Their party, rudderless and defeated for two years, appeared to come roaring back into relevance with a House and Senate majority.
asserted
party → appear → majority
The once-defunct political careers of establishment Democrats like Chuck Schumer roared back to life, as even traditionally safe Republican seats faced the wrath of a disgruntled electorate.
asserted
seats → roar → electorate
But as Democrats celebrated their candidates’ wins in campaign offices across the country, dozens of conservative victories went largely unnoticed in the very same states Democrats claimed were now solidly blue.
asserted
Democrats → celebrate → states
The Democrats’ victories were a backlash against broken Republican promises.
asserted
victories → break → promises
They were not a mandate to usher in a vast liberal policy platform.
asserted
They → usher → platform
To understand this argument, you must look past the boisterous celebrations from the left’s election night parties and look a little further down the ballot.
asserted
you → understand → ballot
Across the country, voters codified conservative policy priorities through ballot initiatives that liberal groups spent millions of dollars to fight against.
asserted
groups → codify → dollars
And even more surprisingly, those historically conservative initiatives found success in states that flipped blue on election night.
asserted
that → find → night
Let’s look at just a handful
asserted
’s → look → handful
On election night, Colorado elected a Democratic senator, a Democratic governor, and is on track to have only one Republican out of eight seats in the state’s entire congressional delegation.
asserted
Colorado → elect → delegation
You would think that means any conservative ballot initiative would have gone down in flames.
asserted
initiative → think → flames
But that’s not what happened.
asserted
what → ’ → ?
Colorado voters delivered a stunning rebuke to some of the left’s most entrenched policy platforms.
asserted
voters → deliver → platforms
Proposition 134, written to keep men out of women’s sports, passed decisively.
asserted
Proposition → write → sports
Proposition 135, banning gender transition surgeries on children under 18, passed as well.
asserted
Proposition → ban → 18
The same phenomenon happened in other so-called blue states.
asserted
phenomenon → happen → states
North Carolina passed a ballot initiative to require voter ID on mail-in ballots by almost the same percentage with which it elected a Democrat senator.
asserted
it → pass → senator
Even left-leaning statewide outlets in the Tarheel state are calling on Democrats to pump the brakes on their midterm celebrations, pointing out the large number of unaffiliated voters in the state could cause true problems for Democrats in just a few short months.
uncertain
number → lean → months
Arizona Democrats swept in the state’s legislative and gubernatorial elections, but failed to stop a Republican-led ballot initiative designating cartels as terrorist organizations.
asserted
Democrats → sweep → organizations
Despite fierce opposition from Democrats in the Arizona legislature, it passed Tuesday by over 13 points.
asserted
it → pass → points
The liberal bastion of Washington state voted in favor of biological sex requirements for school sports while electing Democrats.
asserted
bastion → vote → Democrats
Nevada passed voter ID requirements while electing a Democratic Governor and members of Congress.
asserted
Nevada → pass → Congress
Wisconsin elected a Democratic governor on the same ballot where they soundly rejected far-left progressive DEI policies.
asserted
they → elect → policies
In short, Democrats might need to pack away the party hats.
uncertain
Democrats → need → hats
The midterm down ballot election results present Democrats with a conundrum: How are they to successfully govern when the ideological positions their party has championed for years were so firmly rebuked by their own constituencies?
asserted
party → present → constituencies
Do they press forward with wildly unpopular policies and ignore the mandate from voters, or do they evolve and adapt to the will of the people?
asserted
they → press → people
There is yet another hurdle Democrats face as they prepare to assume House and Senate majorities in January: a large portion of the midterm electorate that propelled them to victory was comprised of independents and swing voters.
asserted
that → be → independents
For the last three years, the Democrats’ base has been largely energized by democrat socialist candidates and policy proposals.
asserted
base → energize → candidates
One in three Democrats now identify as Democrat socialists themselves.
asserted
Democrats → identify → socialists
How are Democrats going to find long-term favor with their diverse midterm electorate of independents and swing voters who do not identify with socialist policies?
asserted
who → go → policies
If the more moderate Democrats in party leadership try and maintain the coalition of independents and swing voters, they will upset their party’s progressives.
asserted
they → try → progressives
If the moderates try and appease the progressives, they will lose the independents and swing voters.
asserted
they → try → independents
It’s a lose-lose situation.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Ultimately, I believe we will watch the Democrats self-destruct in spectacular fashion over the next two years as they fail to maintain their midterm coalition.
asserted
they → believe → coalition
Moderates will cave — again — to the far-left progressives in their party.
asserted
Moderates → cave → party
It’s what they’ve been doing for years.
asserted
they → ’ → years
"Centrist" Democrats have put up all the resistance of a screen door in a hurricane to the rise of socialism in their party.
asserted
Democrats → put → party
As I noted in a recent appearance on The Faulkner Focus, establishment Democrats may have been willing to allow the democrat socialists into their "big tent party", but the democrat socialists had no intention of allowing the centrists to remain with them in that tent.
uncertain
centrists → note → tent
For the next two years, centrists and far-left progressives will fail to play nicely with one another.
asserted
centrists → fail → one
They will not advance substantive legislation; they will be fixated on investigations and impeachments.
asserted
they → advance → investigations
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
