The midterm elections historically have been a “lifesaver” for America. The year 2022 is shaping up to be just that. The United States is being thrown a major flotation device in order to survive. After the recent election in Georgia, which saw a victory by Glenn Youngkin for Governor over heavily favored Terry McAuliffe, and other Republican upsets, 2022 is coming into sharper focus.
When President Obama proposed Obamacare in October 2009, the Republicans took the House in November 2010 as a reaction. It was a decisive victory. The Republicans won a total of 242 seats (they had 178 prior). It was the highest number of lost seats by one party of a sitting President in a mid-term election since 1938. It saved America.
The midterms are course corrections. America is split down the middle. If a President is over-reaching, he will find out about it in his second year. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. America does not like extremes.
President Biden was elected because he touted middle-of-the-road themes and a moderate philosophy. It was all a ruse. He is far from a moderate. He has joined forces with the most radical elements of his party.
America thought President Biden would do a better job handling the COVID pandemic than his predecessor. The pandemic was, far and away, the most important reason Biden declared victory. What Mr. Biden forgot and continues to forget is that half the country voted for Donald Trump.
Mr. Biden on Day One decided that he was the anti-Trump. Instead of aligning himself with moderate Democrats, he sided with the inexperienced radical Left of his party.
He created chaos at the Southern Border. He allowed inflation to decimate the American worker, who had already been badly bruised by the pandemic. Inflation now is the worst in 30 years. Overall, prices rose 6.2%, but what really causes Americans to get overheated and change their votes is the cost of gasoline, which bumped by 50%, and the cost of beef: up by 20%. The economy does not show signs that it will improve that much, and most likely will be worse by November 2022, given the supply chain problems.
The economy is not the only factor that will sway voters in 2022. Obviously, the management of the pandemic is crucial, too. Other issues have become paramount in the minds of Americans. Foreign policy still plays a role. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan will plague the President not only in 2022 but in 2024, as well. Biden’s persistent and inappropriate pressure on Israel to open a PLO consulate in Jerusalem will be a wedge issue. Not only is the push to open a PLO consulate against US Law, but it is a waste of American taxpayer money, since the American Embassy in Jerusalem already does everything that the consulate will purportedly do. It also divides Jerusalem. For 50 years, President Biden said he would never do that.
He also had his State Department criticize Israel for giving the green light to building 3,140 units in Judea and Samaria. The Biden administration also gave Israel a hard time over declaring six PFLP front organizations as terrorist organizations. He will find out that all of these factors will hurt him significantly in the midterm elections. It is all coming into sharper focus each and every day.
Dr. Joe Frager is Chairman of the Israel Advocacy Commission for the Rabbinical Alliance of America; Chairman of the Executive Committee of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim; Dean at Kollel Ayshel Avraham; Executive Vice President of the Israel Heritage Foundation; and a physician in practice for 41 years.