The Gathering Storm
After the first year, things are happening fast.
It starts with the lamentation of their women:
Things are going badly on redistricting, and Democrats are losing it.
But it’s more than that. They’ve got themselves into a position — which began with Barack Obama’s hollowing out of the party over a decade ago — in which they can’t afford to lose the next couple of elections, even as their position erodes.
Due to an “accidental error” in the 2020 census, blue states got more seats in the House — and more electoral votes — than they were entitled to. When that “error” is fixed, the situation will be worse for them. Then there’s the flood of refugees from blue states to red, further expanding their Congressional majorities. (But beware of the refugees who continue to vote blue. Where’s my “welcome wagon” proposal?)
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is choking off the flood of taxpayer money that has kept leftist organizations and institutions afloat, buying votes with taxpayer dollars. And the federal workforce has shrunk 10% with more “draconian cuts” on the way.
It’s a bit like Winfield Scott’s “Anaconda Plan” to choke off the Confederacy — which worked once it was actually employed. (And Trump is doing something similar with Iran, choking it off gradually rather than going for a swift coup de main, which is disappointing some people but which will work at a much-reduced cost in lives. But that’s another essay.)
This is why the Democrats, and the left, but I repeat myself, are unhappy. They feel it happening.
And you hear more about it from them than from the media and influencers on the right, interestingly.
It’s also the case that many on the right don’t know what winning feels like, because there hasn’t been that much of it. Oh, there have been election wins, but those mostly wind up in legislative and administrative paralysis. The political world is full of midwit blather about why you can’t do things. The right used to believe that blather, but now the administration has realized that you can just do things regardless of the blather.
It’s not over yet, but there’s a major realignment of forces underway, and if it proceeds to its natural conclusion the modern left as we know it will cease to exist, or at least to matter.
Of course, they’ll be resisting all the way, and their decades of success indicate that they’re not to be taken for granted, even if constant winning and power, even when nominally out of power, has made them sloppy. I expect the psychotic break from loss of power, which we’re already seeing some signs of, will be violent and ugly, though also futile. Hold on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. But, I suspect, with a happy finish.
Mr. Reynolds, tempted to say (as you so often do), "Great, don't get cocky". But, as you point out, this is not your Father's GOP. Trump's first term, chaotic as it was (I don't think he expected to win) had two valuable lessons. First, he learned enough about how government "works" and how it mostly doesn't, and how to actually make it work. Second, he learned how little he could trust the GOP establishment, and how they would actually collude with the Dems and the "deep state" to maintain the status quo...and destroy him and anyone who worked with him. He lost the election, survived the lawfare and multiple impeachments, and created a team of like-minded, loyal, and judging by the results, hypercompetent supporters. The woke leftists are not the only ones gnashing their teeth. A lot of the establishment have been broken or are in the process of being sidelined by the MAGA energy. Judging by the senate's inaction on the SAVE act, we are just starting the second act of this drama. The fat lady hasn't appeared on the stage yet...but, yeah, I haven't felt this good about a lot of things in a long time. I'd really feel a lot better if the Secret Service would display a minimum amount of competence, as desperate creatures when cornered are extremely dangerous in unpredictable ways. Fingers crossed.
Your mouth to God's Ear, professor. I just hope our stoneless senate doesn't ruin it.