The longer this drags on, the further downhill Democratic chances of avoiding a complete wipeout in 2022 go-
I’ve long had a suspicion that it is COVID more than any other issue that is fueling anger and resentment toward this administration/the current left and even driving traditionally Democratic-leaning voters away from the party. The one thing human beings are going to react more even more strongly to than divisive cultural issues in which one side in particular isn’t willing to compromise at all and has a monopoly on the public institutions/media/academia are restrictions and mandates imposed by the state that constrain them in their everyday lives (not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically). While the former will make people dislike an administration (strongly or less strongly), the latter will generate deep hatred and fear, two emotions that couldn’t be better turnout motivators for the party out of the White House. A state intervening in the lives of its citizens to the extent that we have seen and putting this kind of pressure on its citizens is quite a precedent that should never be turned into a norm, not even rhetorically. The more salient and 'felt' this issue is in 2022, the more it has the potential to break Democrats' necks.
With every new variant that (conveniently) keeps popping up whenever governments need a new excuse to ride roughshod over the basic rights and liberties of their citizens, the anger and hatred will grow more intense and visceral. Obviously the government's response is not as bad here as in, say, Austria (where the stigmatization of and media-/government-led campaign against the unvaccinated in the name of reason and science has reached truly frightening levels, especially given that country's history), but most people are just really sick and tired of the governmental aggression, nanny-state measures/attitude, and blatant fear-based propaganda. Ironically, the prevalent sentiment that will probably wipe out Democrats next year is precisely the one that cost Trump the election: People just want a return to normalcy and sanity.
Poll
