Democrat Doomsday in November Midterms? Hardly!

When President Joe Biden first got diagnosed with COVID on July 21, I, like so many, thought, He just fell off his bike? How much worse can it get for this guy?

I felt sick for Biden getting sick, in the literal sense because I went through 10 days of hell with COVID the week before he got sick. And beyond the physical, Biden seemed awash in failure and fatigue. Besides Republicans' full-throated attempt to paint him as feeble, Biden has had to wrestle with COVID, monkeypox, inflation, high gas prices, Russia, Ukraine, climate change-related fires and floods, indignant Republicans, obstinate Democrats (two come to mind), declining poll numbers, increasing interest rates, primary wins of election deniers, libelous rumors etc., etc., etc. The losses, the stumbles, the humiliations just kept piling up on President Joe.

If a president ever needed to resign, surely, we'd all understand if Joe wanted to pack it all up and head for a more relaxing life as a retiree in Rehoboth Beach.

And just when we thought Mitch McConnell was the real leader of the Senate, seemingly batting away Democratic legislation like a tennis pro, Chuck Schumer steps up to the net, smashes every volley, and comes in with a six-to-love set, winning the match for Democrats.

The wins since Biden's been sick have been almost miraculous. Suddenly, a long summer of woe is me by Democratic voters has become look at me, look at me! The big victory with the Inflation Reduction Act (corporate tax hikes, health care, and climate change) can now be fitted like pieces of a picture puzzle to other recent wins like the semiconductor and veterans' burn pits bill, NATO expansion (Sweden and Finland), the American Rescue Plan, and the infrastructure bill.

Don't kid yourself. These are mammoth accomplishments, particularly within an era of a super-slim majority in the Senate and zero bipartisanship. While the semiconductor bill was a bit bipartisan, the Republicans flubbed the veteran's bill at first and scrambled like scared cats to change their votes. Veterans were not pleased. And they surely won't be pleased when they hear that Donald Trump demanded the loyalty of his generals and military-like Hitler had.

And for us, if Sen. Tammy Baldwin has her way, we should have a bipartisan law that codifies marriage equality.

Just wow!

And another wow! It just keeps going. Biden led the way in participating in and approving the military drone strike that killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Moreover, you have abortion rights and the miscues of Republicans going extreme. Kansas voters, nearly 60 percent, said no to stricter abortion laws -- that's a state that's redder than the nose of Rudolph (and with the Trump Hitler reference above, I don't mean Hess). Republicans, for nearly 50 years, pushed so hard to overturn Roe, and 50 years later they got their wish. The trouble is it is 50 years later. Times have changed. Modern sentiment overwhelmingly supports the right to choose.

That doesn't mean that more people are "for" abortion. It just means that more people understand that it's a personal choice. What voters don't understand is why states, like Indiana, are passing or on the verge of passing outlandishly strict abortion laws from 50 years ago. Even South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace warned her party that "Handmaid's Tale was not supposed to be a road map."

Speaking of road maps, the January 6 committee is still making inroads on the road map of insurrection to the Oval Office. More hearings, which promise to be as spellbinding as the first series, are scheduled in September. Bombshells, mouths, and shoes dropped during the first eight hearings. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland predicted that the roof of the House would eventually drop too.

And when you talk about mouths dropping, all you need to do is start to dig into some of these nutso candidates Republicans have put up for the midterms, and you become speechless. Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Kari Lake in Arizona, and J.D. Vance in Ohio ... well, I don't have enough space for the rest. It's candidates like these that make me wish I still worked in politics. What fodder they have to offer!

In a minute, Democrats now have enough content for myriad campaign spots and social media posts that will fit every demographic. Young voters who care about abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate change will see inspirational stories in their social media. Veterans? Ads, particularly on Fox News, of how the Republicans threw them in the fire, while the Democrats pulled them out. The rust belt? Local ads about how infrastructure and semiconductor dollars are pouring in, creating jobs for anyone who needs one. Seniors? Ads in newspapers touting the fact that prescription drugs will be cheaper because Medicare can negotiate. Suburban housewives? On Bravo, they'll be reminded, not overtly but in a sympathetic way, that Republicans won't tolerate abortions in the case of rape and incest.

I can keep doing the above all day, but the point is that Democrats have a wealth of talking points to choose from. And if it is all about the money, and we all know it is all about the money, Democrats are outraising Republicans, giving them the funds to hammer home those messages.

Yes, I haven't forgotten about inflation and gas prices and the fact that most voters vote with their pocketbooks, and they'll blame the party in power for price hikes. I also know this is a midterm election during the first term of a Democratic president, which in most cases favors the party (Republicans) not in power.

Yet I see a tidal wave of good, positive, hopeful news for Democrats. Their candidates are better. Their messages are better. Their funding is better. And as of now, the wind is at their back.

Granted, it is a little less than 90 days to the midterms on Tuesday, November 8, and lots can change; however, what needs to change is all the demagoguery of downtrodden disaster for Democrats on the 8th. If anything, besides the tidal wave of good news, messages, and money, I see a blue wave coming this fall!

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.? We need you and your Irish luck to stick around for a while. Cancel the move to Rehoboth Beach because your best days are ahead of you!

John Casey is editor at large for The Advocate.

Views expressed in The Advocate's opinion articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, Equal Pride.