although there is a slight blip as we repeat an hour to adjust back into standard time (bye, daylight savings time). Someday we'll end this mess, as whatever point for it has long since passed. But that would take an act of Congress. Good luck getting those people together.

Seeing examples of it in France and now Brazil, I like the runoff system of electing the President. It guarantees whoever wins will have the majority of votes (at least 50% plus). Yes, I know. Our constitution is not set up for it. But it should be. It helps diminish the possibility that extremists can capture the Presidency. 

I posted this meme yesterday on Facebook. To clear up any confusion, this is meant to warn you to vote against fascists and fascists-wanna-bes in November's election. And by that, Rev. Pavlivitz and ME are referring to NOT voting for Republicans who are MAGA, deny the 2020 election outcome, deny teaching the truth about history, deny the LGBTQ+ their rights, want to cripple democracy and move towards a Christo-fascist state. To think anything else is delusding yourself and misconstruing what facsism is.

Knee twinges.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

The Center Will Not Hold: Saturday Political Soapbox 289

 

Most of the electorate is set. They vote 95% plus for one side or the other. Many may call themselves independent, but they're really not.

I call myself an Independent Progressive, but in reality, I align now with the Democrats. If ever there is a Republican more progressive than the Democrat, I'll seriously give them a look-see. But in today's bitterly divided politics, I'm more likely to see a unicorn in my backyard.

Many other Independents are actually conservatives who, for whatever reason, shun formally attaching themself to the Republican label. A lot of Trumpeteers are Trump first, party and country second. Nevertheless, they will always vote Republican.

Yet, there are a small number of independents, enough that most of our closer elections are determined by them. You know, the type of person that voted for Obama and then somehow rollercoastered to Trump (that's just one example).

Yes, there may be a few independents that genuinely research and think critically each election. But the majority are simply people who pay little attention to politics and go by their gut each election.

So, what are these true independents thinking this year?

Meet Mortimer Snerd.  Mortimer, please take the rest of this column.

Hi. Morty here. What an election year this is!

Anyhoo...

Yeah, I think climate change is real, more or less. And we probably should be doing more about it.

That Rowing Wade thing overturned? Yeah, that's pretty bad. Maybe abortion ain't the best, but no exceptions? C'mon! That ain't right. A pregnant 10-year-old that's been raped having to go out of state to get an abortion? Ridiculous. The whole Supreme Court thing has gone wacko. What's next? Gay marriage? Interracial marriage? I hear they may even restrict contraceptives!  

And it would be nice if the minimum wage were to go up. Of course, I get paid more than that, but I don't know how others survive on $7.25 an hour. It's been stuck there a long time. And maybe raising it will goose everybody's wages some.

Look, yeah, parents need to be involved in their children's education, but Good God! Slavery was real and evil, and the country hasn't been perfect, and we need to teach about the truth, warts and all.

And can we stop talking about the last damn election? Whining about it just makes you look like a poor loser. Overall, I like democracy, and some of the voter suppression efforts of the Republicans make me nervous. And the Covid response? What a mess. Y'all should have just worn a mask and taken the vaccine. I lost some people close to me, and it makes me mad that some of you could not take it seriously.

And, geez Louise, gun violence is wrecking this country. So what's wrong with a couple of common sense measures? How about some background checks? And weapons that are the equivalent of machine guns? You don't need a gun that shoots hundreds of rounds a minute to hunt deer or even self-defense.

And, yeah, we should be supporting Ukraine. We got to draw the line on this Putin dude, or we're gonna wind up with half of Europe swallowed. Does nobody remember how appeasing Hitler worked? Not so hot.

And taxing the rich more is not the worst idea in the world. I hear that some billionaires pay less proportionally than their janitors, and that doesn't seem right. No one wants to see the rich persecuted for being rich. But, good golly, can't they just pay their fair share?

And our healthcare system is a mess. How do people afford the drugs they need, like insulin? It would be good to cover more people less expensively. Even Obamacare turned out to be not so bad. So, maybe some form of universal healthcare would be...

WAIT! WHAT?!? I HAVE TO PAY HOW MUCH FOR GAS? AND MY GROCERIES ARE GOING UP?

That does it.

I'm voting Republican.

Back to me again.

Yep. That's right. I fear some independent voters will chuck all their other concerns out the window and vote based on gas and grocery prices. And, in the back of some of their minds, they must know that a President has little control over oil market prices or the worldwide inflation that's occurring due to pandemic recovery, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and corporate exploitation.

It doesn't matter.

The gut does what the gut does.

The future of democracy be damned.

The ConKemptible and DeSatanic Lie

It's been a tough political ad season. 

And living in Southeast Georgia, where most of the broadcast stations we receive are from Florida, we get the worst of both worlds, Georgia and Florida.

There is so much wrong with the advertising we have been inundated with. For example, did you know that Senator Raphael Warnock is personally responsible for worldwide inflation? Who knew one man had so much power?

But, to me, the most contemptible is the big lie being spread by Kemp and DeSantis, and no, I'm not talking about Trump's Big Lie about the 2020 election.

I'm talking about how both their ads brag about their great job handling COVID.

Are they out of their frigging minds?

Even though the statistics from both states have been heavily manipulated, they still show that the two states have record malfeasance and are among the leaders in the country in the number of cases, and a disproportionate amount of deaths.

Florida ranks number ONE in its proportion of the number of cases among the 10 largest states. They rank higher than Texas, which is not exactly a ragingly liberal state. The largest state, California, ranks number 7, even though its first surge occurred earlier when the virus was at its worst.

Georgia and Florida are tied for the rate of death, with only New York (early surge) and Michigan slightly higher.

Only five states have a poorer vaccination rate than Georgia; they are all small, very red states.  

Kemp closed down the state late compared to other states but was also the first to open back up. He brags about this grave miscalculation in his advertising. Sort of like, "Yay! Our state is open for bidness! Grandma's dead, but we're open!"

DeSantis openly berated people wearing masks, including school kids. Rebekah Jones, a Florida data scientist, was fired from her position at the Florida Department of Health for speaking out about how Florida officials were manipulating COVID data, trying to make the state look like it was doing better. 

And yet...

DeSantis has a formidable lead to win re-election.

Kemp is in a tighter race but is better than even money to pull out a victory.

I'm going to be blunt about it.

These politicians and their policies resulted in many unnecessary deaths. And I hold them responsible.

The fact that the majority of voters in those two states will most likely not, shows how ugly our politics have grown.

Some of you may be able to forget what they've done.

I will not.

A Party in the Grips of Madness

 

In the realm of policymaking, I have virtually nothing in common with Congressperson Liz Cheney. She votes on the opposite side of almost any bill that I support. And her father was primarily responsible for the disastrous foreign policy decisions of the 2000s, including being the chief architect of manipulating us into a war with Iraq,

Ideally, I would love to see her defeated by a bold progressive daring to run in deep red Wyoming. I also like unicorns and trips to Mars.

There is one thing that Liz Cheney and I have in common. We both advocate for a democratic republic and oppose authoritarian fascism.  

Last night, she lost her primary to a Trump sycophant by a depressingly large margin. 

At one time, she was the third-ranking Republican in house leadership. She voted with Trump 93% of the time. An A rating from the NRA, anti-choice, against all but military spending - she was the poster child for hardline conservatism.

But that wasn't enough. She dared to recognize how corrupt and unlawful Trump is; she spoke out for the truth - opposing the big lie that the election was stolen.

For that truth, she lost her Congressional career. She put everything on the line because the truth was more important to her than being a subservient toadstool like most of the House and Senate Republicans.

She lost even though the latest news makes it pretty clear that Trump stole documents from the American people, including highly classified documents whose possession puts him in violation of the Espionage Act.

It's easy to blame Trump for this descent into madness. But he just coalesced forces that were already in play. There has long been an authoritarian streak in a significant chunk of the American people, particularly among the Christian right. Christofascism is not the only element in the Trump coalition but is clearly the driver.

The Republican party is no longer the party of thinking conservatives. It not only has abandoned being the party of Lincoln (truthfully, that ship sailed a LONG time ago), deserted the party of Eisenhower, it is also not recognizable as the party of Reagan. 

It goes even beyond the Cult of Trump. Yes, they wear blinders when it comes to Trump, swallowing whatever is the current stream of lies spewing from his mouth. But Trump is just the frontman.

I honestly believe that Trump will eventually fade, whether jailed or not. But it will not be Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, or any other reasonable Republican who will take his place. Instead, it will be another authoritarian fascist, likely Governor Ron DeSantis from Florida. And DeSantis will be more inclined to wear his Christofascism on his sleeve.

We know the Republican Party is in the grips of an anti-democratic madness. So the only question is - how well will it prevail in the November election against more mainstream opponents?

And with increasing voter restrictions in many states, including some where state legislatures may OVERRULE the popular vote, I don't know what the outcome will be.

We can only pray that democracy* prevails.

*Yes, I know we have a democratic republic and not a pure democracy. But it's a hell of a lot closer than our mad descent into authoritarian fascism.

Through the Dark Lens: Saturday Political Soap Box 284

 

Here is a picture of the man most likely to be the next President of the United States. Ron DeSantis, the bigoted, bullying Governor of Florida.

This is not an endorsement. It is a warning of where we're headed.

Just check with your most conservative friends (populist authoritarian Christian right conservatives, less so traditional conservatives) and ask who they like the most besides Trump. Odds are they will name DeSantis. If any of them named Romney, Cheney or Kinzinger, or someone similar, I would be astonished. Please let me know if that is the case.

There is a certain inertia to events. The American Will often moves counter to what would be best, to even achieve the basics of what they want. Sorry, conservatives, most Americans, even y'all, side with progressives when polled on individual issues. They understand that climate change is real, and we have to do something about it. They believe in science-based solutions to COVID. They want a raised minimum wage. They may not like abortion, but they're hesitant to completely eliminate women's reproductive choices. They want the wealthy and corporations to pay more of their fair share of taxes. They love their LGBTQ family and friends and don't want them persecuted. They want common-sense gun control measures, like background checks. They know that Putin is the bad guy and want to see Ukraine as a free democracy. Many of us want to see our children taught the truth in school, not religiously-infused right-wing propaganda. We realize we can't move forward unless we can recognize the truth about our past.

Yes, the voices against these and other common-sense measures are loud and strident. Those who oppose them do so with an angry passion that brokes no compromise. 35 to 40% of the American people will always vote for people like Trump and DeSantis. They are dedicated to an authoritarian, Christian right government.

The political system is set up in such a way as to advantage this fraction of the population. Small states have outsize power in both the electoral college and the Senate. They control most state legislatures (via past gerrymandering) which allows them to gerrymander the House of Representatives. They steal and control most of the nominations of the Supreme Court and have a 6-3 majority. They have the loudest and angriest propaganda outlets in their right-wing controlled media, drowning moderate media (liberal media is completely swamped).

And yet...if that was was our only problem, we could still win the majority of seats. No, the problem is the wanderers. That 15 to 20% of the American people who wander between the parties and seem to flop from one extreme to another. Yes, there are people who voted for Obama and then flopped to Trump. People who voted for Trump and then switched to Biden.

Voting based on identified interests, the Democrats would have won and increased control of Congress in 2010. They didn't. They lost badly.

And that is what it looks like will happen in 2022.

Sure, there is some inflation. Sure, Biden didn't get all the legislation he wanted. Sure, the Afghanistan exit had its problems. Sure, COVID-19 is incredible in its persistence.

But that is mostly window dressing for what the wanderers have already decided. They didn't get all they wanted, so they will switch to the other side. There is no rationality to it. It's just the way it is.

That is the view through the dark lens. Maybe next week I'll try to look at it through rose-colored glasses.

Maybe.

Return of the SPECULATRON! Saturday Political Soap Box 278

 A return to one of my most unasked for features - the Speculatron, where I try to predict the political future with uncanny inaccuracy!

While Prime Minister Joe Manchin tries to rule us all from his houseboat, let's take a look at what the future may hold depending on the passing of the Build Back Better  Bill, or some remnant thereof -

The entire 3.5 trillion-dollar passes intact

Yeah.  As likely as a camel passing through the eye of a needle. It would be an amazingly transformative bill, leaving us much better off.  Free community college, paid leave, extended child care credits and improved Medicare benefits, real and effective climate legislation, fairer tax rates, and on and on.   Every American life would be substantially and visibly improved.

The 2022 political result of this joyous victory?  Republicans narrowly take control of the House and the Senate.

Huh? What? Why?  Because too many Americans are short-sighted and can't look past their own nose.  The benefits will be quickly absorbed, but the negative reaction from Republicans, Trumpeteers, AND the media, both conservative AND mainstream, will drown out the effects of any progress.

A watered-down version of Build Back Better passes

Yeah, this will still have some good things, but it will be harder for most Americans to see in their everyday lives. Thanx and a hat's tip to Prime Minster Manchin and the wealthy donor's new BFF, quirky little Krysten Sinema.

I can't tell you at this point what will survive the great Manchin/Sinema Chew-Up, but the results will be decisively less effective than the original bill.

It's odd that the Progressives, who are increasing in number and legislative muscle, can still be stopped by two Corporate Democrats.  But that's where we are.  Just imagine the reverse, however.  What if two Progressive US Senators stopped a bill filled with goodies and lard for the top 10%, designed by Corporate Democrats?  The media would be up in arms!  Joe Scarborough would be expectorating so much spittle his studio would be drowning in it!

The 2022 political result of this partial victory?  Republicans decisively win control of the House and the Senate.

This one is easier to explain.  There is historical precedent. Obama watered down the bill to get us out of the recession so much that the cost was slashed, and half was given to useless tax giveaways to the rich and mega-corporations in a desperate attempt to win over Republicans (an attempt that failed spectacularly).

While it did help us out of the recession, it did it in kind of a frog-boiling way.  It was so slow that most people didn't connect it with the legislation that passed.  They were easily persuaded that it had little effect on their lives.  And in 2010, the Republicans received huge gains.

The Democrats have learned nothing, and this is the scenario most likely to be repeated.

No bill passes

The saddest thing to me about this scenario is that everyone will blame Joe Biden.  Could he have negotiated better?  Maybe, at the margins.  But ultimately, the cake is baked.  Even with reconciliation, even if the filibuster was eliminated, you are still stuck with the King of Coal Manchin and the Queen of the Lobbyists Sinema.

But the American people won't see it that way. Instead, they will see Biden as weak and ineffective and blame him entirely.  

The 2022 political result of no bill passing?  Republicans tromp with a merciless, unprecedented beat down.

Boy, aren't these conclusions sorry and sad!  Okay, maybe there's some hope if we pass the whole thing (sadly, that ship has sailed), but even if  Republicans take control, at least we'll have passed the whole thing. Moreover, we'll have laid the groundwork for a better future, one that will be difficult for the Republicans to reverse.

In a vain attempt to be a contrarian, here is the scenario that offers the most hope for Democrats in 2022  - 

Manchin and Sinema join the Republican Party

Let people see what the full effects of letting the Trumpified Republicans run the Senate look like.  It wouldn't be Democratic disarray that stopped things - it would be Republican intransigence. So we can blame government dysfunction on its true source - Republicans.

This would give Biden something to campaign against -  a full-throated wail at the Do Nothing Senate.  Give 'em Hell like Harry Truman did.

I would prefer this happen after the Build Back Better bill passes (in all its watered-down glory), but I'll take what I can get.

I'm not ashamed of it.  I'm not trying to be a Purge-aholic.  But, dang it, it's time.  It's time for a Progressive takeover of the Democratic Party.

I don't know if this will work.  There's a lot to fight - state voter suppression laws, gerrymandering, a media pretty much united against progressives.  But there's also hope - most progressive solutions poll well when they're not swamped with party labels.

Here's to hope!