Democrats Turn on the Real Enemy: Each Other

Even before the Democratic
Party’s…drubbing
(that seems to be the favored term this time around) in yesterday’s
elections, the White House was already blaming its supposed allies
for the defeats that were (correctly) anticipated once voters
trooped to the polls.

“Ultimately, you know, it’s the quality of these candidates
that’s going to be the driver of their success in this election,”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest
said Monday in what just might be taken as a slap at political
hopefuls who were frantically distancing themselves from the aura
of electoral leprosy surrounding President Obama.

Oh no you don’t, legislative Democrats responded. It’s the
albatross tie in the Oval Office who sealed our doom.

“The president’s approval rating is barely 40 percent,”
said David Krone, chief of staff to (soon to be former) Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid. “What else more is there to say? . . .
He wasn’t going to play well in North Carolina or Iowa or New
Hampshire. I’m sorry. It doesn’t mean that the message was bad, but
sometimes the messenger isn’t good.”

After most of the votes were counted and the extent of the
Republican wave—or Democratic washout—was clear, Dems lined up to

swing a bit more at the presidential piñata. Sen. Joe Manchin
(D-W.Va.) openly blamed Obama’s energy policies, while other’s
essentially referred to him as a boat anchor on anybody with a “D”
next to their names.

There’s nothing unique about this round of fingerpointing.
Political parties should reasses themselves after they take a
drubbing/shellacking/whatever to consider whether they’re
advocating policies or behaving in ways that the electorate finds
especially stupid or offensive. Republicans have
done this in the past, including after their disappointing
performance in 2012. It’s a big part of the reason the party ran
far fewer
overt loons for office this year.

Now it’s the Democrats’ turn. With an
unpopular president carrying their party’s standard and
despised policies in
health,
climate, and energy to their name, they need to take a hard
look at the fundamentals.

And for those of us who have to live with what elected officials
hath wrought, it’s finally time to grab the popcorn and get some
entertainment out of the latest round of fingerpointing.