Uh-0 & 4

We all know Democrats have lost every special election since Donald Trump took office. Now that things have had a chance to sink in, it’s important to look at why.

Right off the bat was Kansas 04, the House of Representatives seat formerly held by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.  The Republican candidate won by more than seven points. Next up was Montana’s at-large House seat, vacated when Ryan Zinke was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior. This time the Republican won by six points. And then there was the big one, Georgia 06, and what became an afterthought to most of us, South Carolina 05. These House seats became available when Georgian Tom Price was nominated to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services and South Carolinian Mick Mulvaney was picked to direct the Office of Management and Budget. Both elections were held last Tuesday and both times the Republican won by more than three points.

So what does this tell us? Obviously each of these races had their own personality and these seats were considered safe for the GOP. But the Dems poured tens of millions into these contests to no avail. In fact, the Georgia race was the most expensive House race in history, with Democrat Jon Ossoff outspending Republican Karen Handel by more than five times ($23.6 million to $4.5 million). 

It tells us that Democrats’ message of “RESIST!” isn’t working. Trump’s approval rating may be 36%, but the democratic party’s is only 4% higher according to Gallup’s May 2017 polling – a pretty hard feat to achieve with 90% of the media, 99% of Hollywood, and virtually all of academia carrying your water. At a time when emotions are running higher that the audience at a Dave Matthews concert, Democrats are only reaching out to the angriest, most partisan section of their base.

Does “RESIST!” speak to the Joe Manchin supporter who wants Congress to work together and get things done? Does it speak to the moderate soccer mom in Ohio who’s worried about food prices and tuition costs? No. It speaks to the Nancy Pelosi set. It speaks to the people marching against Trump every other weekend – in other words, the people who were going to vote democratic no matter what.

To today’s democratic party it’s either the Nancy Pelosis or the Joe Manchins. Until it’s both, they’ll continue to lose.