Listen to the stress/fear in Hannity’s voice when he makes this announcement (jump cut…):
Rational National: Mamdani SWEEPS. Hannity WEEPS (link…)
Normally when there had been a left win in the Dem Party, the Repub pundits would smile and go: “See? This is why you can’t vote Dem; they are too out there!” But that wasn’t happening in this news cycle after the sweep. I could read a lot of fear out there; the talking point of “we’re the only realistic game in town” was just NOT being put forward!
Guys: you pushed it too far! And based on their reactions to the DSA Sweep, they know it full well. Twenty/Thirty years ago, Repubs and Dems realized they had to throw a FEW bones to the working class. Now? It’s complete magical thinking! It’s as if both the Dems and Repubs were saying to working people just barely making ends meet: “Hey; can you climb into this woodchipper for us??” Even if many in Congress can’t read the square where people get guillotined, even guys like Bezos have started to throw out some working class talking points (ironic, given his relatively recent rules on bathroom breaks for warehouse workers!)
And the damage to workers now is so far gone, I have to wonder if the ship can be turned around before it hits a governmental tipping point.
Why did the Sweep happen? We can think of three reasons:
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The voters applauded the courage of the candidates to step up against Israel; they are fed up with the Dem Party evading the issue! And it really does take courage; look at what happened to Massie and Jamaal Bowman (in Westchester, New York…) when they had tilted at AIPAC.
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The Mamdani endorsement: he has been continuing to fill potholes, and at this point they trust him.
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The voters believe that the candidates will TRY and do something to address affordability, whereas many Dems have been shrugging their shoulders: “Hey, we can’t do anything; it’s a Repub majority in Congress! Look us up after you get us voted in…” (so sign a check before we deliver on anything…)
Note that the Israel issue is intertwined with the affordability one, because if you throw a lot of expensive arms and aid at Israel (AND the misuse of those arms also destabilizes the world economy…), that impacts affordability.
It’s anybody’s guess as to how much each of these factors had an influence…
