DEMS IN A PANIC AS THEY LEARN IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO HATE TRUMP – OVERNIGHT:  No one needs Donald Trump the way the Democrats, and their fans in the press, need Trump.  Being anti-Trump is the secular equivalent of battling the Devil.  Without Trump, what would the Democratic Party and CNN do?  Would they go back to laughing at Ronald Reagan?  From Daily Beast: 

A week before the Virginia governor’s race, President Joe Biden came to Arlington to rally for Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe. He dutifully ticked through McAuliffe’s record, mentioned McAuliffe’s campaign promises, and then did what he really came to do: talk about Donald Trump.
“Just remember this,” Biden told the crowd. “I ran against Donald Trump. And Terry is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump.”

Biden spoke at length about GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin’s veiled embrace of the ex-president. And he reminded everyone of Trump’s greatest hits, from fomenting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to his tendency to speak ill of deceased critics like John McCain and Colin Powell.

By the time Biden closed—saying extremism could come from a rage-driven mob or “a smile and a fleece vest,” a clear reference to Youngkin’s personal campaign uniform—the president had mentioned Trump as many times as he had mentioned McAuliffe.

The moment reflected a culmination of a clear strategy for Democrats in Virginia: rev up a burnt out electorate in a state Biden had just won by 10 points by connecting a fresh face to Trump.

But on Election Day, the guy that Democrats dubbed “Trumpkin” bested McAuliffe by more than two points to become the first Republican elected Virginia governor in 12 years.

The finger-pointing flowed freely and instantly among Democrats. But many fished out of the rubble a quick lesson as they wobble into the 2022 midterm elections: think twice about making everything about Trump, even where he is unpopular, and focus on making Democrats more popular.

“As long as Donald Trump is a former president, I think Democrats have a responsibility to look more to the future,” said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who flipped a suburban Minneapolis district in 2018.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who represents a solidly Democratic area of northern Virginia, said his takeaway from Tuesday’s results was that Trump talk “is not enough.”

“I wouldn’t say don’t do it,” Connolly told The Daily Beast. “But if you’re counting on that to be 100 percent effective and dispositive, then last night tells you otherwise.”

In the aftermath of the “off-year” elections—and a year out from the 2022 midterms—Democrats seem to agree that the anti-Trump playbook that propelled them to control of Congress and the White House may no longer work. Certainly, Youngkin had little trouble dodging that familiar Democratic messaging.

The former venture capital CEO avoided alienating the ex-president but also avoided him in general, making Democratic attempts to paint him and Trump as one and the same seem like a reach.

Democrats largely relied on one quote from early in the campaign, in which Youngkin vaguely praised Trump for inspiring him to run as a first-time candidate, as the main connective tissue. And at one point, Virginia Democrats paid for a mailer reminding voters that Youngkin was endorsed by Trump—which may have ended up doing some of Youngkin’s work with the GOP base for him.

Ultimately, Democrats did vote in large numbers, with liberal strongholds posting higher turnout totals for McAuliffe’s defeat than they did for Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s win in 2017. But deep-red pockets of the state turned out for Youngkin in historic numbers, and McAuliffe lost ground with independent voters in the suburban areas that turned against Trump in 2018 and 2020.

COMMENT:  Now the question is, what happens if Trump runs again?  Would the Trump issue be reborn?  Would Trump be a gift to the Democratic Party?  I don't think we really know.  Americans might wind up actually missing Trump.  They may not miss his personality, but they could easily miss his accomplishments and the kind of economy he built.   Compared to Joe Biden, Trump is an organizational genius.  Will Americans be prepared to overlook his considerable flaws? 

Just remember that Ronald Reagan was laughed at by the "sophisticates."  People thought he would start World War III.  Earlier, Abraham Lincoln was called a "baboon" by his first commanding general.  Franklin Roosevelt was labeled "featherduster" for his apparent lack of intellect.  Dwight Eisenhower was called a simpleton.  Reputation at a given moment is hard to predict.   

November 4, 2021