True to form, the Democratic memo does respond indirectly to these concerns by propounding the lie that Republicans are an antidemocratic cabal filled with crazy conspiracy theorists. This is nuts. Yes, there are extreme elements within the GOP, as there are within the Democratic Party. But voters can distinguish good apples from the bad. Democratic efforts in Virginia to taint Republican Glenn Youngkin with the charges that he is dangerously weak on combating covid-19 or a stooge for former president Donald Trump fell flat, as did similar campaign efforts in Pennsylvania. If Democrats really believe they can convince independents that normal Republicans are closeted lunatics, they’re the ones not in touch with reality.

The trouble besetting the Democratic Party is shockingly simple to diagnose. It beat Trump because many independents could not abide his antics and character. But Democrats nearly lost the House, against all predictions, because some of those centrists voted for Republicans despite their ire for Trump. The Democrats’ electoral majority, then, contained many non-Democrats who voted against someone they hated rather than for a party they endorsed.

This should have been a clue for Democrats to try to bind these new, rented Democratic voters more tightly to their party. That would have meant following the agendas of Democratic governors in swing states, which were primarily incremental in their shifts leftward. Instead, Democrats, with President Biden in the lead, are debating how far and how quickly to push America in their direction. This is simply not what independents voted for last November. Their misgivings have been intensified by the rising inflation that the administration has consistently and spectacularly been wrong about. It should not surprise anyone that voters who see their priorities ignored will support a party that seems to be listening to them.