Opinion: Take the Democrats-are-doomed narrative with a grain of salt
Opinion by Eugene Robinson
Like wildebeests crossing the Serengeti, journalists travel in a herd. We follow not the life-giving seasonal rains but a safe, comfortable, groupthink story arc — call it The Narrative — whose current chapter is titled “Democrats are doomed.”
Readers can’t help but be aware of what The Narrative is saying, or shouting, right now: President Biden’s approval numbers are down. The slim Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are in disarray — and surely will be erased in next year’s midterm elections. Everything hinges on whether an ambitious agenda involving trillions of dollars in social and infrastructure spending is enacted within the next few weeks.
There’s always some truth in The Narrative but rarely an abundance of perspective. Biden has served less than one-fifth of his term in office. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be running their chambers and setting the nation’s legislative agenda until January 2023 — at least. And big, transformative legislation does sometimes get signed into law during an election year, with one example being the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
Of course, Obamacare did produce the tea party backlash and huge midterm gains for Republicans. But here’s where The Narrative gets confusing: Is it supposed to be worse for Democrats if they actually accomplish their goals, and thereby risk energizing the opposition? Or if they get nothing done and look like failures?
The context that’s missing is that the Democratic Party, for better or worse, has to represent the entirety of the sane political spectrum, from Sens. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) on the right to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the Squad on the left. That’s because the GOP has left the building.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/11/take-democrats-are-doomed-narrative-with-grain-salt/
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