From the White House to state houses across the country, Democrats reek of desperation.
To be sure, Republicans have a stench of their own. Some GOP candidates continue to spread false claims about the 2020 election – a storyline so stale that it could cause independent-minded voters to lose their appetite.
Democrats, however, are emitting a more complex odor.
At first whiff, it may seem pleasant – but even crap can be covered with Febreze.
In the lead up to Tuesday’s Midterm election, some Democratic campaigns are relying on confusion, deception, and flat out lies to escape defeat.
To understand the depths of dishonesty, we must start at the top.
President Joe Biden and his administration have taken on the role of liars-in-chief, contorting poor economic news to trick struggling voters into thinking things aren’t all that bad.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, the White House lauded an increase in Social Security for seniors.
“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership,” the tweet read.
The problem?
Social Security is tied to inflation.
It was such a stunning attempt at gaslighting that Twitter added a fact check to the bottom of it, writing:
“Seniors will receive a large Social Security benefit increase due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate.”
Despite being universally mocked over the tweet, the Biden administration tried its hand again today.
“Right now, the most common price at gas stations across the country is $3.19 per gallon. That's progress,” read a tweet from President Biden’s account.
But, as Twitter noted in yet another fact check, there’s a big difference between “most common price” and “average price.”
“Biden is referring to the ‘most common gas price’ as opposed to the average gas price of $3.80. The most common is the ‘mode’ gas price. Neither are wrong and politicians tend to reference the one that is lower. The mode diminishes high gas states from the equation,” an official Twitter note read, attempting to add context for readers.
Let’s be clear: these aren’t white lies from the White House. These are lies directed at Americans who are worried about putting gas in their cars and food on their tables. For someone who claims to have seen his working-class parents struggle to make ends meet, Biden seems to have forgotten the true desperation of poverty.
Or perhaps that desperation is what he’s relying on to make the lies stick.
Sh*t rolls downhill
With a greenlight from the party’s standard bearer, Democrats in races at all levels are treating manipulation as a mandate. The only thing that matters is winning – morals be damned.
Perhaps no candidate reflects that more than the campaign of Clyde Shavers.
Shavers is running for the Washington State House of Representatives in the 10th Legislative District. The position is currently held by Republican Greg Gilday.
Shavers, a Navy veteran and Yale Law graduate, seemed like a solid contender to flip the seat – with Democrats pouring big money into the race. Shavers even managed to win the endorsement of the district’s newspaper of record,The Everett Herald.
Too bad Shavers turned out to be a pathological liar.
Last week, the Herald pulled its endorsement of Shavers after it was revealed that he lied about working aboard a nuclear submarine and claimed to be an attorney, despite not passing the bar exam.
Because of these misrepresentations, and the questions they raise regarding Shavers’ integrity, the editorial board must rescind its recommendation that voters support Shavers for the state Legislature. Candidates for public office, because of the trust that is required to represent the interests of the residents of one’s district and the state, must be held to a high standard regarding the veracity of their record and their positions. Shavers has violated that trust.
In a normal political environment, that might be it for Clyde Shavers.
But of course, this isn’t a normal political environment. This is Bullshitville and Shavers is the mayor.
Besides, Democrats have spent too much on the seat to give up now!
What followed in the days after Shavers’ lies were exposed has been nothing short of stunning. If control of the Washington State Legislature didn’t hang in the balance, I might even commend Shavers for his commitment to the con.
Instead of offering voters an apology, Shavers took to social media to gaslight them ever further – lying about what he was accused of lying about.
Stick with me here, because this is a maze of manipulation.
“I have now been accused of not graduating from Yale Law School – well, here’s my diploma,” Shavers wrote on Facebook, posting a picture of his diploma. He went on to lament "divisive politics."
Except no one has claimed he didn’t graduate from law school.
Shavers claimed on multiple occasions that he was an attorney, which is false. Graduating from law school does not make you an attorney.
In another Facebook post, Shavers again lied about his lies.
“He (Gilday) claims that I didn’t graduate from nuclear power school. I commissioned into the nuclear submarine community after the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated from nuclear power school on February 14, 2014, as shown in my military record. In 2015, I transitioned to serve as a public affairs officer.”
Again, Shavers avoids addressing the actual lie – which is that he claimed, repeatedly, to have served aboard a nuclear submarine for eight years. Exhibits A-C:
To make things worse, a PAC supporting Shavers sent out mailers claiming Rep. Greg Gilday was the actual liar! How dare he lie about a veteran’s service!
Except, of course, Shavers lied about his own service – not to mention he repeatedly told that lie to voters who live in a district that includes Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
So surely state Democrats would back away from a candidate so morally bankrupt?
Not a chance.
After all, President Biden has made it clear that gaslighting is the name of the game. And make no mistake – that’s what they see this as – a game to be won at any cost.
State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who chairs the House Democratic Campaign Committee, told the Seattle Times that Shavers had “fallen short” by not describing his military record more accurately, but did not call for him to drop out of the race or suggest Dems would pull their support.
“My expectation going forward is that he learn from this,” Fitzgibbon told The Times.
In truth, Democrats don’t see Shavers for Shavers. They see him as a warm body to put in a seat, even if only temporarily.
If Shavers were to win on Tuesday, Democrats could ask him to resign after he takes office and appoint a replacement of their choosing. Who cares if the seat is won by deceiving voters in a military community, right? A win is a win.
A sad attempt at reverse psychology
Don't get me wrong, every election cycle has its share of dishonesty. Political ads with half-truths and missing context are a standard part of the playbook for both parties.
It’s the deviousness of the deception that really stands out this time around.
Case in point: The race for Washington’s Secretary of State – a seat Republicans held for decades but are poised to lose on Tuesday.
In the August primary, Republicans made the rookie mistake of running too many candidates. As a result, they split the vote and allowed a Democrat (Steve Hobbs) and a nonpartisan (Julie Anderson) to advance to the general election.
Anderson seemed poised to win, given her bipartisan appeal. Not only was she expected to pull in some votes from the left, but it made sense that a vast majority of Republican voters would side with her rather than choose a Democrat for the job.
That was until Republican State Rep. Brad Klippert launched a write-in campaign.
While write-in campaigns are nearly impossible to win, Klippert’s presence in the race could siphon just enough votes away from Julie Anderson to hand the seat to Steve Hobbs.
Sensing an opportunity, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski released a clumsy and scripted social media video – employing reverse psychology to influence the race.
“Brad Klippert has peddled conspiracy theories about how Trump won the 2020 election,” Podlodowski said, saying he'd use the office to promote conspiracies.
"Whatever you do, do not write in Brad Klippert," Gov. Inslee read from a prepared script while Podlodowski grinned.
Inslee and Podlodowksi are aware that ordering Republicans NOT to do something is a great way to make sure they do it – especially in the post-pandemic era.
While some recognized the tactic, others bit.
Brad Klippert’s campaign sent out an email blast celebrating the attention.
“The state’s top Democratic leaders are clearly panicking over the grassroots support the Brad Klippert write-in campaign is receiving from both Republicans and Independents,” the email read.
Tina and Jay must have been overjoyed.
Sure, their tactic could prove successful – but the fact that they've resorted to tricking voters speaks volumes.
But what about the bad orange man?
I can already predict responses to this piece, pointing to the many lies told by former President Donald Trump both on and off the campaign trail.
Don’t get me wrong, if Trump was talking (or tweeting) he was lying or spinning or mischaracterizing. It’s what he did.
But I have news for you: Trump isn’t the president, and Republicans aren’t in power.
Biden and Democrats have spent the past six years claiming the moral high ground and painting the other party as a threat to our very democracy. Surely, they would want to hold themselves to the same standard, right? Or do the ends justify the means?
No matter how you may feel about the Republican Party, there is no denying that Democrats have brought their own party to a new low this election cycle – and voters should take the gaslighting as a personal insult to their intelligence. No one who thinks you're that stupid deserves something as important as your vote.
In the final days before the election, consider how we got here and how we can get out.
To fix the sad state of elections, we must reset our expectations.
If we let politicians treat us like we’re morons, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
If we let elected leaders gaslight us into believing their lies, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
If we excuse our own party's despicable tactics because we've convinced ourselves that the other party is worse, we have no one to blame but ourselves once we finally hit rock bottom.
And if we keep covering up crap with Febreze, it's our own damn fault once the Febreze isn't strong enough to cover the stench.
