There are many distractions heading into midterms. How can Democrats refocus?

There are many distractions¹ heading into midterms. How can Democrats² refocus?

Transcript³

The Biden administration is caught up in pandemic policy and politics. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist with the progressive advocacy firm The Hub Project.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

How much trouble are Democrats in this fall? The party controls the White House and, by narrow margins⁴, Congress. But the president's approval rating is well below 50%, and many lawmakers face tough campaigns. Now the White House is tangled⁵ in another round of the politics of COVID, appealing a judge's ruling that threw out a mask mandate⁶ on public transportation. Joel Payne joins us next. He's a Democratic strategist with the progressive advocacy firm The Hub Project. Good morning.

JOEL PAYNE: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: So this is a matter of law, but it's also a matter of politics and public opinion. As the administration appeals this ruling, throwing out the mask mandate - suppose they win the appeal. Is there any chance people would mask up again if told?

PAYNE: You know, it's interesting. I think they want to get caught trying. I'm not sure how much they actually want to win this appeal. You can look at the president's comments the other day. I think the politics on COVID have changed. I think if we were 15 months ago, you'd probably have a lot more gung-ho support for going all the way back to all of the best practices of public health and early COVID. I'm not sure if we're there publicly right now.

INSKEEP: Meaning that even if you talked to Democratic voters, you might not find a lot of enthusiasm for the strictest measures at this point.

PAYNE: Yeah, I really do think the center has changed on it. Even look at some of the Democratic governors over the last few months. They've really backed off some of the, again, early COVID, you know, good practices of public health related to COVID - Governor Polis in Colorado, Governor Murphy in New Jersey⁷. You look at what happened actually in November with the Virginia governor's race, with Glenn Youngkin beating Terry McAuliffe and Phil Murphy narrowly surviving in New Jersey. They really struggled to get voters to move beyond COVID. And I think that a lot of Democrats are feeling that pressure right now.

INSKEEP: I'm just going to mention, I'm enjoying hearing the birds in the background, wherever you are. It sounds very bucolic⁸. It's very nice. Let's put this in a wider context.

PAYNE: Absolutely.

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Let's put this in a wider context, if we can. How tough is the environment for Democrats this fall?

PAYNE: The environment is tough. Look, even in the best of circumstances, Steve, the environment was going to be tough. I think, you know, I was in Harry⁹ Reid's Senate leadership office 12 years ago. Democrats had one of the strongest first two years of a presidency¹⁰ that you could ever have, and still Democrats lost seats. So even in the best of circumstances, I think Democrats are going to have a hard time. I think they're going to have an even harder time this cycle because, again, the president has really been able - has really had a hard time struggling to center the progressive coalition¹¹, the Democratic coalition, around an agenda. And I think you're going to have a lot of Democrats that are looking to see, OK, how do you get Republicans to back off of some of these, you know, COVID precautions that we're talking about?

INSKEEP: I'm glad that you mentioned 12 years ago. You're talking about 2010, when Democrats were clobbered¹² - a historic defeat for them, a historic series of wins for Republicans. Do you look at 2022 and think it could be that bad for your party?

PAYNE: Well, remember, President Obama called it a shellacking. I don't know if it'll be a shellacking this time, in part because you look at some of the redistricting things that happened over the last two years. I think Democrats have a better chance to hold serve in the Senate than they do in the House. But again, it's always a tough environment when you're the in-party and you're looking at your midterm coming up.

INSKEEP: You were in Harry Reid's office in 2010, though. He's a guy who survived 2010 when so many others were defeated. If you were giving one sentence of advice to Democrats for this fall to survive, what would it be?

PAYNE: Simple, easy, narrow message - don't complicate¹³ it. Make sure voters understand you're fighting for them and that you're not worried about just branding voters as - branding Republicans as Donald Trump¹⁴'s party. I think voters are tired of thinking about, you know, Republicans as being the party of Trump. I think Democrats have to have a positive message that they can go forward with as well.

INSKEEP: Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, thanks so much.

PAYNE: Thank you, Steve.

1 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 bucolic   

adj.乡村的；牧羊的

参考例句：

• It is a bucolic refuge in the midst of a great bustling city.它是处在繁华的大城市之中的世外桃源。
• She turns into a sweet country girl surrounded by family,chickens and a bucolic landscape.她变成了被家人、鸡与乡村景象所围绕的甜美乡村姑娘。

9 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 clobbered   

v.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的过去式和过去分词 )；彻底击败

参考例句：

• The paper got clobbered with libel damages of half a million pounds. 这家报纸被罚以五十万英镑的诽谤损害赔偿金。
• The robbers clobbered the shopkeeper to make him open the safe. 强盗们殴打店主迫使他打开保险箱。 来自辞典例句

13 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。