Democrats in near panic about election in 2022 and 2024

 Steven Hayward:

There is something strange about the behavior of Biden and the Democrats that can be best explained by a combination of Progressive mania and panic that their power might well slip away from them unless they lock it down by changing the rules in their favor and whipping up paranoia within key minority groups who are showing signs of slipping away. Hence the relentless charges of racism.

Some items:

“Democrats Are Anxious About 2022 — and 2024,” Thomas Edsall wrote in the New York Times last month:

In the wake of the 2020 election, Democratic strategists are worried — very worried — about the future of the Hispanic vote. One in 10 Latinos who supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 switched to Donald Trump in 2020. . .

The 2020 expansion of Republican voting among Hispanics and Asian-Americans — and to a lesser extent among African-Americans — deeply concerns the politicians and strategists seeking to maintain Democratic control of the House and Senate in 2022, not the mention the White House in 2024.

It was initially thought that Hispanic men were attracted to the “macho” Trump, but as the data has come in, it appears that Trump improved his performance more with Hispanic women than men, which will add to Democratic paranoia. Another Times story:

Trump’s Latino Support Was More Widespread Than Thought, Report Finds

Conducted by the Democratically aligned research firm Equis Labs, the report found that certain demographics within the Latino electorate had proved increasingly willing to embrace Mr. Trump as the 2020 campaign went on, including conservative Latinas and those with a relatively low level of political engagement.

Ultimately, Mr. Trump outperformed his 2016 showing among Latino voters, earning the support of about one in three nationwide. . .

Driving up turnout among low-propensity voters — something that Senator Bernie Sanders had sought to do during his campaign for the Democratic nomination — did not necessarily translate into gains for Democrats in the general election, the study found. People who were likely to vote generally grew more negative on Mr. Trump’s job performance over the course of 2020, but among those who reported being less likely to participate in the election, his job approval rose.

Translation: The Democratic push to expand voting participation might not be the slam dunk for their side that they think.

Are minorities defecting from Democrats because Democrats aren’t reminding them of racism enough? Let’s go back to Edsall:

The increased level of support for the Republican Party among minority voters has raised the possibility that the cultural agenda pressed by another expanding and influential Democratic constituency — well-educated, young activists with strongly progressive views — is at loggerheads with the socially conservative beliefs of many older minority voters — although liberal economic policies remain popular with both cohorts. This social and cultural mismatch, according to some observers, is driving a number of minority voters into the opposition party. . .

Robby Soave writes in Reason:

While the Democratic Party pulled off a complete (albeit narrow) victory over Donald Trump and the Republican Party in 2020, they lost ground with nonwhite voters—despite significantly raising the salience of racial justice issues during the campaign.

... 

I think Democrats have overplayed their "racial justice" hand.  

What the missed with Hispanics of both genders is that Trump's economy made it possible for all Hispanics to get better jobs.  It also lifted blacks into better employment situations.  By falsely accusing Trump and Republicans of racism the Democrats lost credibility.  I think that is one of the major reasons for Democrat panic.  They don't have much of an agenda beyond call political opponents racists.