Daily Archives: May 27, 2022

ATLANTA Standing at the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Raphael Warnock led a sermon on the last Sunday before Georgias Tuesday primaries that was about getting to where you need to go and navigating the challenges ahead.

Rise up and transform every opposition, every obstacle, into an opportunity, Mr. Warnock urged. He was not explicitly talking about his other job as a United States senator, or the fact that he is one of the most endangered Democrats in the country in 2022, or the headwinds confronting his party. But he might as well have been.

Dont you dare sleep on Tuesday, he said.

For months, nearly all the political oxygen in Georgia and beyond has been sucked up by ferocious Republican primaries, intraparty feuds that have become proxy wars for Donald J. Trumps power and fueled by his retribution agenda. But the ugliness of the G.O.P. infighting has at times obscured a political landscape that is increasingly tilted in the Republican direction in Georgia and nationally.

Democrats were excited for Stacey Abrams, the former state legislator and voting-rights activist, to jump into the 2022 governors race, promising a potential rematch of the 2018 contest she only narrowly lost. Mr. Warnock has emerged not only as a compelling speaker but also as one of his partys strongest fund-raisers. Yet the growing fear for Democrats is that even the strongest candidates and recruits can outrun President Bidens wheezing approval ratings by only so much, and are at risk of getting washed away in a developing red wave.

I think 2020 was a referendum on Trump, said Ashley Fogle, a 44-year-old Democrat who lives in Atlanta and attended Ebenezer church on Sunday. I just dont know if theres that same energy in 2022.

Already, a Republican-led remapping in Georgia has effectively erased one Democratic House seat and made another vulnerable, as the Republican advantage in the state delegation could balloon to 10-4, from the current 8-6 edge.

The challenges facing Democrats are cyclical and structural.

The Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill could scarcely be narrower. The party in power almost always loses in a presidents first midterm election even absent the current overlapping national crises, some of which are beyond Mr. Bidens control.

Gasoline prices just hit their highest level ever nationwide over the weekend. The presidents approval rating plunged in an Associated Press poll to a new low of 39 percent. The stock market dropped for the seventh consecutive week. Violent crime rates have spiked. A baby formula shortage has alarmed parents. And inflation remains high.

The problem is not messaging the problem is reality, said Representative Ritchie Torres, Democrat of New York, citing inflation as the greatest obstacle to retaining the majority.

The greatest hope for Democrats appears to be potential Republican acts of self-sabotage: the party nominating outside-the-mainstream candidates or failing to coalesce after divisive primaries.

In Washington, much of the Biden agenda is frozen in a congressional morass. The partys left wing and centrists are busily blaming each other for the state of affairs and clashing over what to do next, with student loan forgiveness emerging as one divisive flashpoint.

Inside the White House, whose political operation has been a subject of quiet griping in some corners for months, a furious effort is afoot to reframe the 2022 elections as a choice between the two parties, rather than a referendum on Democratic rule. Anita Dunn, an aggressive operator and longtime Biden adviser, has rejoined the administration to sharpen its messaging.

The Democratic base is quite demoralized at this moment, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of the partys leading progressive voices, put it bluntly.

If Georgia was the scene of the highest highs for Democrats in the 2020 cycle turning blue at the presidential level for the first time since 1992, flipping two Senate seats to cement control of the chamber and providing Democrats their only tightly contested House pickup in the nation it is not clear whether the ideologically sprawling and multiracial Biden coalition that unified to oust Mr. Trump is replicable.

Energized Black voters, moderate white suburbanites, Asian Americans and some Hispanic Americans all played a role in propelling Democratic victories in the state in 2020 and 2021, while some of the rural Republican base stayed home in the January Senate runoffs.

This fall, Mr. Warnock is expected to face Herschel Walker, the Republican former football star with scant political experience. Mr. Warnock has already begun leveraging a $23 million war chest to tell voters that he feels their pain and to make plain the limits of his power as a freshman senator.

People are hurting. People are tired, Mr. Warnock said in his first television ad this year. More recently, he took a different approach, almost pleading with disaffected voters: Im not a magician.

Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux, whose Georgia district was redrawn after she captured what had been a Republican-held seat in 2020, is now facing a primary on Tuesday against Representative Lucy McBath outside Atlanta. Ms. Bourdeaux, a moderate, had a warning for her party.

They need to do more to communicate clearly with voters that they are a steady hand at the wheel of getting the economy back on track for people, Ms. Bourdeaux said. But she, too, saw a chance to draw a sharp contrast with what she cast as ascendant far-right Republicans. The other side, candidly, has lost its mind, she said, pointing to efforts to restrict voting rights and abortion rights.

In the Republican race for governor, Gov. Brian Kemp has been locked in a primary with former Senator David Perdue, who was recruited by Mr. Trump. The former president remains angry at the governor for certifying the 2020 election and, according to people close to him, unlikely to ever endorse Mr. Kemp.

Ms. Abrams has emerged as a national star among Democrats. But privately Democratic strategists fear that her high-water mark might have come in 2018, when she lost in a Democratic wave year.

Most polling shows a close race for governor and Senate, with a slight Republican advantage.

As general-election matchups come into focus, Mr. Bidens advisers argue that there is still time to crystallize a clear choice between the president and congressional Democrats, and the other side. Republicans have already elevated candidates like State Senator Doug Mastriano, a far-right 2020 election denier who is the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania. And as the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, many Republicans have embraced stringent anti-abortion positions, views that are often out of step with the majority of Americans, polling shows.

Democrats are seeking to cast Republican candidates as extremists more consumed with culture wars than finding solutions to the nations most pressing problems, and the presidents advisers and allies say Democrats will continue to push the message that they are doing everything possible to lower prices.

But Ms. Bourdeaux, who is locked in a primary battle of her own, said that the kind of Democratic intraparty infighting that youre seeing right now complicates the partys messaging.

Mr. Warnock told his congregation he met with Mr. Biden at the White House, putting up a photo on the screen of a selfie he took with a picture of Ebenezer Baptist Church that hung in the halls of the West Wing.

Why are these midterms so important? This years races could tip the balance of power in Congress to Republicans, hobbling President Bidens agenda for the second half of his term. They will also test former President Donald J. Trumps role as a G.O.P. kingmaker. Heres what to know:

What are the midterm elections? Midterms take place two years after a presidential election, at the midpoint of a presidential term hence the name. This year, a lot of seats are up for grabs, including all 435 House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and 36 of 50 governorships.

What do the midterms mean for Biden? With slim majorities in Congress, Democrats have struggled to pass Mr. Bidens agenda. Republican control of the House or Senate would make the presidents legislative goals a near-impossibility.

What are the races to watch? Only a handful of seats will determine if Democrats maintain control of the House over Republicans, and a single state could shift power in the 50-50 Senate. Here are 10 races to watch in the Houseand Senate, as well as several key governors contests.

When are the key races taking place? The primary gauntletis already underway. Closely watched racesin Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia will be held in May, with more taking place through the summer. Primaries run until September before the general election on Nov. 8.

Go deeper. What is redistrictingand how does it affect the midterm elections? How does polling work? How do you register to vote? Weve got more answers to your pressing midterm questions here.

My message was very plain: Mr. President, we need student debt relief, Mr. Warnock said.

That issue, in particular, has divided the White House into factions including Mr. Biden himself who has both expressed opposition to perceived giveaways to college-educated elites and said he was considering wiping out some debts. Progressives have pushed for sweeping loan forgiveness to motivate the base.

James Carville, the veteran Democratic political strategist, castigated Mr. Bidens Democratic critics more broadly, especially those on the left. Pick up 20 Twitter followers, and you lose two House seats, he said.

An A.P. poll on Friday showed only 21 percent of Americans believed the country was headed in the right direction. A CBS News/YouGov survey on Sunday showed 65 percent of Americans said Mr. Biden was slow to react to important issues and events. And his approval rating among Democrats was at just 73 percent in the A.P. survey.

If I had hair to catch fire, Mr. Carville said, it would catch fire.

Symone Sanders, a former top Biden aide now with MSNBC, sought to deflect blame outside the White House. Where is the D.C.C.C., the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee, hell, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee? she said on a recent New York Times podcast, adding, Thats what Im saying. I dont know. I dont work there.

In an episode that exposed the depth of the alarm for Democrats, the lawmaker who oversees the House Democratic strategy and the man perhaps most responsible for recruiting reluctant candidates into tough races himself took refuge into a safer district in New York last week, after a court-ordered redrawing of the states lines.

The decision by Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, flared both ideological and racial tensions inside the caucus. Republicans looked on with glee.

The fact that you have senior members abandoning their districts to run against their own colleagues, I think that shows you how toxic this environment is, said Representative Tom Emmer, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

In Georgia, Kevin Pearson, a retired firefighter and Ebenezer congregant, has been volunteering with voter-registration efforts and is concerned that hes seen Mr. Warnock trailing in some polls.

He urged vigilance, especially for Black voters. We take a step forward, and then we get pushed back, he said. But if we dont step forward, we get pushed two steps.

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Democrats See Headwinds in Georgia, and Everywhere Else - The New York Times

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Democrat advisor Kurt Bardella claimed that Republicans swiftly passed the Patriot Act of 2001 only after a minority committed a crime.

Appearing on MSNBCs "The ReidOut" Thursday, Bardella called out what he saw as reprehensible behavior by Republicans who oppose new gun control measures following the mass shooting at Uvlade, Texas.

While criticizing conservatives, he claimed that Republicans only pass swift measures after minorities commit crimes and cited the Patriot Act as one of them.

"Were at a point here where, how many lives need to be lost? Whats the threshold for the pro-life party to finally decide that enough is enough. Its interesting that when anyone that has a dark shade of skin commits a crime Republicans are willing to move at warp speed to do anything whether its build a wall, pass the Patriot Act, theyre willing to go to extreme measures anytime someone with a darker shade of skin commits a crime. But God forbid another gun crime happens in America, theyre nowhere to be found," Bardella said.

TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: LIBERAL WRITER DELETES TWEET COMPARING ABORTION TO UVALDE MASSACRE

Former Republican staffer-turned Democrat advisor Kurt Bardella (MSNBC)

The Patriot Act passed in 2001 after the September 11 terror attacks, with overwhelming bipartisan support after a 357-66 vote in the House and a 98-1 vote in the Senate. President Biden voted in favor of the bill when he was senator.

However, Bardella continued to insist that Republicans are beholden to the National Rifle Association and do not care about child victims.

"Theyre in the pocket of the NRA. Theyre celebrating," the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee advisor said.

The chamber of the House of Representatives is seen at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

He also mocked the idea of Republicans defending gun rights, suggesting that protecting gun rights comes only out of an idea of a "sickening fantasy world."

TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING IS AMERICA'S LATEST EXERCISE IN CHILD SACRIFICE, SAYS WAPO COLUMNIST

"Its very clear that at the end of the day, the Republican Party made a conscious decision, it is a design, that the lives that are lost by the guns in America dont matter to them, that theyre acceptable losses Because its more important for them to be able to walk around with their AR-15s and feel tough and live out their goofy and sickening fantasy world where they get to walk around and showcase their bravado and strength and might while their kids die," Bardella said.

Law enforcement work the scene after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 25. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

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Although Bardella accused the Republicans of only acting after a minority commits a crime, he also denounced their inaction following the Texas school shooting committed by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.

MSNBC host Joy Reid denounced gun rights politicians and advocates on Wednesday, saying "to hell" to people who dont want to politicize shootings.

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Democrat advisor suggests Republicans passed the Patriot Act in reaction to people of color committing crimes - Fox News

Yasin Ozturk / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Americans have long taken for granted the constitutional right to an abortion, established by the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.

Throughout most of the fall in 2021, Democrats, and especially Republicans, still thought that Roe would more likely than not remain the law of the land for the foreseeable future even as the high court refused to block a Texas law from taking effect on Sept. 1 that lawmakers designed to flout Roe by banning abortions once they said cardiac activity was detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

Those views started to change in December, though, following oral arguments before the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of Mississippis 15-week abortion ban. More Americans began doubting Roe would survive after the courts conservative justices raised the prospect of overturning nearly five decades of legal precedent on abortion rights during the hearing.

As the chart below shows, Democrats have consistently been pessimistic about Roe being overturned since those oral arguments in December, but following the leak of an initial draft Supreme Court opinion in May showing that a majority of conservative justices were ready to overturn Roe, there was a sharp spike in the share saying it will definitely or very likely be overturned. Even Republicans, who have been less likely than Democrats to think Roe would ever be struck down, now generally think its going to happen.

The reality that Roe might be overturned has also shifted how Americans prioritize abortion as an issue. For decades, those who opposed abortion rights (generally speaking, Republicans) rated the issue as more important than those who supported abortion rights (generally speaking, Democrats), but as the chart below shows, the two parties priorities swapped after Texass abortion ban went into effect, which I first wrote about in October.

In fact, the divide between Democrats and Republicans on the importance of abortion as an issue has only gotten wider, especially after the draft Supreme Court opinion was leaked in May. In the two surveys conducted by YouGov/The Economist since then, a record share of voters who backed President Biden in 2020 have rated abortion as a very important issue, by 61 percent and 63 percent, up from an average of about 42 percent in August surveys. Compare that with 37 percent and 40 percent of 2020 Trump voters who rated abortion as a very important issue in May, down from an average of about 45 percent in August polls.

Not only are Democrats more concerned now, but they're also rating abortion as much more important to their midterm vote for Congress now than they did four years ago, according to polling from Monmouth University. In the 2018 midterms, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to prioritize abortion as their most important issue in choosing whom to vote for in Congress, but in May, 32 percent of Democrats said abortion was the most important issue in determining their vote, compared with 17 percent of Republicans. The share of Democrats who said abortion was an extremely important issue in voting for Congress in 2022 (48 percent) is also up from 2018 (31 percent), while the share of Republicans who said the issue was extremely important in 2022 (29 percent) is down from 2018 (36 percent).

The polling data from both YouGov/The Economist and Monmouth is consistent with a long line of political science research showing how threats and anger often motivate people to take political action. When most Democrats considered abortion rights a given, other issues typically overshadowed it. Yet now that the status quo is on the verge of being upended, Democrats are increasingly prioritizing abortion rights and will likely channel their anger over Roe being struck down into various forms of political participation. Meanwhile, now that Republicans look likely to win their long battle to overturn Roe, the issue is unlikely to have the same potency in GOP politics.

It remains to be seen, though, how these changes in voters priorities will affect future elections. Thus far, the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion has had no discernible impact on which party voters would support in a congressional election in FiveThirtyEights generic ballot polling average. But as FiveThirtyEight editor-and-chief Nate Silver tweeted on Thursday, the electoral effects will likely manifest themselves in more nuanced ways especially after the policy implications of the final ruling become even more apparent during the summer and fall campaign. Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, concurred, adding that the effect [of overturning Roe] on individual races may prove to be more important than its effect on the national political environment, if abortion becomes especially salient in places due to extreme candidates or state policy stakes.

Regardless, the reality that abortion rights can no longer be taken for granted has already sharply shifted many voters priorities. Those shifts will likely grow larger, too, if Roe is ultimately overturned this summer in fact, they may become even more politically powerful moving forward.

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For The First Time In Years, Democrats Are More Concerned About Abortion Than Republicans Are - FiveThirtyEight

Discontent with the Federal Reserve is brewing among Democrats, even those who voted earlier this month to confirm Fed chairman Jerome Powell for another four-year term.

With inflation at 40-year highs and the prospect of a recession looming large over midterm elections later this year, Democrats are worried the economy could cost them their majorities.

And the feeling in the party is that if the Fed had acted quicker, Democrats might not be facing such tough headwinds.

Specifically, Democrats say the Fed started raising interests too late following the onset of the pandemic, missing an opportunity to curb the inflation thats weighing on Democratic hopes for reelection.

I recall urging the Fed late last fall that they would start needing to ratchet these rates up. I wish they would have done earlier, said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) voiced similar consternation.

The Federal Reserve is not clairvoyant, nor is its judgment foolproof. It might have acted earlier, he said. Hopefully now its actions will have a very effective impact in stopping inflation.

If Warners and Blumenthals criticisms of the Fed seems measured, there is a logical explanation.

Both voted to confirm Powell to another term in an 80-19 vote on May 12 after President Biden nominated the Republican to a second term.

Only five Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, voted against Powell. The other no votes were Republicans.

That makes it tougher for Democrats to criticize Powell and the Fed.

The idea that the Fed acted too late to raise interest rates to lower inflation has support among a chorus of economists, who say it was overly stimulative and too focused on propping up demand deep into the pandemic even as deeper issues affecting supply chains went unaddressed.

Starting in March 2020, as the economy locked down with the coronavirus, the Fed dropped interest rates to 0.05 percent while purchasing securities that would end up more than doubling its balance sheet. These stimulative measures continued as the federal government undertook its own fiscal stimulus programs, with $1,200 checks going out under the Trump administration and $1,400 checks going out under the Biden administration.

Republicans have blamed those checks for making inflation worse. The GOP expects it will ride high inflation to ballot box victories in November that could deliver Republican-majority chambers of Congress.

The GOP argument is getting some backing from economists who see the stimulus from Congress, the administration and the Fed as having had a snowball effect upon inflation.

In 2021, there had already been a huge stimulus package, and Biden added another $2 trillion, or to be precise, $1.9 trillion or 8 percent of GDP. Powell should have been beginning to put on the brakes, if not in March of 2021 when Biden introduced that package, then at least a few months later, Desmond Lachman, an economist with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, said in an interview.

Instead, he kept interest rates at zero and kept flooding the market with liquidity, so he set us up and played a big role in getting the high inflation, he said.

To bring inflation down, the Fed increased interest rates earlier this month by half a percent, or 50 basis points, to 0.83 percent, saying it anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.

The interest rate hikes have hit stock markets hard, with some either in or near bear territory that represents a 20 percent fall from peaks.

The deeper worry is that the rising interest rates could lead to a recession, though a number of economists think that is unlikely until at least 2023. The Fed is hoping it can tame inflation without triggering a recession.

Not all Democrats have been behind Powell. Sens. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.) joined Sanders in opposing his confirmation, despite the nomination by their partys president.

I like and respect Chairman Powell. But 8.3 percent inflation is hurting my constituents a year after the Fed predicted inflation was transitory, Ossoff said earlier this month.

The Fed persisted in massive quantitative easing even after it was clear inflation was worse than forecast, he said. These are policy errors that have worsened inflation and hurt low-income people the most. I recognize that Chairman Powell has a difficult job in challenging times, and I sincerely hope for his success in his second term.

There are also Democrats who appear willing to give Powell the benefit of the doubt.

Some view the global economic picture as a product of the pandemic and beyond the remit of any one central bank or lawmaking body.

Lets be honest, it was a unique situation, the American economy and many others around the world basically shut down because of the pandemic, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said.

And you saw retrenching of consumer demand, and now the opposite is the case, he added. People are more optimistic, consuming more, and their consumption is outpacing production, and that leads to inflation. So its great to have so many people at work and low unemployment, but it just feeds the fires of inflation. Its a tough situation, fairly unique in our history.

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Democratic discontent brews with Federal Reserve - The Hill

It was an unprecedented move that left some of the most devoted members of the Utah Democratic Party conflicted and some even some totally dejected.

So its not surprising that Utahns in general are split on the issue or just dont know what to think about it.

The Utah Democratic Party last month made the extraordinary decision not to nominate its own U.S. Senate candidate, Kael Weston, to run for the seat held by GOP Sen. Mike Lee in November and instead joined the coalition backing Republican-turned-independent Evan McMullin.

The Utah Democratic Partys 57% to 43% vote left many delegates feeling what they described as more energized and relevant than they have in a long time in a race that otherwise would be unwinnable. Delegates from the other side, however, left the convention deflated, feeling like their own party had disenfranchised them while acknowledging Utah Democrats are so irrelevant in the statewide political landscape theyve abandoned their own candidate.

So what do Utahns think?

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll asked Utahns whether they agree or disagree regardless of their own political affiliation with the Utah Democratic Partys decision.

Overall, 36% said they agree, 44% disagree and 21% said they didnt know.

More specifically, 15% said they strongly agree, 21% said they somewhat agree, 24% said they somewhat disagree and 20% said they strongly disagree.

Now lets break it down by political party.

Among Utahns that affiliate as Democrats, the poll found the most support for the decision. Of them, 50% said they agree with the decision, 36% said they disagree and 14% said they didnt know. More specifically, 27% said they strongly agree, 23% said they somewhat agree, 16% said they somewhat disagree and 20% said they strongly disagree.

For Republicans, 33% said they agree, while 46% said they disagree and 21% said they didnt know what to think. More specifically, 13% said they strongly agree, 20% said they somewhat agree, 23% said they somewhat disagree and 23% said they strongly disagree.

As for those that identified as neither Republicans or Democrats, selecting other for their party affiliation, the results are also conflicted, with a large chunk not knowing what to think: Thirty-four percent said they agreed with the decision while 42% said they disagreed and 24% said they didnt know. More specifically, 12% strongly agreed, 22% somewhat agreed, 30% somewhat agreed and 12% strongly disagreed.

Dan Jones & Associates conducted the survey of 808 Utah registered voters May 7-13. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.

Though the results are mixed, some Utahns have much stronger feelings about the decision than others.

Take Caralee Woods, a Democratic state delegate and former chairwoman of the Kane County Democratic Party, who participated in the poll. Woods said the decision to back McMullin and not nominate Weston left her feeling like her vote was suppressed and she no longer intends to vote in the Senate race this year.

What happened there is just insanity, Woods told the Deseret News in an interview.

The reason that a state Democratic Party exists is to nominate and elect Democrats. You cant say it any plainer than that, Woods said. Its shameful what happened, absolutely shameful. ... Either youre a Democrat or youre not.

Woods scoffed at the argument that Democrats should throw their support behind McMullin to up the chances of beating Lee, should he win a primary election against Ally Isom and Becky Edwards.

Its so ironic. I cant win without Democrat votes. You just screwed yourself then. You just crapped in your own nest. Thats what they did, they crapped in their own nest. The really sad part about it, Kael is such a great candidate, she said.

Woods said she doesnt think McMullin has a chance of winning, and I know many, many of my colleagues have no intention of voting in that race.

Woods pointed specifically at former Rep. Ben McAdams, an influential moderate Democrat who was an instrumental voice behind the partys decision to back McMullin, accusing him of concocting a major scheme.

Im not sure if he was, at the time, using McMullin as a tool, but the bottom line is that theyre both tools, Woods said. Personally, I think that Ben McAdams is trying to be successful here so in a couple of years he can run as an independent because he was never much of a Democrat anyway.

McAdams continues to say the Utah Democratic Partys vote was, above all, about putting whats right for the country ahead of whats right for the party.

And thats something thats always been important to me in my public service, is doing whats right regardless of whether that aligns or doesnt with my political party, McAdams said, noting that during his time in Congress he was the No. 1 representative most likely to vote against his own party.

I think Utah Democrats did the right thing, McAdams said. They made a hard choice. And it was a hard choice. They had a good candidate in the race, but they made a hard choice to say theres too much at stake in this election, and we have to do what we think is right for the country, not whats right for the party.

McAdams said the poll results indicate how difficult and complex the issue is for Utahns.

You know, it is a harsh reality that we have to reckon with, McAdams said, that a Democrat is not going to win the U.S. Senate race this year. ... For a lot of people, thats a hard thing to come to terms with but it is the reality.

McAdams added it is important to be a voice as a Democrat in Utah, even if theres an unlikelihood that Democrats can win an election.

But this year, I believe theres too much at stake to simply concede that were willing to lose an election when we have a path to win by uniting with Republicans and independents behind a candidate who is going to be moderate and mainstream and be a voice for a majority of Utahns who feel unrepresented.

According to the poll, the largest portion of those polls who supported the decision were Democrats. Even if it was 50%, McAdams said thats consistent with what we saw at convention.

The majority of Democrats see that this race is about more than just the Democratic Party, he said. You know, Im proud of Utah Democrats who, alongside me, said enough is enough and now is the time to join coalitions and to become something bigger by joining alongside independents and moderate Republicans to do something that is important for the country.

Thom DeSirant, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, said since the convention vote there indeed have been a lot of discussions both from Democrats and Republicans about whether it was the right move and if delegates are representative of the population.

In this case, based off your poll, it appears that it does represent that delegates are representing the population, he said. No matter what, the delegates have made their choice and the partys going to follow their express will.

Even though the largest chunk of Democrats who participated in the poll said they agreed with the decision, that segment was still only 50%. That indicates Utah Democrats continue to grapple with the decision. However, while the poll might not have the same spread as the vote, the vote still represents that larger chunk of Democrats.

It was definitely a really difficult choice, DeSirant said. Ive heard from people on both sides who feel strongly about it. Some people I know really liked the idea of supporting Evan McMullin but just didnt feel right about it because they felt like were the Democratic Party and we need to support the Democrat.

Others, he said, were just horrified by what happened on Jan. 6 and Lees leaked text messages to Mark Meadows, then-President Donald Trumps chief of staff, exploring ideas to overturn the 2020 election. They concluded, this is something we have to do and we have to put our country before our party.

As for the GOP, its difficult to fully deduce why some Utah Republicans would say they agree with the move whether some are moderates and were glad to see the Utah Democratic Party back a candidate they would like to vote for or whether they saw the move as bad for the Democratic Party and nothing but good news for the Utah GOP.

Carson Jorgensen, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, agrees with the latter. To him, the poll results show even among Utah Democrats a good segment of their own party membership remain conflicted about the decision.

Within your own party, thats pretty tough, he said. The way it looks to me, Utah Democrats are split right down the middle. And in the state of Utah, if you dont have your full partys weight behind you, youre behind.

Contributing: Dennis Romboy

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Poll: Was Utah Democrats vote to back Evan McMullin the right move? - Deseret News