FILE- In this May 4, 2018, file photo, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin watches a race before the 144th running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
I’m really starting to wonder whether the media are this purposely un-self-aware, of if they’ve gotten high on their own supply for so long that they don’t even see it anymore.
Last Tuesday, we had elections across the country, including a race for governor in Kentucky. That race led to the Democrat winning by some 0.4% and only 5,000 votes. This was actually somewhat surprising, as Matt Bevin was incredibly unpopular. The rest of the GOP ticket in the state went on to victory at every other statewide office, including a decisive win for Daniel Cameron, the state’s first Republican AG in 70 years and the first African-American one in their history.
Regardless, Bevin’s loss was always going to be what was focused on because it gave rise to the narrative that Donald Trump is in trouble. When Bevin refused to concede immediately due to the narrow margin, we quickly got articles pushed out like this.
Opinion: Can Republicans relearn how to accept political outcomes they don’t like? https://t.co/XXWENEaQu1
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 8, 2019
It’s like 2016 and 2018 simply didn’t happen. But things go back much further so let’s look at the history.
Last I checked, we’ve been re-litigating the 2016 election since the day after it took place. Russia took center stage as the bogeyman, supposedly placing Donald Trump in the White House via a really sophisticated effort of Jesus vs. Hillary memes. We then spent the next two years embroiled in the Mueller investigation, where again, the goal was to show that the election had been “stolen.” Even today, we are currently seeing a new impeachment effort centered on the idea that Trump was nefariously trying to affect and steal the upcoming 2020 election from Democrats.
Hillary Clinton has spent her retirement after suffering defeat to Trump giving high dollar speeches blaming everything from the Russians to voter suppression for her loss.
Hillary Clinton: "You can run the best campaign. You can have the best plans. You can get the nomination. You can win the popular vote. And you can lose the Electoral College and therefore the election for these 4 reasons. Number One: Voter suppression."
Via The Hill pic.twitter.com/Ks4S6tDdfI— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 17, 2019
Voter suppression also formed the core excuse for Stacey Abrams losing by over 55,000 votes in the 2018 election. The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate has still refused to concede to this day. Her reward? She’s become a cultural hero on the left, where every single legacy media outlet has failed to call her out for her refusal to accept the results of the election.
But a Republican doesn’t pull back immediately after losing by only 5,000 votes? The Washington Post is on it.
Let’s be real, though. This didn’t start with Trump. Some of us are old enough to remember George W. Bush’s two elections. In 2000, the hotly contested results of Florida formed a basis for Democrats to spend the next eight years claiming Bush was not a legitimate President. In 2004, we got it again, as John Kerry pressed the results of Ohio. Heck, you can go back to George H.W. Bush and find accusations of voter fraud committed against blacks to push the Republicans over the line.
The stated culprit in all these cases? Voter suppression of course. That’s been the Democrat go-to for decades.
None of this is new. While the GOP has sat silently by and taken its lumps in every national election since its inception, Democrats have managed to cry foul in each of the last three Presidential elections. Has it earned them scathing op-eds? No, it’s gotten them plaudits from major newspapers and supportive spills from cable news hosts.
The ironic thing about the Bevin election is that even his own party is demanding he provide evidence or drop the issue. Contrary to the media’s portrayal, Republicans also err on the side of accepting election results, perhaps to their own fault in some cases.
You can bet this is going to be the theme in 2020, though. If Donald Trump loses, any questioning of the election will suddenly be evil perpetrated against the country, unthinkable to be spoken among the unwashed masses. It won’t matter that Democrats haven’t accepted a losing Presidential election result since Reagan, and that’s only because he won 49 states. Hypocrisy and a lack of self-awareness undergird our media complex and they are all too happy to push whatever narrative helps the left.
We know the truth, though, and perhaps what they say shouldn’t be allowed to affect what we say. They are going to scream and twist regardless. If the election is questionable, Republicans should speak out. The Washington Post and others are trying to lay the groundwork for making that illegitimate, but they simply don’t enjoy the power they used to.
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