October 12, 2021

Where the Wave Begins

People in places such as Beaver County will matter in the 2022 midterm elections.

MIDLAND, Pennsylvania — For as much cash and strategy as partisans put into creating a wave for their own parties, they always seem to miss where the ripple starts and why.

Part of the reason they miss it is that they are in Washington and not in places such as this one.

Midland is a borough in Beaver County — an urban area that hugs the Ohio River. It boomed for 50 years during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, but it has lost population ever since the collapse of industry beginning in the 1970s. The racial breakdown, black to white, mirrors that of the entire state. Most of the people here want the same things people have always wanted here — opportunity for themselves and a good education for their children.

Every couple of years, people here vote for whoever vows convincingly to bring those aspirations to them. Every couple of years, they are disappointed yet again and look for hope elsewhere.

Since 2006, there have been five different members of Congress representing this Western Pennsylvania county; none of them left because they retired — they were all ousted in midterm-wave cycles.

In 2006, Republican Melissa Hart lost to Democrat Jason Altmire; he in turn lost to fellow Democrat Mark Critz when their seats were combined and Pennsylvania lost a House seat in a census year. Critz barely survived the 2010 midterm elections, only to lose in 2012 to Keith Rothfus, who in turn lost to Democrat Conor Lamb in the 2018 midterm elections. Lamb narrowly survived last year in a race against Republican newcomer Sean Parnell. Facing a redrawn or eliminated seat in 2022, Lamb opted not to run for the House again.

In each of these elections, voters were reacting to an overreaching party in power — to politicians doing other than what the voters sent them to Washington to do.

Wave elections happen for several reasons. Their origins often escape the notice of those sent to Washington, those who cover those who were sent to Washington and those who strategize for those who were sent to Washington.

A wave election is often rooted in the reasons why voters gave the party in power that power in the first place. Those who win think it is because voters love them, and they have a mandate to do whatever they want. That is what power does to a lot of people.

But that is not in truth why they won. They don’t like you more, they just like the other guys less.

Uncertainty in the economy, as well as industry and technology, also plays a role.

Since they were sworn in, in January, Democrats have behaved as though voters gave them a mandate to do whatever they wanted. Except there was no mandate. In the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi bragged they would gain 20 new seats, they instead lost over a dozen, giving Pelosi a very narrow majority. They also underperformed in the Senate, resulting in a 50-50 tie for the vice president to break.

President Joe Biden, like former President Donald Trump four years earlier, won only narrowly.

Democrats promised a return to normal. They promised kindness, compassion and a better way. But voters in places such as Beaver County now see Biden’s persistent negligence that plagues his handling of the pandemic, the border, Afghanistan, inflation and crime, along with his threats of mandates.

Every time he is challenged, he blames Trump or hints that anyone opposed to him must have invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Everything voters touch in their lives has the stain of politics on its sleeve; this is not what they bargained for — not working-class voters, not suburban voters, not middle-class voters.

People in places such as Beaver County will matter in the 2022 midterm elections. Most Washington reporters focus on the feelings of the new coalition of the ascendant, whose lefty sentiments are reflected among the cultural curators that run our academic institutions, corporations, sports organizations and the entertainment industry. They forget that just because someone has the loudest voice does not mean they will carry the next majority over the threshold.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.