Reader Durandel comments on yesterday’s post:
Republicans show their demoralization by being quiet. Libs show it by having histrionic displays of emotional incontinence.
Republicans are “fired up” when they express righteous indignation and post dank memes. Libs do the same by telling dumb jokes and mocking their enemies on tv and in public.
Using Twitter as a proxy, it’s clear the Dems are afraid that a Tiddy Bowl is coming. There’s no confidence in their outrage.
Astute observations. My take:
For all their Blue Wave talk, the Democrats aren’t putting on the typical displays they affect when they’re winning.
The Left wasn’t accosting Senators in elevators and restaurants in the run up to Obama’s two victories. They were glib and smug.
Democrats might still have taken both Houses of Congress despite their epic hissy fit. The GOP base was demoralized by our leaders’ failure to deliver anything but a bow tie-grade tax cut, and the only way for Dems to win is to suppress Republican turnout.
Enter Kavanaugh. Word had been circulating that Trump had a foolproof plan to win the midterms. I don’t even think the current clown funeral was it. The story goes that McConnell asked Trump for the cleanest SCOTUS nominee on his list and scheduled the confirmation process for a midterm boost. He thought it would be a slam dunk but somehow underestimated Democrat duplicity. Trump and Kav saved the day by standing their ground.
Feinstein and Schumer never thought they’d have to back up their pawn’s allegations. They expected the GOP to cave like they did with Moore. Bad move.
Unlike Moore, Coach K was a beltway insider who paid his dues, put in his time, and had his SCOTUS seat coming by the rules of the old game. But the Dems tossed out the old rules in a brazen power grab. Worse move.
McConnell and Kavanaugh are standing firm because this was supposed to be a done deal. Read Kav’s letter, and it’s clear he’s pissed because the Dems are denying him his own. Other Republicans like Lindsey Graham have finally realized, “Holy shit! The other side just detonated the ‘taking a dive for cocktail party invites’ agreement. All bets are off!”
Now that the GOP is responding accordingly, the Democrats are trapped in a nightmare scenario. They have charged headlong into a Xanatos gambit of their own making.
Consider if Kav had been quietly confirmed like Gorsuch. The GOP probably would have narrowly held the Senate, but confirming a guy who was then seen as a dull establishment type wouldn’t have energized the base, and normie swing voters would not have woken up. The Blue Wave would still have been in play.
Instead it’s the Dems who’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They’re so terrified of their own freak show base that they caved to the pussyhatters and subjected Judge K to a witch trial. Meanwhile–and not nearly enough attention has been paid to this fact–for the first time, the entire Republican party is united behind Trump. The Senate, the base, even NRO for fuck’s sake, are rallying behind Coach K. That’s a perfect storm brewing against the Democrats.
Trump probably didn’t plan this whole monkey circus, but he used it to maximum advantage.