2018 Election Recap

Blue Ripple or Wave?

William Sundwick

It didn’t take long after the 2016 election for organizing to start. The Women’s March the day after the Inauguration was an affirmation of public disdain for the newly elected president and everything he stood for. So angry, yet so positive. The packed Mall was a marked contrast to the nearly empty Mall the day before, for the Inaugural. And, true to form, the new president lied about it, creating his own narrative out of whole cloth. It was the beginning of “alternative facts,” which we would see much more over the next two years.

As expectations headed successively lower for this president, planning for the 2018 midterm elections became a major preoccupation. The first nationwide referendum on the Trump era would be held on November 6, 2018. But it became apparent that not all voters agreed about him. How many would care enough to vote? Which ones? Which specific awfulness would motivate them most? Would there be so many that voters would just throw up their hands in disgust, and refuse to participate?

The Democratic Party needed a strategy. They needed to discover what would motivate voters most viscerally, much as the Republicans (and Trump himself) had succeeded in doing the last two election cycles.

Would it be the piggishness toward women? The semi-overt racism? Charlottesville or Vladimir Putin? How about the attempted repeal of Obamacare? That one was a wider Republican disaster, not just the President’s. Had Bernie Sanders brought enough socialists “out and proud” to make inequality and class struggle cool again? (After 100 years!)

In 2017, something eye-opening happened in Virginia. A huge blue wave was coming toward the Old Dominion. Was it a dress rehearsal for the nationwide elections the following year? In the event, it was more about fresh faces, and women, than about issues. But we have seen Medicaid expansion and dedicated funding from Richmond for Metro despite the wave not being quite complete in the General Assembly. It needs to wait until next year.

In 2018, the two-year-long organizing of the Resistance was about to meet its first real test. There were so many organizations: Indivisible, Our Revolution (the Berniecrats), PDA, PCCC, DFA, OFA, and DSA (Democratic Socialists of America, sounding almost like a third party, but not quite).  Indeed, from the viewpoint of one of those newly “out and proud” socialists, it seemed that the left had not seen better days in the USA for just about a century (certainly not since the New Deal).

The results of the November 6 elections did not, in the end, support such giddy optimism. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a big media splash after winning her Democratic primary but has been punching above her weight class ever since – we wish her the best, but it’s going to be a long, hard slog on Capitol Hill.

The Bret Kavanaugh hearings did galvanize women, likely contributing to many female Democratic candidates’ victories. But there may have been a reverse effect as well, in some races (North Dakota?). 

This year’s results, like last year’s in Virginia, were spectacular in the House, and more than impressive in statehouses and governorships (six statehouse flips, seven governorships so far). Many states, especially red ones, were willing to jump on non-partisan ballot initiatives. Had they relied on a Democratic candidate to push them, many would likely have failed.

A gun control measure passed easily in Washington. Decriminalizing recreational marijuana passed in Michigan, medical marijuana in Missouri and Utah. Minimum wage increases passed with ballot initiatives in Missouri and Arkansas. Voting rights were restored to ex-felons in Florida. All these initiatives passed easily -- even as Democratic Senators went down to defeat in Missouri, and maybe Florida, too.

More than ever, it seems that whether you vote for a Democrat or a Republican depends on where you live and who you are. It isn’t really about issues, it’s about tribes. Tribalism is growing, not subsiding. Sometimes, however, demographics do change. Virginia is now a classic example: it is more diverse, more suburban, better educated than twenty years ago. It’s seen a bluification. But some rust belt and rural states in the Midwest are undergoing redification. They experience a brain drain and decline of their cities and educational infrastructures. This seems to be true of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri. But, even here there continue to be blue oases within those red states (i.e., cities). House seats can be won by Democrats in such places, and in this year’s elections many were.

Certain indicators can predict accurately how you will vote. And, the myth of telecommunications bringing us closer together was clearly exposed in these last two election cycles. The Internet age has contributed to greater tribalization, not less. The indicators are:

• ·         How old are you? (18-to-29-year-olds are Democrats, if they vote; 65+ are mostly Republicans)
• ·         How close do you live to your next-door neighbor? (if more than 200 yards, you’re a Republican)
• ·         Where did you go to school? (it’s too much to say that only non-college-educated are Republicans, but education does matter)
• ·         What color is your skin? (this one is at the end of the list on purpose, because it’s well-known, but is not as decisive for brown people as you might think)

It would seem this makes pollsters’ jobs easier. But, for some reason, they still crank out those polls every election. Why don’t they just look at Census Tracts? The answer lies in the eternal uncertainty of who will show up to vote!

This election, turnout was huge – rivaling presidential years. But, contrary to Democrats’ assertions, large turnout, in some states at least, went against them. You can’t assume that “the people,” when engaged, will vote Democratic. See the list above. Many people in many states are afraid, afraid of a future where they may not enjoy the privileges they have always known. They live in anticipation of an ebbing of their influence. They’re old and dying, as is their way of life. And they are still voting. They vote for candidates who project their fears, “Make America Great AGAIN”. 

These people didn’t vote for or against health care, breaking up big banks, the minimum wage, or even “socialism”. They just wanted to be younger! They wanted things the way they used to be.

But, then, many looked forward rather than backward. They likewise didn’t vote for specific issues, just the future in general. For both groups, it came down to personalities, and a non-rational message of hope. It may have been delivered by either an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or a Steve King.

In the end, and it hasn’t ended yet (recounts still going on), Democrats will likely pick up more seats than any time since the post-Watergate midterms of 1974. Perhaps, even more seats than Republicans flipped in 1994 or 2010. And, with pick-ups in governorships and state legislatures, the 2018 midterms were clearly more than a ripple. Those ballot measures were all leftish (except some new taxes, which failed). Looks like a wave to this observer!

Locally, the Virginia Congressional delegation, formerly seven Republicans and four Democrats, reversed to seven Democrats and four Republicans. Deep blue Arlington flipped its sole County Board seat not held by a Democrat to a newcomer, young Matt de Ferranti. 

Whatever losses Democrats incurred in the Senate, after all recounts, can probably be made up in 2020, when Republicans must defend some difficult seats, just as Dems did this time. Beto O’Rourke can try again vs. John Cornyn. And, the field of Dem candidates will only increase.

In the meantime, the House can investigate the administration, looking at Elijah Cummings as chair of the House Oversight Committee. It can block legislation, yes, a “do nothing” Congress might be the right prescription in these times. And, Nancy Pelosi, as presumptive Speaker, is at least as talented a politician as Paul Ryan.

Most important now, Democrats must frame a message that can resonate with voters in 2020 to burnish their brand – even in those red states -- if they want the wave to continue.

Ramping Up

Summer Ground Game Coming

William Sundwick

Over the last few weeks I’ve been in a real funk over the daily outrage in the news cycle. I sometimes feel like my only solace is to unplug myself from the outside world. But, something inside me runs counter to that impulse – I can’t allow myself that indulgence. I must make sense of what is happening around me.

Being saved from despair requires action. I can’t ignore the constant drumbeat about the state of American politics, and the world, but I can give it perspective. It’s important, and somebody is managing that drumbeat – there is a plan behind it. The media’s plan is to engage us, they want outrage, they want eyeballs. If they want responses. I am responding this summer. Participation in the political process, the ground game, is my secret for overcoming fear. What started as disgust is beginning to melt into depression now. It must stop.

For me, the greatest challenge of the last month has been the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy on the border. They have taken accepted international law on asylum for refugees and rejected it wholesale. Separating children, even babies, from their asylum-seeking parents is cruelty unworthy of our country.

Attending the #FamiliesBelongTogether march at Lafayette Square on June 30 presented me with one of those steeling opportunities for action. Not as big as #MarchForOurLives in March, but what it lacked in focus, it made up for in timing. Now is the time for action regarding the November elections. The ground game is underway.

 Marches help, but they need to be followed up with volunteerism. Virginia volunteers proved their mettle last year when an unprecedented 15 seats in the House of Delegates flipped. So, this year we need to focus on certain Congressional districts which are eminently “flippable.” Out of a total delegation of eleven seats in the House, there are only four Virginia Democrats. Two or three additional Democratic seats are within easy reach this fall (especially the VA-7, Abigail Spanberger, and VA-10, Jennifer Wexton).

Few doubt all incumbent Democrats will be re-elected (including Sen. Tim Kaine). Living in bright blue Arlington might suggest local apathy, except that even the Arlington County Board has one seat that Democrats can gain, with a challenger to established Board member John Vihstadt. It’s a great local contest – friction point being affordable housing advocacy vs. NIMBY fears. Matt de Ferranti is that young Democratic challenger. 

Beyond Virginia, however, prospects are less clear. I hear and read lots of political analysis. I can’t pull away from the apparent train wreck of national politics. It seems that we’ve devolved into two antagonistic tribal societies in the United States. I need to think that there must be a path back to a somewhat more unified country. But, what is it?

The first sign of dysfunction, visible in the 2016 Democratic Presidential primay, was the splitting up of the Democratic Party. No longer a unified national party, and not the old New Deal/Southern Democrat coalition that had been familiar for some eighty years. Dems were confronted by a deep ideological divide, left vs. center, so it seemed. But was it real?

Since the 2016 election, much time has been spent trying to “understand” Trump voters – what were they looking for? What did Trump say to them? My only conclusion as a consumer of much of the punditry is that whatever the message of Trump and Republicans, it’s not a message understood by the new elite of the Democratic Party – the professional class of East and West Coast cosmopolitan urban areas. That may be fine given the changing demographics of America, except that this new elite needs to work harder in traditional Democratic constituencies, especially white working-class voters (male and female) who treat them with profound distrust.

We also know that few voters are knowledgeable about the actual mechanics of public policy – they are ideological only on a symbolic level, not a policy level. This is uncomfortable for candidates who feel they must explain “where they stand” on specific issues. They just need to speak the language of their voters, use the correct buzzwords, that’s all! We’ve seen successes at getting the right mood going in special elections so far. These candidates will be the winners in November. It’s intensity of emotion, and symbolic language, not policy, that will carry the day.

Long-oppressed groups, like communities of color, speak one language. Working class whites speak another. The latter now see themselves as threatened, the new “hopeless ones,” especially in rural areas ravaged by opioid abuse and unemployment. Their language expresses fear and sense of loss, the most acute emotion for the Trump loyalists. Those accustomed to marginalization, on the other hand, feel they are on their way up in American society -- or were, until the 2016 election. The pernicious influence of money in politics tends to exacerbate the divisions. It seeks to vilify “the other” – whether it be race, gender, or class. The worst possible outcome for those moneyed interests would be a united front of ordinary Americans focused entirely on them, and what they do with their money. Much better to keep Americans fighting among themselves!

With the supercharged news cycle that we see these days, it’s hard to predict what will happen tomorrow. The news cycle is managed. It is managed both by the media and by the White House itself. Those tweets from the President are not accidental. Neither are the leaks. The best that can be said about the proliferation of Internet news outlets is that a multiplicity of sources makes managing the flow more difficult. News consumers have effectively more power in this rich environment, if they know how to use it.

And, we feel it. The streets are alive with protest – it’s not that difficult to organize demonstrations in major cities simultaneously, each drawing tens of thousands of marchers. We know we can identify and promote the good -- or identify and discourage the bad. Not just in mass demonstrations, but in the political ground game as well. We can canvass and phone bank. We can open our checkbooks. We can even find where cabinet officers dine out and confront them individually!

Perhaps the “arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice,” as MLK said in 1956, but we can move it on a steeper curve if we commit ourselves to action. And, being part of a team is much better than sitting all alone in our righteousness. Interaction with teammates tends to get more things accomplished. It’s also a balm for the ego.

Alex Jones of InfoWars said that “Democrats” were going to start the second civil war on July 4. So, on July 5 I did my first “Beyond Arlington” phone banking shift calling infrequent voters in Spotsylvania County, urging them to vote for Abigail Spanberger to replace Dave Brat. It felt good!