The loss in Virginia comes with plenty of warning signs for 2022 and even 2024. What are the models for electoral success for the Democrats in the coming years, and will they work?
The current model, which has the support of a substantial majority of the party (progressives and moderates alike), is to win the base, and then to expand it, by making the party more attractive to workers through legislation and administrative actions that are openly pro-labor. This means abandoning, or at least mitigating, the dollar store economic model that has prevailed in this country for decades.
Will it work? The real questions here are: (1) can the Biden program get through Congress in some recognizable form? (2) if it does, will it make a significant difference in the lives of workers? and (3) if the answers to the first two questions are yes, will the Democrats get credit for it?
Right now, to be honest, I don’t know the answers to any of those questions. The infrastructure bill is now law, but it is the human capital bill which matters most, and its fate is uncertain. Worse, it has already been watered down, and the partisan divides in this country are so stark that many voters who would benefit from it may give the credit to the GOP.
So, we’ll see. There are two other models which could be used that put less emphasis on workers and tangible results. I will discuss them over the next two days.