Democrats and the Losing Politics of Contempt

The New York Times reports:

But it wasn’t to be, despite a huge Democratic voter-turnout effort. Nor did it make any difference that Ossoff had a $23.6 million war chest, and Democrats have a 6.7 percentage point lead in the generic congressional ballot, and Donald Trump is relatively unpopular in the district and even more unpopular nationwide.

Whatever else might be said about the race, Democrats didn’t lose for lack of political talent, campaign financing and organization or enthusiasm among their base. They lost because of their brand.


What is that? Democrats may think the brand is all about diversity, inclusion and fairness. But for millions of Americans, the brand is also about contempt — intellectual contempt of the kind Nimzowitsch exuded for his opponent (the grandmaster Fritz Sämisch, who, in fairness, was no slouch); moral contempt of the sort Hillary Clinton felt for Trump (never more evident than last year when Hillary Clinton wondered, “Why aren’t I fifty points ahead?”).

Do you really believe the Democrats have a 6.7% voting advantage since Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives most of the time since 1995?