The sudden dip in Joe Biden’s poll numbers in the wake of his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan compounded with his refusal to control illegal immigration, his acceptance of surging crime in our cities, and now galloping inflation seems to portend a failed presidency. Moreover, the utter abandon with which the Democratic Congress is throwing away trillions of dollars on infrastructure and relief programs (which are aimed at rewarding Democratic constituencies) would suggest that Biden’s party is likewise headed for a fall.
But other factors may be at play here. Perhaps we should look at them to see if the Democrats will necessarily suffer dire consequences for their folly.
First, the Democrats intend to exercise fully whatever power they can grab. They most certainly do not practice what the French call le jeu d’alternance, a political game in which rival parties serenely rotate power between themselves. That may be how Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky ) wishes the game of politics was played, as seen in his mystifying remarks about how Republicans who challenged the outcome of the last presidential race were putting us “on a poisonous path” that “would damage our republic forever.” Unlike Mitch, his opposition has had no problem challenging the outcome of presidential races, in the hope of undermining the presidencies of George W. Bush and Donald Trump. That’s because Democrats view politics as more than a parlor game or something one does in lieu of running an insurance agency.
The Democrats have well-coordinated plans to take over the government permanently and run it as a one-party state. H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 (bills intended to federalize elections), statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, maintaining an open border with Mexico, and providing $107 billion for legalizing the status of illegal residents as part of the latest Democratic spending bill are not random acts of kindness. Nor is the action of newly installed Democratic governor of New York Kathy Hochul in speeding up welfare benefits to illegal aliens. All these moves reflect well-thought-out efforts to create a permanent Democratic electoral majority, which will further marginalize the already largely ineffective Republican opposition.
The Democrats do not plan to roll over in 2022. They are accumulating a large war chest, with megabucks from large corporations, and entire divisions of Ivy League lawyers will be on hand to challenge close Republican victories. Democratic operatives will also have lots of tricks up their sleeves—including vote harvesting, unidentified voters, and having barrels of votes appear suddenly in urban precincts in the dead of night—just as in 2020.
The illegals who are now crossing our Southern border and those illegals who are already living in our cities represent a future Democratic Party constituency. If Biden’s approval rating has now dipped to 41 percent, the Democrats have time in which to deal with this disparity. Meanwhile, the media will work steadily to enhance the acceptability of Biden’s party and to run down the Republicans. The Democrats and their sponsors will also be looking for any opportunity to manipulate electoral results, while McConnell may continue to balk at the very idea of challenging elections.
Second, and even more significantly, the Democrats have at their disposal a vast array of powerful allies, including the mainstream media, government surveillance agencies, educational institutions, and the permanent government administration. The electronic media, now riding high, will be able to shut off criticism of the Democrats, just as they did in the presidential race in 2020. Why wouldn’t this veto power be applied once again, with the same deadly effect as it was last year?
Since the power constellation that assisted the Democratic Party back then will still be around in 2022, the Republicans will still have to address the problem of hostile reporting. This will be the likely situation one year hence, no matter what polls now indicate about Biden’s dwindling approval rate.
Despite all these obstacles, Republican victories in 2022 and beyond are still possible, providing the party pays attention to the guile and determination of its well-organized adversary. Republicans should not approach elections as ritualized contests in which sportsmanship is de rigueur. At stake will be the very possibility of meaningful opposition to the Left. Republicans would do well to abstain from misleading talk about “bipartisanship” and refer to the Democrats as what they really are: a totalitarian threat to our constitutional system.
And for now, Republicans should not accept a double standard in their relationship to their enemies, such as voting for Biden’s choices for judgeships and cabinet positions while Democrats vote as a bloc to stall any Republican initiative. This may not be how Republican dealmakers like McConnell want things to be. But for better or worse, it is the political world in which they find themselves.