The majority of the midterm election results are in, and despite dire predictions prophesied by the soothsayers in the progressive intelligentsia, democracy still seems to be intact. Even with all their frenzied warnings about a Mad Max-style dystopian America that would result from Republicans winning the House and possibly the Senate, the veritable wasteland foretold by the chattering class does not appear to be on the horizon. Reports of democracy’s death, it seems, were greatly exaggerated.

One may believe that, since the midterms did not shake out the way the left feared, Democrats will give up their apocalyptic warnings. One might just be wrong. They could instead either find a new way to scare the public into believing America’s system of government is still in peril or continue running with the idea that “election deniers” pose a threat to everything the nation holds dear.

Democrats Freak Out About Democracy’s Death

The fact that so-called election denial did not create the catastrophe leftists projected hasn’t stopped them from pretending it is a more pernicious issue than reality suggests. CNN’s Chris Cillizza wrote an op-ed titled “Mehmet Oz did something that shouldn’t be remarkable after his loss.” A savvy reader could easily determine what Cillizza was referring to by that headline before even examining the article: Dr. Oz conceded defeat to John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s Senate election, an act that is supposedly unusual in 2022. This is one of several ways for the activist media to signal that election denial is a rampant problem in American politics. Interestingly enough, none of these people made the same comment about Stacey Abrams after she conceded to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this time around – something she refused to do in 2018.

In a piece for Politico, author Jeff Greenfield celebrated losses by certain GOP candidates. “Virtually every swing-state denialist candidate for governor, attorney general or secretary of state was defeated,” he wrote. “Democratic governors in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will serve as bulwarks to keep their elections fair; Democrats actually gained control of the Legislature in Michigan, and Republicans did not win veto-proof majorities in Wisconsin or North Carolina.” Greenfield was particularly buoyed by the fact that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) “may go down in defeat,” though the latest numbers indicate she is holding a very slight lead.

But even these developments were not enough to assuage the author’s fears. Since the GOP is projected to win the House, he noted that “the chance for any substantive achievements in the next two years are nil” because the president “will be facing a Republican House in full MAGA force (where dozens of election deniers were returned or elected to office).”

“In a chamber where a huge majority of Republicans say Biden is an illegitimate president, the prospects for any cooperation, including avoiding a financial meltdown, are marginal at best,” Greenfield added.

Much Ado About Nothing?

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The fact that so many candidates who questioned the result of the 2020 election lost their races appears to fly in the face of the notion that democracy’s death was imminent. But, even if many of these individuals had been victorious, would that have proven them right?

Of course not.

Democrats have denied the outcomes of several important races, including the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Furthermore, they attempted to convince the nation that Donald Trump triumphed in 2016 because Russia handed him the victory. Indeed, polling shows that a slight majority of Democrats still believe Boris Badenov and Natasha intervened to ensure “Orange Man Bad” made it to the White House.

Somehow, despite the election denial that has come from both sides of the political divide over the years, America has managed to survive. As it turns out, questioning the veracity of a political race isn’t quite as fatal as Cillizza and the rest of the gang would like us to think. The question is: How much longer can they successfully advance this narrative?