Middle America’s Day Of Reckoning Draws Near

In 1968, during the Tet Offensive, Walter Cronkite famously opined against the Vietnam War.  Watching the broadcast, Lyndon Johnson said, “If I have lost Walter Cronkite, I have lost Middle America.”  Johnson withdrew from the presidential race shortly after that.  Republican Richard Nixon went on the win the White House that year, and Republicans have won Middle America for the most part ever since. Johnson failed to realize that Cronkite and the mainstream media did not speak for Middle America. Middle America didn't want a cut and run in Vietnam but rather victory.

In 2020, Democrats thought nominating Joe Biden, who famously calls himself, “Joe from Scranton” would capture Middle America for them. They made enough inroads to take both the White House and Congress. Many in the mainstream media thought that this might herald an era of Democratic dominance. Some even compared Biden to Franklin Roosevelt who had masterfully won Middle America for several generations of Democrats. Yet something happened, and Middle America is again lost to the Democrats.

First, today's mainstream media just like Cronkite in 1968 does not speak nor represent Middle America. Unlike 1968, Americans have more ways to get the news and express their views. Today, there are numerous television networks espousing every opinion imaginable.  Many daily newspapers have gone out of business. Americans can get their news online.  Today's so-called mainstream media doesn't hide the fact that they disdain Middle America who they say live in flyover country. They have no connection nor roots with Middle America.

Democrats (and some establishment Republicans) fear losing the mainstream media more than they do Middle America. The ongoing war in Gaza and antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses highlight this. Middle America is aghast that college students at what was considered our leading universities are calling for a second Holocaust of Jews and siding with Hamas and other terrorist groups. They watch in disbelief as college universities fail to protect Jewish students and act half-heartedly in ending the demonstrations. The old mainstream media basically ignores the demonstrations or if they do, echo the demonstrators or compare them to Martin Luther King demonstrating for Civil Rights (they seem to forget that Dr. King never called for genocide).

And today's Democrats? They echo the mainstream media. The Squad encourages the demonstrators. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib see nothing wrong with the hateful rhetoric nor see why calling for genocide is objectionable. And Joe from Scranton? He sees good people on both sides of the issue and sees no reason to call for action. After all, if he did, he might lose the mainstream media and win Middle America.

Today's Democrats don't care about winning Middle America. They are making a calculated move to win larger numbers of their voters and ignore Middle America. They view Middle America as being bigoted and stupid. The Democratic calculation is do nothing about the rising antisemitism and college demonstrations and that will win critical Muslim votes in must-win Michigan and Minnesota. Baby the college demonstrators and that will help with the youth vote especially in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Radicalize Title IX to have it used against the women athletes it was designed to help by expanding it for transgender men.  This will help with progressive voters.

Middle America has always determined elections. It fueled FDR and the New Deal, Richard Nixon and the Silent Majority, Reagan and the Reagan Revolution and Trump and MAGA. Even Democrat Bill Clinton realized the power of it and made overtures to it. Joe Biden and Democrats have not only lost it but have declared war on it. Just as with LBJ, they will rue the day they lost Middle America.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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