OPINION:
Mainstream media are practically drooling at the thought of a huge blue wave in the November off-year elections.
They are convinced that the stars are perfectly aligned for Democrats to take both houses of Congress, and by significant majorities. Then it is on to a third impeachment of President Trump and advancing their party’s off-the-wall agenda.
There is just one problem with this scenario: It is an illusion driven by generic polling, in which voters are asked which party they favor in an upcoming election.
In a recent RealClearPolitics average of 12 polls, voters favored Democrats over Republicans by 48% to 42%. Yet “generic” candidates will not appear on the November ballots. Voters will be asked to choose between two competing candidates with very different backgrounds and platforms.
The Democratic slate has never been more of a clown show.
Maine has Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate, with his Nazi tattoo, sexting scandal and weird postings. In one post, he described himself as an antifa super-soldier.
State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, is vying with Mr. Platner in the too-weird-for-words department. Mr. Talarico has called himself “a Christian who hates Christianity,” said that everyone is gay and told us that there are six genders.
Until his advisers thought better of it, Mr. Talarico said he was a vegetarian, which would have appealed to all those Texans who like carrots and turnips slathered in barbecue sauce.
Then there is Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan. In addition to holding far-left positions, Mr. El-Sayed has produced a truly cringeworthy campaign ad that is a takeoff on the children’s show “Blue’s Clues.”
A candidate who had deliberately set out to make himself look ridiculous could hardly have done a better job than Mr. El-Sayed.
As the Democratic Party moves ever leftward, candidates have to adopt increasingly more radical positions to secure nominations. These are positions that appeal to the party’s elite but tend to alienate ordinary voters.
The generic polls might be more accurate if voters were asked this: Would you vote for a candidate who had a Nazi tattoo, or would you support a candidate who said he is a Christian who hates Christianity?
Republicans can relax, because in November, voters will be choosing from flesh-and-blood candidates with (in some cases) radically different backgrounds and ideas.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.