How wonderful must it feel to be a Republican in 2022? Sure, your guy lost the last election, but since then Democratic president and possible replicant Joe Biden has dropped to an approval rating of 33 percent, perhaps due to the total collapse of his legislative agenda, which has been stymied by two rogue senators so obviously self-interested that his failure to bribe them has become an indictment of the whole party. If Democrats cannot find the lever that moves Joe Manchin, what could they possibly do about public healthcare, or student loan forgiveness, or a climate-friendly economy, or any of the other promises from 2020 that now seem as empty as a child’s pledge to dunk a basketball? If you are a talk-radio type of guy, or one of the swing voters who apparently believe the school is trying to change your kid’s gender, I imagine the present political moment feels incredibly great.
I wouldn’t know, since I’ve been voting Democrat. I admit that only for the purpose of strict reportorial accuracy, since it feels like admitting I have been taken in some kind of scam. For the last two decades, I have dutifully supported the Democratic presidential candidate in every election, even when casting my ballot felt like digging a splinter out of my thumb with a pin: an irritating process that did nothing to advance my own goals but theoretically prevented something worse. The apogee experience of this approach to democracy came in 2020, when I supported Joe Biden.
I…
