Montage: Media slams Democrats for midterm messaging avoiding the economy
Figures on MSNBC and CNN warned that ‘threats to democracy’ was not a winning election issue.
Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell declared that Democrats are "drowning in denial" as they appear to "be heading toward painful losses" on Election Day.
Rampell feels Democrats have downplayed inflation, concerns on crime, violent protests, school closures and rising recession risks and the "missteps" could haunt them.
Rampell, who is also a CNN contributor and previously wrote for the New York Times, penned the scathing piece that puts a spotlight on the possibility that Democrats will lose "one if not both houses of Congress." She wrote that many pundits will make excuses, such as the party in the White House historically losing seats in the midterms, gas prices being up, media setting expectations too low for Republicans, voter intimidation, the GOP "playing dirty" and even cast blame on social media platforms.
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Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell declared that Democrats are "drowning in denial" as they appear to "be heading toward painful losses" on Election Day. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)
"None of these theories is wrong, exactly. But if Democrats do some soul-searching, as a growing chorus of loyal allies is urging, they might come upon another reason for their weakness this cycle," Rampell wrote.
"For nearly two years, Democratic leadership has often pushed aside politically inconvenient developments rather than facing them head-on. They have often told themselves stories they want to believe instead of stories that are true — and that might motivate them to change their messaging or policy direction," she continued. "Inflation offers one illustrative example."
Rampell pointed out that Democrats have long denied inflation was a legitimate issue.
"First, they declared the problem was exaggerated, if not wholly invented, by the media — both mainstream and, especially, right-wing — despite some internal Democratic polling suggesting inflation was a growing worry among voters. Democrats also told themselves that lower-income households were benefiting from progressive decisions to keep stimulating an already-‘hot’ economy, and were therefore insulated from inflation. (This turned out not to be correct.) Some progressive commentators even mocked news stories about struggling families," Rampell wrote.
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After months of candidates campaigning, Americans are voting in the midterm elections to decide close races across the nation. ((Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images))
"Meanwhile, any non-right-wing experts who warned early on that inflation could become a serious problem were accused of being cranks, attention-seeking contrarians or, sometimes, even traitors," she continued. "Eventually, Democrats pivoted to accepting that inflation was persistent, and painful, but then they demagogued about its causes."
The columnist wrote that "misdiagnosing the problem has boxed some Democrats into prescribing the wrong cure and advocating policies that might make inflation worse," such as calls for price controls and measures that would hurt energy production.
"It’s not just inflation. Democrats have plugged their ears to bad news on other issues, too," Rampell wrote. "They’ve downplayed voters’ concerns on crime, violent protests, school closures and rising recession risks."
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She wrote that many liberals are too concerned with receiving approval from activists on Twitter, and ignore polling to satisfy a few loud voices.
"Maybe voters will ignore these missteps and be persuaded by Democrats’ dire warnings about the risks to reproductive rights and democracy if Republicans retake Congress," she wrote, noting that "the bottomless well of denial each deserve their own chapters" if Democrats conduct a political autopsy.
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