The Washington Post's Aaron Blake was forced to make an admission on Tuesday morning, when it comes to "Democrats’ failure to make 2022 about the threat to democracy." For how much Democrats, particularly President Joe Biden with his September speech, and their allies in the mainstream media try to make "MAGA Republicans" out to be a threat to democracy, voters just aren't buying it.
The crux of Blake's lamentations are in the form of campaign ads and polling:
Despite the well-publicized Jan. 6 hearings, including the likely final one, held last week, the insurrection has not been an overarching focus of Democrats’ 2022 campaign messaging. Politico reported last week that Jan. 6 has featured in less than 2 percent of ads run for House Democrats.
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Indeed, a new poll reinforces that Democrats haven’t really driven the argument home. Many Americans view Trump as a major threat to democracy. But the Republican Party more broadly? Not so much.
A New York Times/Siena College poll shows that 45 percent of Americans regard Trump as a “major” threat to democracy, while just 28 percent say the same of the GOP.
That 28 percent figure is actually smaller than the percentage who view the Democratic Party as a threat to democracy (33 percent) — despite there being no comparable example of Democrats trying to overturn an election. (And no, Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton aren’t analogous.)
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But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that isn’t the full story: It’s also the case that many Democratic voters haven’t been convinced that the problem goes beyond Trump.
The poll shows that 71 percent of Trump 2020 voters regard Democrats as a major threat to democracy. But just 52 percent of Biden voters say the same about the GOP.
And independents are significantly more likely to view Democrats as a major threat than Republicans. Although more than 6 in 10 view each party as at least a minor threat, just 23 percent view the GOP as a major threat, while 31 percent say the same of Democrats. Independents are actually more likely to view voting by mail as a major threat to democracy (31 percent) than the GOP.
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While Blake then goes on to claim that such "findings aren’t wholly surprising," he's certainly not exactly thrilled having to make such an admission. His smugness also comes out when talking about the 2020 election, evidenced by the excerpts above. It's not just denying the results that are the problem, but questioning them as well. And, he even goes on to claim that there's "no comparable example of Democrats trying to overturn an election," adding as an aside that "Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton aren’t analogous."
Blake is forced to admit that "Polls have long shown Republicans and Democrats view the other side as a threat to democracy, but for very different reasons." He ails to acknowledge, though, why it is that Republicans might regard their political opponents as a "threat."
There's no mention of the reaction to Biden's speech outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia in which he demonized his opponents. Eugene Robinson, also at The Washington Post, acknowledged at the time that the speech sounded like "a wartime address."
There's also no mention of how Biden's Department of Justice has become politicized. This is not only as it applies to the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago from August, but how only pro-lifers have been prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Pro-abortion extremists have meanwhile seemingly gotten a free pass to commit vandalism and even more violent crimes against pro-life organizations, churches, and pregnancy resource centers.
Our friends at Twitchy highlighted some of the best responses mocking Blake's tweet sharing the story, including those bringing up the January 6 select committee.
I think you meant:
— ThunderStrzok (@ThunderStrzok1) October 19, 2022
"Because of the Jan. 6 hearings ..."
-- instead of --
"Despite the Jan. 6 hearings ..."
The January 6 select committee has shown to be as partisan and political as expected from the start, especially given that it's compromised solely of members selected by the Democratic Party. During his Monday night debate against Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Republican J.D. Vance, who is running to fill Ohio's Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), made particularly telling points about prioritizing the committee's hearings.
"I think the political media's obsession with January 6 suggests they're not actually paying attention to the concerns of everyday voters in this state who are getting crushed by the policies you supported," Vance said to Ryan at the debate.
Blake's article, especially when it comes to Independents, is almost surely a blow to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace. Last Thursday, when the public hearing took place, she offered her view that "democracy is now a top three issue for all voters, and especially independents. I mean it has political ramifications. I'm not saying they live separate from that, but they’ve been driven by the investigative theory of connecting the dots."
Even more damaging to Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media, which did not make it into Blake's piece, is that that same poll from The New York Times/Siena College found that a majority, at 59 percent, consider the media to be a "major threat to democracy."
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