“Freedom” is just potatoes to Republicans

The 2022 midterm elections are just 124 days away, and the results will likely make or break Joe Biden‘s presidency and the Democratic Party’s agenda. All seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as approximately one-third of U.S. Senate seats, are up for grabs. If the Republicans gain a majority in either house of Congress, at minimum, the Biden/Democratic agenda will be stymied as they won’t be able to pass any meaningful legislation. Additionally, either house under Republican control will bog the government down in senseless hearings involving laptops and other shiny object distractions, in order for the GOP to try to score political points. Moreover, many state and local offices are up for election, which could determine how crucial matters ranging from abortion to elections themselves are handled. Suffice it to say that, if any Democrats claim “this is one of the most important elections of your lifetime,” they are not exaggerating.

Republicans, predictably, are bashing President Biden and Democrats over inflation and gasoline prices as their 2022 election theme. Fair enough, as the party out of power generally attacks on any economic front that it can, even though in this case, Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, as well as leftover COVID-based supply chain problems, both of which can be laid at the feet of Donald Trump, are largely to blame. Indeed, inflation is a problem worldwide, and the United States is on the lower side of gasoline prices around the world.

Therefore, it would be really helpful if the Democratic Party would express a unifying and galvanizing theme for the upcoming elections, to counter the Republicans and drive all-important voter turnout. This has worked in the past, e.g., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi‘s healthcare message for the 2018 midterms, which led to a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House, catapulting Pelosi to House Speaker.

As it turns out, President Biden and Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California, among others, seem to be leading the way with a theme that can succeed for the Democrats in this year’s elections. That theme can be seen in recent tweets from Biden and Rep. Swalwell:

Survivors of COVID now have a preexisting condition.

Two years ago, Democrats successfully rode the healthcare issue to victory in the elections for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Specifically, the Democrats ran on protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) against Republican efforts to repeal it. This year, at the confirmation hearing on Judge Amy Coney Barrett‘s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Democrats are pointing out once again that the Republicans seek to repeal the ACA and take away our healthcare, and that a 6-3 Republican majority Supreme Court, with the addition of Barrett, could easily do so.

Republicans such as Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell keep telling us in response that, no matter what, they would still “protect preexisting conditions,” the coverage of which is a major element of the ACA. But one look at the Republicans’ nightmare healthcare scenario makes it clear that the GOP will offer no such protection.