The news for Democrats has not been good the last several months. That continued today with the release of the RNCC’s latest round of polling. For the first time during this cycle, Republicans now lead on the generic ballot, a key measure as we enter into the 2022 election season.
Those numbers follow the trend we’ve seen from other polls which show that Republicans are closing the gap. And to be clear, the GOP does not have to be leading in the generic ballot on election day to take the House decisively. Even a 3 to 4 point deficit is almost certainly enough to regain the majority given the dynamics at play. But if they do manage to actually win the “popular” vote when it comes to Congress in 2022, that will result in the red wave some are predicting.
Virginia’s election will also be a major test of the electorate. Even though the state leans fairly blue, if Glenn Youngkin can make up significant ground compared to the 2020 results, that would be a major red flag for Democrats. Right now, polls have that race tied, and typically, the non-incumbent party does better with late-breaking voters. And if Republicans somehow win that race, it’s five-alarm territory for the left.
What all of this tells me is simple: Democrats overplayed their hand.
Many people who voted for Joe Biden did so under the impression that he would simply maintain the status quo and bring about a sense of normalcy. The president has done the opposite of that, whether we are talking about his senility or his “build back better” agenda. It’d be fair to call them gullible because they were in 2020, but a lot of moderate voters who bought into Biden’s false narrative did not sign up for what he’s now delivering.
Couple that with the absolute insanity coming from the progressives in Congress, and you can see why the tables are turning. People are much more concerned about inflation than “climate change” hysteria. They care far more about the border crisis than feeding Biden’s choo-choo addiction. The Democrats have chosen to focus on and push issues that further the country’s problems while ignoring the things that are truly hurting middle-class Americans. That’s a recipe for disaster, and there’s no sign of the Democrat Party changing course.
To end, I’d posit that it can’t change course, though. Does anyone think Bernie Sanders, Pramila Jayapal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or any one of dozens of far-left progressives is going to go along with a pull-back? That’s just not going to happen, and this is a lesson in why unworkable coalitions always eventually fail.