Let’s see if we can connect a couple of dots in the WaPo darkness today. First up, let’s look at their headline on the economy as the midterm final run begins:

U.S. economy stumbles into final stretch of 2022 facing new pressures

And then we have the Apocalypse Now strategy of the Democrats over the last few weeks of the election cycle:

Apocalypse now: Democrats embrace a dark midterm message
Biden and the Democrats planned to run mostly on their accomplishments. But warnings of a Republican dystopia are becoming a bigger part of their message.

“Accomplishments”? What might those be? This looks more like a political strategy borne of necessity and complete incompetent failure over the last 20 months. Joe Biden and his Democrat-controlled Congress passed two major pieces of legislation without Republican help — the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which touched off a hyperinflationary wave that’s still pounding American households, and the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, that won’t reduce inflation at all and may actually add to it, according to a Penn Wharton Business Model.

The Democrats are only left with demonization of opponents as a midterm message. Biden’s soulless demagoguery in his Red Wedding speech set the tone for exactly that:

With a tough midterm election about six weeks away, many Democrats have largely settled on a campaign message, and it’s not one that simply emphasizes their accomplishments. Instead, it amounts to a stark warning: If Republicans take power, they will establish a dystopia that cripples democracy and eviscerates abortion rights and other freedoms.

“When you are the in-party in the midterms — like the Democrats are now — and the wind is blowing against you, you have to ride every advantageous breeze you can find,” former congressman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said. “And the Democrats have found those breezes in the Dobbs decision and in Donald Trump.”

For months leading Democrats, starting with President Biden, signaled that they would campaign on having helped Americans, from fixing bridges to cutting drug costs. Biden suggested that attacking Republicans too harshly would divide the country and alienate potential supporters.

But with Trump’s reemergence, the proliferation of Republican nominees who reject fair elections, and the Supreme Court’s overturning abortion rights, the calculus has starkly changed. Biden now all but admits his initial approach no longer works.

Nonsense. It never did work, because voters aren’t focused on Trump, abortion, or Biden’s climate-change accomplishments. They’re focused on the economy and crime, and to only a slightly lower priority the border crisis that Biden precipitated and has yet to effectively address. It’s their daily lived experiences that will turn the midterms into a referendum on Biden and Democrats, and they’re trying desperately in the final stretch to turn the midterms into a referendum on Republicans.

It’s almost certain to fail, for the reasons the Post covers in its report on the economy:

The slowdown at Rodriguez’s shop may offer a snapshot of the nation’s economy as it heads into the final stretch of the year. Policymakers are rushing to cool off demand and get control of inflation, hiking interest rates at the most aggressive pace in decades. Fed officials have slashed their expectations for growth this year, and the risks of a recession, in the United States and around the globe, appear likelier by the week. A number of economists are bracing for a downturn in late 2022 or early 2023. …

Many households and businesses are caught in the middle of this economy tension, straining to absorb high prices but not yet experiencing the pain some Federal Reserve officials say is coming.

Economic unease is sinking in. All the major stock indexes closed out the month on a bleak note, and the Dow Jones industrial average was down 5.4 percent for the third quarter, which ended Friday. The housing market is cooling off, with the highest mortgage rates in 15 years discouraging aspiring buyers. Retailers are already starting to discount items for the holidays, hoping to attract increasingly budget-conscious shoppers.

U.S. stocks slipped Friday — with all three U.S. indexes down at least 1.5 percent — and closed out a brutal week, month and quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 500 points on Friday and closed below 29,000 for the first time since November 2020. The S&P 500 was down 1.51 percent and notched its worst month since March 2020. All three indexes are down at least 21 percent for the year.

Now it’s not just inflation at the pumps and grocery stores, but also retirement accounts that voters will have to consider. Everyone in managed portfolios lost ground over the last month — a lot of ground. Voters may see that a bit more apocalyptically than the idea of returning Republicans to control, given that their retirement accounts and buying power did pretty well under GOP governance.

Will a dark-messaging strategy work? It seems doubtful, and not just because of the problems listed above. It might motivate a few more Democrats, but it seems more likely to discourage support from others — especially independents — who just got through punishing Trump and Republicans for this kind of irresponsible and negative rhetoric two years ago. Voters don’t respond well to despair as a messaging strategy under any circumstances, not even when there’s good reason to feel it. Even FDR ran with “Happy Days Are Here Again” as his campaign anthem in the middle of the Great Depression. And Joe Biden is no FDR.

Biden and his team have another equivalency in mind, it seems:

My dad used to say, “Joey, don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.”

And here’s the deal: Democrats want to codify Roe. Republicans want a national ban on abortion. The choice is clear.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 3, 2022

Well, that explains the optics of his Red Wedding screed.