This year’s midterm elections could go either way. For the first time in years, the party which controls the presidency could retain control of the House and Senate. That is not the preferred narrative, however. Turn on almost any cable news show and you’ll hear about the big blue wave supposedly coming this fall.
It’s a possibility but it isn’t being framed that way. The media is actively trying to will it into existence by saying it over and over. That does not mean it’s going to happen.
On the FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto show, guests Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon and Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center made this point eloquently.
From the Washington Free Beacon:
Harrington Pours Cold Water on ‘Blue Wave’ Talk for Democrats: ‘I Just Don’t See It Yet’With House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R., Wis.) decision to not seek re-election amid a flood of other GOP retirements, Democrats are bullish about seizing the House for the first time since losing it in the 2010 Tea Party revolution.However, Fox Business host Neil Cavuto noted conventional wisdom suggested Trump would not be elected president and the “Brexit” vote would not be successful, asking if such a consensus over a “blue wave” being inevitable was dangerous.Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor said the media’s fixation on the subject was a way of creating a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” and Harrington agreed the proof of one coming wasn’t there yet…”The media have been trying to portray this wave is coming,” she said. “The numbers aren’t really showing it. Of course, a lot can change, but if there’s going to be a wave, there has to be a central issue that motivates voters, whether it was in 2006 with the Iraq War, 2010 with Obamacare. What’s the central issue this year?””It’s not Russia. It’s not Stormy Daniels,” she added. “Opposition to Trump is not going to cut it, and Democrats need to rally around something else, and I just don’t see it yet.”
Watch the segment below:
As Harrington mentions in the video, even Democrats are crediting Trump for improvements to the economy.
Mairead McArdle writes at National Review:
More Democrats Think Trump Responsible for State of EconomyA majority of Democrats thinks the current state of the economy is thanks to President Trump, rather than former president Obama.Approximately 46 percent of Democrats say Trump is responsible for today’s economy, beating out the 43 percent who say it is due to Obama, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Overall, only 34 percent of those surveyed gave credit for the economy to Obama, while 54 percent credited Trump.The numbers are notable since most economists agree the economy is booming, and Democrats are not usually eager to give credit to Trump. The stock market has risen over the past year and unemployment has been slashed to 4.1 percent, its lowest level since December 2000.
Harrington also made what I think is the most important point about the midterms, which is that Democrats still do not have a unifying message to run on in an election which happens in less than eight months.
In 2010 and 2014, the Tea Party was successful because it had a clear message and strategy. The Resistance is built on the premise that progressives don’t believe Trump was supposed to win the 2016 election and their hatred of him.
That may not be enough to carry Democrats over the finish line in November.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY