Yes, There Will Be Blood in the 2014 Elections

by Steve Deace

A reckoning is coming, and this time not even the Republican Party establishment can save President Obama.

The American people are so collectively and colossally ticked off that this time not even the Keystone Cops, who run the alleged opposition party, can possibly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again. The American people are going to drag the Republican Party into the winner’s circle, whether they like it or not.

Three news stories on Tuesday prove yet again just how much trouble the Democrats are in for this November’s midterm elections.

A Republican lobbyist – that’s right, a lobbyist – managed to upset Democrat Alex Sink in the special congressional election in Florida’s 13th district. This time the phony “war on women” meme couldn’t save Sink from sinking. She got just 47% of the vote after getting a majority of it in this district in 2010 when she was the Democrat nominee for governor. What changed? Despite lower name I.D., being outspent, and being a dreaded lobbyist, her opponent made the election a referendum on Obamacare—and Obamacare lost.

Speaking of Obamacare, the newest numbers from the just-released NBC-Wall Street Journal Poll are brutal.

Only 35% of Americans approve of Obamacare. At this point prior to the 2010 midterms, which went dreadfully for Democrats, 37% of Americans said they thought the economy was getting better. Now just 26% of Americans feel that way. 65% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. 71% of Americans think government doesn’t work. 57% of Americans believe we are in a recession. President Obama’s job approval is just 41%, and he only has a 74% approval among Democrats. Throw in the fact the average loss of seats in the U.S. Senate for a re-elected president in his final midterm since WWII is five, and it should now be considered a disappointment if the GOP doesn’t regain control of the House of Lords.

Finally, Obama’s lost ground among young voters who swept him into office in 2008 is already well-documented. However, this story isn’t likely to stop those defections. Turns out the labor force participation rate for workers in their 20s hit a 42-year low in 2013. Overall, young adult unemployment has increased by 20% since Obama took over. Over 10.5 million Americans between the ages of 20-29 were no longer in the labor force in 2013. The total labor participation rate for all demographics is the lowest it’s been since 1978.

It’s difficult to see what could substantially improve these trend lines for the Democrats over the course of the next 8 months, but I assume the Republican Party establishment will try and find out nonetheless.