2022 will likely put the two parties to tough tests. Here are the three challenges each party will face in the new year. For Democrats, it is President Joe Biden’s responsibility to overcome these three challenges.
– Curb inflation. The continuous rise in prices harms the economy and the national mood. It interferes with price indicators that harm investment decisions, and families’ budgets if wages do not keep pace with price increases. It also destroys the national spirit, which leads to the escalation of negativity and loss of hope. Presidents who lead in periods of high inflation, such as Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter, inevitably lose, whether in the midterm elections, as in Truman’s case in 1946, or in the re-election, as in the case of Carter in 1980. It is in the interests of Biden and the country that the president submit to inflation. control and reduce it by the middle of the year.
Develop a new global national defense strategy in the face of provocations. This Eurasian axis (China, Russia, and Iran) has gained strength over the course of the year and the chances of a strike are increasing. The survival of the United States does not threaten any of their seemingly immediate goals such as controlling Ukraine, but the same can be said of former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to allow Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in 1938, which inevitably led to World War II after That’s a year. It will only work to develop a new global strategy similar to the containment plans in the Cold War, that can curb the conflict and prevent the continued alienation of US allies from it.
Transition from a pandemic to an endemic state. People will only be subject to government restrictions for a long time. Americans usually give their leaders two years to manage challenges, and then disappoint them if they don’t see progress or feel hope seep in. We are fast approaching the second anniversary of the pandemic. If we remain in a seemingly endless cycle of misery and despair by the middle of the third year, Democrats will pay a heavy price in the midterm elections.
Certainly, “Republicans” look at these challenges and believe that their future is bright. But this does not mean that they are free of challenges. They should remember the lessons of 2010-2012 and make sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes. and for example:
You must be reasonable. In 2010, radical, and usually reckless, Tea Party “Republicans” such as Kristen O’Donnell won the party’s primaries for Senate seats, but in the general election they suffered major defeats. A recurrence of this is possible, as “Make America Great Again” enthusiasts — like Carrie Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona’s governor — win primaries in some pivotal bipartisan states. But leaders should step in early in these races and try to make sure the party is represented by conservatives more like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis than Sharon Angel, the Republican Senate candidate who lost the race in 2010.
Ensure that states led by Republicans are well governed. This means striking a balance between economic growth and public spending and the protection of public health, safety and individual rights. The more Republican governors such as DeSantis and Greg Abbott of Texas and Kim Reynolds of Iowa can achieve, the more the Republican Party will become distinct from the Democrats, if Biden cannot steer the ship right.
It should be remembered that the Republican Party enjoyed a wave of success in the 2010 midterm elections, but only two years later failed to win the White House. It must be remembered that this is due in large part to complacency. Party leaders considered victory certain, and believed that they did not need to push a candidate with a strong alternative vision. Rather, they nominated Mitt Romney, the weakest candidate on the scene, much like the Republican Party’s choice of Thomas Dewey in 1948 and Bob Dole in 1996. In all these races, the party leader offered no new ideas, relying primarily on dissatisfaction with the incumbent. Party leaders must learn from these failures and support an internal dialogue within the party to develop a new priority list that responds to the new problems of our time. The Republicans have tried before to defeat something without relying on something, and this time they must count on putting out the fire of one vision with the fire of another.
How the two parties deal with these issues in the new year will determine their standing and the extent to which they improve or deteriorate not only at the end of 2022, but in the following years as well. Let us hold on to the hope that they can meet the challenges.
Published by special arrangement with the Washington Post and Bloomberg News Service.
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