President Biden’s stark warnings that a vote for “Ultra MAGA” Republicans could threaten American democracy appears to have resonated with voters, denying the GOP a widely anticipated red wave.
Mr. Biden ahead of the 2022 midterms delivered several speeches painting Republicans as extremists and blaming them and former President Donald Trump for a sustained assault on democracy that he said had given rise to political violence.
Exit polls show that message connected with voters resulting in Democrats performing above expectations.
An NBC News exit poll conducted as voters left polling places across the U.S. on Election Day found that 70% believe U.S. democracy is “threatened,” while 28% said it was “secure.” A majority of Democrats (72%), Republicans (68%), and independents (70%) all said democracy is under threat, according to the poll.
AP VoteCast, a survey of voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press and Fox News, found that 44% said the future of democracy was the primary consideration. That ranked the issue just behind inflation as the top priority for Americans as they cast their vote.
In the final days of midterm campaigning, Mr. Biden repeatedly warned that democracy could fall apart if Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump are voted into positions of power.
At least 199 GOP candidates for state or federal positions have explicitly promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen or worked to overturn its results, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight.
“American democracy is under attack because the defeated former president of the United States refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election,” Mr. Biden said in remarks last week. “Make no mistake: Democracy is on the ballot for all of us.”
The president connected the recent violent attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, to the pro-Trump mob that rioted in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said it was unexpected that Mr. Biden’s message connected with voters, given that inflation is at its highest level in four decades, squeezing voters with high gas and food prices.
“It was surprising that so many voters’ fears about the democratic process were so vivid that it erased some of their concerns about inflation,” he said. “The old axiom is that Americans vote their pocketbook, but they didn’t vote their pocketbook; they voted their concern about democracy.”
The attack on Mr. Pelosi less than two weeks before the midterms underscored Mr. Biden’s message about Republican-inspired political violence and threats to democracy, Mr. Bannon said.
David DePape, the man charged with beating Mr. Pelosi with a hammer, allegedly made a statement threatening to attack top Democratic officials. Social media posts linked to Mr. DePape showed that he espoused claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Some Republican candidates were criticized for promoting their own theories about the attack or refusing to condemn it.
“The attack crystalized doubts Americans have had since the attack on the Capitol that violence has become too big a factor in American politics,” Mr. Bannon said.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, said Mr. Biden’s condemnation of Republicans appears to have paid off for Democrats.
“I was surprised because I thought with inflation, with the crime rate we have seen. I thought all those things would have made for a very big Republican night,” Mr. Gingrich during a Fox News interview Wednesday morning. “And I have to say, as much as I think it was despicable, the Biden strategy of demonizing Republicans. … I think it did have an impact and will become a definition of the Democratic Party.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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