As the midterm campaign enters the final stretch, Democrats are no longer swimming in desperation. You can tell the mood has lightened because the White House has fully embraced the Twitter surge of corny Dark Brandon memes. It’s a notable shift after months of Democratic despair over grim poll numbers and grimmer election prospects.
What happened, mostly, is that the repeal of Roe v. Wade shook a lot of voters up, and Democrats found a way to unstick Joe Biden’s agenda on Capitol Hill.
What did not happen is the party’s embrace of the many, many, many pieces of advice being proffered in its darkest moments. The Democrats’ struggles over the past year were met with an overwhelming (if predictable) barrage of suggestions from political professionals, political junkies and just about anyone with a take they’d like to sling.
It’s been a familiar pattern for the party in recent history. So what was going to save the Democrats? According to the accumulated wisdom of pundits from the left, right and center over the years, Democratic salvation would come from…
1
Trump
2
Nancy Pelosi
3
Kyrsten Sinema shunning progressives
4
Stacey Abrams doubling down on a progressive message
5
Blake Masters, Dr. Oz and Herschel Walker
6
Other “unhinged GOP candidates”
7
GOP “crazy stuff”
8
Build Back Better
9
Joe Manchin killing Build Back Better
10
Redistricting in California
11
Redistricting in New York
12
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
13
God
14
Native Americans waking up
15
The white working class waking up
16
Yoga moms waking up
17
Dems remembering the power of Bill Clinton
18
Or the power of Obama
19
Obamacare
20
Obama stopping the “you didn’t build that” rhetoric
21
A better understanding of neuroscience
22
A better understanding of census trends
23
A better understanding of history
24
The formidable force of progressive grassroots organizing
25
The practical force of European centrism
26
Abandoning corporate interests
27
More money
28
Sherrod Brown and his populist, pro-worker politics
29
Kevin and Brendan Boyle and their populist, pro-worker politics
30
John Fetterman uniting Pennsylvania Democrats
31
Larry Pressler uniting South Dakota moderates
32
A unity slate for the presidential election
33
Funding for public education
34
A filter-free liberal podcast
35
Howard Schultz pulling the party to the center
36
Elizabeth Warren pushing the party to the left
37
Bernie Sanders and his progressive base
38
Pete Buttigieg saving the party from Bernie Sanders
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