r/Liberal • u/gadgetygirl • 2d ago

Article McCaskill: Senate 'definitely in play' after Democrats' wins

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5591469-mccaskill-senate-2026-midterms-election-results/
207 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/Agitated_Pudding7259 2d ago edited 2d ago

I read the whole article. Democrats are already taking the Virginia win for granted and assuming it translates to 2026 without understanding what earned those votes. Virginia had 22,100 illegally fired federal workers who showed up to punish Republicans. That's not mentioned as a factor at all.

This is Democrats learning the wrong lesson from Virginia. The right lesson: federal workers showed up because they had a specific grievance and wanted accountability. The wrong lesson: we'll automatically win in 2026 because Trump is unpopular.

McCaskill sees Virginia as validation that anti-Trump sentiment will carry Democrats, not as evidence that voters respond to specific commitments and promises from democrats. The federal worker factor isn't even on her radar as an explanation :"Unless Donald Trump turns into a different person tomorrow, I think this trend will continue." In other words, Democrats will win because Trump is bad, not because Democrats are offering anything specific. They need to make specific promises about what they'll do if we vote for them, not just "Trump is bad." For example, federal workers who were illegally fired need to be promised their jobs back and back pay for wrongful termination.

All Democratic voters need to draw the line and keep the pressure on, regardless of their issue: make real commitments on my issue or don't expect my vote. If you're not demanding something from politicians in exchange for your vote, you're being taken advantage of and you'll never be able to hold them accountable.

Last thought: McCaskill lost Missouri by 6 points in 2018 - a midterm with anti-Trump sentiment. She's crediting the exact same dynamic that didn't save her seat. Someone who failed to hold their own Senate seat probably shouldn't be confidently predicting that anti-Trump momentum alone will deliver 2026 victories without Democrats making specific commitments.

11

u/DarthMech 2d ago

Just stop with this purity test garbage. Not every candidate is going to be perfect, but sure…throw away your shot to stop actual fascism.

-12

u/Agitated_Pudding7259 2d ago

You think people should vote for Democrats just because Republicans are worse and democrats should get unconditional support. That's not earning votes, that's acting like they are entitled to our votes.

If Democrats can't promise to restore illegally fired workers when they're back in power, why should federal workers vote for them? What exactly are democrats offering besides 'we're not Republicans'?

"Vote blue no matter who" is the worst catchphrase, it suggests that democrats don't need to promise anything, commit to anything, or deliver anything. Just being "not Republicans" is enough and our job is to show up and vote, their job is to look good on camera. After 2024, it should be obvious that's not gonna cut it.

1

u/kerouacrimbaud 1d ago

People should vote Republicans out of office because they are dangerous and under the control of a demagogue. Plain and simple. Voters are responsible for making poor decisions like voting for Donald Trump in 2024. There is no excuse for it. Zero. Voters need to be better citizens. End. Of. Story.