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A Tsunami Isn’t “Coming.” It’s Here
It’s probably unfair, even inaccurate, to describe current political trends in the US as a “tsunami” unless of course, you’re a self-proclaimed “progressive” Democrat. Tsunamis are large and highly destructive ocean waves, often caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic disruptions. Nobody asks for nor wants to experience one, perhaps unless you’re the actual tsunami. Politically speaking, of course.
In the minds of many Americans, the coming tsunami isn’t destructive at all, despite media attempts to portray it as such. It’s restorative. And there is plenty of evidence that Democrats asked for it, starting with the consequences of an open southern border, rising crime rates amidst soft-on-crime and defund-the-police strategies, weakness abroad, lingering COVID mandates, teacher unions prioritized over students, and raging inflation at home.
Except the tsunami is underway. There’s no stopping it now.
Elections and voter registration trends in places like Pennsylvania and North Carolina – which have open gubernatorial and US Senate races this fall – portend a large political realignment in Congress and local and judicial races. Talk about “climate change.”
Republicans are registering formerly Democratic voters at four times the rate that Democrats are making the reverse conversion in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a warning sign for Democrats as they try to keep control of the U.S. Congress.
The Republican gains in Pennsylvania, home to a critical U.S. Senate race, follow a pattern seen in other states that could have competitive contests in November’s elections, as high levels of disapproval with President Joe Biden’s handling of his job are helping narrow the long-held advantage held by Democrats in numbers of registered voters. . .
In North Carolina, where a tight Senate race is expected due to the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr, Republicans so far this year have picked up three Democratic converts for every voter that Democrats have poached, according to state election board data. Throughout 2021, the Republican advantage was about half that.
In Florida and Nevada, the numbers of registered Republicans rose in the first few months of the year while the ranks of Democrats declined modestly.
Meanwhile, as reported by the conservative website uncoverdc.com, several local elections saw seats flip from Democratic to Republican. Even in so-called “nonpartisan” local races, such as Norman, Oklahoma’s runoff mayoral election, policies associated with Democrats – like defunding the police – resulted in upsets. Norman is home to the University of Oklahoma, the Sooner State’s third-largest city with a population of about 128,000, and one of more Democratic-friendly areas there. It is the original hometown of US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), but don’t blame them for that. Uncoverdc.com:
…former Norman Safety Manager Larry Heikkila “won the Norman mayoral seat in the Tuesday night runoff election over incumbent Breea Clark.” According to unofficial results, he won over 53 percent of the vote. In the Feb. 8 election, he received about 36 percent of the votes, with Clark receiving 32 percent. The win is significant because it represents a sea of change in politics for the city because of calls to defund the police amid rising crime rates. Two years ago, Democrats controlled city council seats and the mayor’s office. Now the democrats hold a “small majority” and lost the mayoral seat. Heikkila says he is not a “career politician.”
School board seats also flipped. Again, uncoverdc.com:
In Springfield, MO., two anti-CRT (critical race theory) candidates unseated incumbents. Kelli Byrne and Steve Mikoski were both opposed by the teacher’s union and the local chamber of commerce. Two conservatives won school board seats in the Rockwood school district, St. Louis County’s largest public school system serving over 22,000 students. Izzy Imig and Jessica Laurent Clark won with support from conservative groups like Moms for Liberty.
Katie Lyczak also won a seat in the Wentzville school district. The district is West of St. Louis and serves about 17,000 students. The Lee’s Summit Missouri school board also racked up two conservative seats. “Anti-CRT moms” Heather Eslick and Jennifer Foley won seats.
And a judicial race in Wisconsin joined the fun. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
With support from free-spending conservative groups and endorsements from major Republicans, Waukesha County Judge Maria Lazar easily defeated incumbent Judge Lori Kornblum for a seat on the Court of Appeals for District II.
Kornblum, 65, a former Milwaukee County prosecutor living in Mequon, was appointed to the Waukesha-based seat last year and began work there in January. Lazar, 58, of Brookfield, had announced last year she would seek the job via election. She was elected to the circuit court in 2015, after five years at the state Department of Justice and 20 years in private practice.
Lazar took 158,290 votes, to Kornblum’s 131,863, good for a 55% to 45% margin of victory, according to complete unofficial results.
Lazar’s win was the second time in two years a conservative-backed challenger defeated an incumbent appellate judge appointed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. Last year, Shelley Grogan, a law clerk to conservative Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, beat Jeffrey Davis, who represented corporate clients at a major law firm and had served on the Court of Appeals for nearly two years.
Southeast Wisconsin – usually reliably or leaning Democratic territory – may be the week’s story. Republicans flipped County Executive posts in Democratic Portage and, for the first time, Kenosha County. And more.
Of course, the tsunami became evident last November in Virginia, with the GOP wins of the state’s top three elected officials – Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears, and Attorney General Jason Miyares – along with capturing a majority in the House of Delegates.
The tsunami shows no sign of abating. In fact, it appears to be growing.
Climb aboard, hoist the sail, catch the wind, and enjoy the ride.
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I can name two dozen Republicans off the top of my head who are doing everything in their power to destroy America. The GOP is disgusting.
But Republicans are not as good at it as Democrats, so we need to support them.
I bet you can’t, and that that’s preposterous hyperbole.
Alaskans:
Ann Brown
Edgmon
Hoffman
Bishop
Young
McCarty
McCabe
Wilson
Craig Campbell
Mike Tauriainen
Cynthia Henry
Chris Carter
Rhonda Boyles
Shiela Cernich
Berni Bradley
Jason Warfield
Karen Fann
Mark Brnovich
Kemp
Young
Murkowski
Collins
Kinsinger
Sasse
Sullivan
Romney
Cheney
McConnell
Dunleavy
Crenshaw
Arizona Board of Supervisors (5)
…and every Republican who voted for 2000 page omnibus bill they didn’t read.
How many is that?
The preposterous hyperbole isn’t that you can name lots of Republicans who have disappointed you. Shoot, I can do that.
It’s that these people are “doing everything in their power to destroy America.”
That’s what’s ridiculous about your statement.
So, sure, they disappoint you. Yes, you disagree with some of what they do. Yes, they failed to do some things you really want them to do.
But when people spout truly dumb things like “utterly useless” and “parties are just the same” and “everything in their power to destroy America,” it makes it hard to have a productive conversation about how we improve things and move forward.
It’s a bit like when some Republicans said there was no point in voting during the Georgia Senate election, since it was just going to be stolen. Enough Republicans took that to heart that it may have cost us two Senate seats in Georgia. So we came a hair’s-breadth from federalizing elections, saved only by every single Republican Senator and a couple of Democratic Senators who had the guts to join them in resisting eliminating the filibuster.
Ridiculous hyperbole poisons the discourse, and also prompts people to do foolish things — like staying home, and abandoning the more conservative of the two parties.
Way to move that goalpost.
All of these individuals (excepting the governors) have only one real power: the ability to cast votes. With those votes they’ve repeatedly voted to destroy America through various means (squelching free speech, devaluing our currency, arming and abetting terrorists, propping up corrupt regimes, funding the FBI, locking up political dissidents, reaffirming tyrannical measures against citizens). We can get into the weeds on specific issues and votes but all of them have done the one thing in their power to destroy America: vote for it.
Speaking of moving the goalposts, your original goalpost was about them doing everything in their power to destroy America. I guess that one went bye-bye?
Do you not read?
Ha! CQ (chuckling quietly).
Sorry. I missed that, thinking you knew better than to believe your own rhetoric. I will try not to make that mistake again.
You two! If I have to stop the car and come back there…
I didn’t “move the goalpost.” You made a ridiculous claim and I called you on it.
You’re playing the same juvenile game as are the progressives. There’s some racism in America — so America is fundamentally a racist country. Not everyone thrives under capitalism — so capitalism is the source of all evil. Human-caused CO2 emissions are probably slightly warming the planet — so catastrophe is imminent. Leviticus — so Christian doctrine is as bad as Islamic doctrine. There are some bad cops — so defund the police.
Tear-down-the-GOP folk try to make their case by leveling ridiculous, over-the-top criticism. There’s room for real criticism of the GOP — lots of it — but this kind of bombastic nonsense doesn’t contribute to the discussion.
No, you didn’t miss it Ret. Vince is engaging in sophistry.
If they were doing everything in their power to destroy America, they would be voting, in every instance, in a way destructive of America. But I’m sure none of the people listed have voted, in every instance, in a way that’s bad for America.
Vince said a silly thing and is now backpedaling, trying to walk back an over-the-top comment. You know, like the White House does every time President Brandon says something dumb.