Election results leave Republicans feeling glad and Democrats glum
Republicans are generally happy about what results of Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey and other states say about the 2022 midterms, the 2024 presidential election and the direction of the country.
Democrats, on the other hand, are generally sad.
“I loved how Virginia flipped. I think it’s fantastic. I hope Illinois flips, too,” a cheerful Rich Kiel, 58, of Lemont said Friday morning at the Swallow Cliff Stairs near Palos Park.
Kiel could barely contain his glee at how Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe to win the governor’s race in Virginia. The GOP made gains among suburban voters, independents, white women and Latinos to reverse trends that have favored Democrats since 2018.
I know a lot of people share Keil’s view throughout southern Cook and eastern Will counties. Towns such as Orland Park, Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Homer Glen, New Lenox and other communities are packed with people who would love to see a Republican beat Gov. J.B. Pritzker in next year’s election.
Democrats seemed downright glum Friday at the stairs, which are popular among fitness buffs. The attraction is one of the busier destinations in the Forest Preserves of Cook County system.
The stairs, however, have just reopened after undergoing a two-month renovation. Friday’s crowd was light as people trickled back, some for the first time since Labor Day.
Some visitors didn’t want to tell me their names or talk politics.
“There’s a lot to say but I’ll keep it to myself,” a woman told me.
In New Jersey, Republican furniture deliveryman Ed Durr beat Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney. Republican Jack Ciaterilli nearly unseated
Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy in a state where President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 16 points last year.
GOP gains in a blue state like New Jersey give hope to Republicans in Illinois, who probably feel frustrated and angry at how Democrats control every statewide office and both chambers of the state legislature with supermajorities.
The party won in Virginia with historic firsts that diminish the narrative that the GOP only serves old white guys. Winsome E. Sears, a Black woman who was born in Jamaica, won the race for lieutenant governor and Jason S. Miyares, son of a Cuban refugee, will be the state’s next attorney general.
Republicans flipped seats from New York to Texas and the news does not bode well for Democratic hopes of holding razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and Senate next year.
Pundits are offering up all kinds of analysis in efforts to explain the trends. Some blame Democratic losses on everything from gas prices to mask mandates and critical race theory.
Some say the inability of progressive and moderate Democrats to reach consensus on Biden’s Build Back Better and infrastructure proposals hurt the party’s performance.
Others say Democrats gained support since 2016 from centrists opposed to Trump, and now that Trump is out of office Democrats need a new reason to get people to vote for them.
Some think U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland should be doing more to seek accountability from members of the previous administration. Some wonder why Steve Bannon and others have thus far escaped consequences for ignoring subpoenas from the House commission investigating the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
It’s just another day in America, where Trump appointee Louis DeJoy remains postmaster general and special counsel John Durham filed criminal charges accusing Igor Danchenko of lying to the FBI about information in the Steele dossier.
Democrats just don’t seem to be delivering on Biden’s economic agenda, or doing enough to preserve voting rights, or fighting hard enough to protect women’s health and other civil rights.
Instead of discussing how Democrats’ child tax credits are helping families, the nation is talking about increases in milk prices.
In today’s two Americas, one side is worried our democracy is in peril while the other side is chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon.”
One side believes truth should define reality, while the other promotes well-funded misinformation campaigns. Critical race theory is a concept discussed in some college courses, but the fight to keep the concept from being taught in elementary and high schools drove voters to polls nationwide.
It’s no wonder Democrats are losing elections in such a divisive climate.
“The red wave is here, and you can’t miss your chance to hop on it,” the Illinois Republican Party said Thursday in a gleeful fundraising message to supporters.
We will have to wait a year to learn whether GOP enthusiasm will be enough to boot Pritzker and other Democrats from office in Illinois. Last week, it seemed unlikely that Illinois would elect a Republican governor in 2022. But the unthinkable nearly happened Tuesday in New Jersey.
“Republicans flipped Virginia red by electing a conservative governor, and Republicans in New Jersey have almost followed their example,” the Illinois GOP said. “This is crazy, friends.”
Election trends are adding a bit of a bounce to the steps of Republicans like Kiel these days, while Democrats are down in the dumps.
“I don’t think Democrats want to talk about it,” Kiel said. “Republicans want to talk.”