by David Shephard, ©2026
(Jun. 10, 2026) — Well, Republicans, facing possible headwinds going into the midterm elections later this year, must be feeling pretty good right now. Gas prices are down 30 cents from their recent peak in May, and the job outlook is looking up. In addition, share prices on all the major indexes are higher today than they were before Trump began the “incursion” in Iran. But maybe even more justification for GOP optimism is based on the fact that Democrats have yet to find a message, other than Trump is bad, and now they are facing a bunch of distractions such as far left-wing nominees and inconvenient issues which should put them on the defensive.
Last week, Jill Biden, former First Lady, fake doctor, queen of the autopen and Joe Biden’s puppet master, let it be known that during her husband’s career-ending debate against Trump, she feared Joe might have been having a stroke. It is a sore subject for Democrats because that debate cost them the White House and both Houses of Congress. Biden’s decision not to drop out of the race was a reckless and selfish act. Why has Jill Biden decided to make such a claim? And why is she still around sucking up airtime? Well, the Bidens are grifters; they want money and she is selling a book.
Her book comes at a most inconvenient time for Democrats, and they may get another dose of the Bidens; Joe Biden says that he is working on a memoir of his own. I have no idea what he may remember about his time in the White House, but whatever it is, Democrats don’t want to hear it, and they certainly don’t want to be reminded of him, especially during the midterm elections. The problem for Democrats is that the Bidens remind people why they voted for Trump and the Republicans. The more the Bidens are seen in public the better for Republicans.
This is a very important year. Every seat in the House of Representatives will be up and a third of the Senate, so for Democrats to have a chance to retake power and create a blue wave, which can bring in some of the party’s weaker nominees, Democrats will need to be able to focus on attacking Trump and offering their own message of positive change. Anything outside of those goals is a distraction. And in addition to the Bidens, Democrats have a growing list of other distractions.
In Maine, they have a Senate candidate, Graham Platner, the guy known for his Nazi tattoo and sexting hobby. He is a guy who grew up rich, and now, thanks to the generosity of his parents, is solidly and securely in the working class. He is living the American dream; and if it weren’t for the generosity of his family, he could never have been able to afford to become a communist.
Platner is as scandal-prone as any Senate candidate that I can ever remember. And I remember Todd Akin and Sharon Angle. Democrats so far are defending Platner, embracing all his creepiness and overlooking his now deleted comments such as his declaration that rural people are racists. Republicans should make Democrats defend him. Republicans, in every rural part of America, should remind voters that Platner and the Democrats think they are racist.
And no doubt more dirt about Platner will come out, for the simple reason that he is a sleazeball, and sleazeballs produce a limitless supply of awfulness. If Democrats don’t distance themselves from him and do it quickly, they will probably lose several close races, and there will be no blue wave. Platner is toxic, and the spillover effect will be bad.
And speaking of toxic Democrats, on Tuesday, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a pro-Palestinian, far left-wing Bernie Sanders disciple, avoided answering CNN’s Kaitlan Collins’ question about why he deleted his “defund the police” post online before he was a candidate. She asked him if he still supported defunding the police. In response, he hemmed and hawed and attacked Donald Trump.
If he is nominated for the Senate, then Republicans should press Democrats everywhere to say whether they also support defunding the police. Crazy left-wing policies such as defunding the police cost Democrats Congress and the White House in 2024, and even now they support the idea.
Another unfortunate distraction for Democrats will take place in Chicago later this summer – Barack Hussein Obama’s Presidential library opening. As President, Obama was always more popular than his policies. And while he did well when he was on the ballot, his fellow Democrats suffered greatly. Democrats lost over 800 state legislative seats and 13 Governorships while Obama was the head of the party. In addition, they lost both Houses of Congress and after 8 years of Obama as President, the American people elected Donald Trump in 2016. Like Biden, Obama is someone Democrats would prefer to see less of. Since Obama left office, he has tried to stay relevant, but the fact is his meddling and involvement have not helped the Democrats.
The other distraction for Democrats (actually it is ongoing) is the dumpster fire, or as the kids might say, the hot mess, that is California. Blue California is a living, breathing example of why Democrats should never be allowed back in power.
It has been a week since they had their election for Governor, and yet they still have not been able to count the votes. Every other state in the country can count their ballots in an evening. California is a failed state because it is run by Democrats. Republicans need to point this out. They should remind the rest of the country that if Democrats retake power, they will take every program, policy, tax, mandate and regulation that California has and will impose it on the rest of the country.
Democrats, if they take power, will nationalize California’s voting laws such as the mass mailing out of ballots, vote harvesting, and ballot drop-off boxes outside of homeless shelters, liquor stores and union halls. They will get rid of voter ID and mandate acceptance of ballots days after the polls close.
Republicans should take comfort in the fact that, at least for now, Democrats don’t have a common rationale or message. Nothing that they can consistently hammer home. Democrats are not liked, and nobody believes that they have moderated their 2024 views.
And even if they come up with a good message, they have lots of distractions which will hurt them. Biden is a distraction; Obama is a distraction, Platner is a distraction, Abdul El-Sayed and his defund the police idea is a distraction, the dumpster fire that is California is a distraction. All distractions from a possible winning message.
God Bless distractions.
David Shephard is a native and very proud Virginian. Raised in Fairfax County, David graduated from George Mason University and majored in Government and Politics. He spent decades in politics, campaign consulting, raising money and lobbying. He is also a longtime conservative blogger writing for numerous blogs. He is also the host of “The Virginia Gentleman Podcast.”
David is the author of Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale, and his latest book, Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé.