Things have gotten pretty bad for the Democrats when the The New Republic writes an article like this arguing that Republicans should take control of the Senate. Of course, the piece is written as a scare piece for Democrats trying to encourage them to get out and vote to avoid a parade of horribles that will occur if Republicans take over. Unfortunately, TNR misses two important points: 1. That Republicans don’t have veto-proof support for a single one of these measures, and 2. Almost all of them are overwhelmingly popular with the American public.

TNR notes that if Republicans take control of the Senate, they will try to force action on the Keystone pipeline:

A Republican-controlled Congress next term wouldn’t be content even with producing that much oil and gas. The GOP’s top priority is simple—force President Obama into finally approving, or vetoing, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that’s vilified by environmentalists because of the crude oil from Canadian tar sands it would carry to Gulf Coast refineries. 

The problem with this for Democrats is very simple. You know who else wants to build the Keystone Pipeline, besides Congressional Republicans? Virtually everyone in America. Polling has consistently shown that Americans favor construction of the pipeline by at least a three-to-one margin. Opposition to the construction of oil pipelines is an extremist position. Americans have had plenty of experience with oil pipelines by now and realize that, especially compared to other methods of petroleum transport, they are safe and economically beneficial. There is literally no reason to oppose them other than opposition to petroleum per se, which is a position Americans overwhelmingly reject.

TNR also notes that if Republicans take control of the Senate they will attempt to curb Obama’s unilateral action on global warming. Polling again suggests that if Americans at large were presented with this information, their reaction would probably be, “Good.” Gallup indicates that despite almost constant bombardment from the Administration and the press about the supposed evils of global warming, the percentage Americans who believe that Global Warming presents a serious threat has actually declined since Obama took office, from 40% in 2008 to only 36% today.

TNR also engages in a great deal of handwringing about ISIS-related spying. The thrust of TNR’s argument is that ISIS isn’t actually a threat to the United States and that NSA surveillance does not help thwart them. The problem, again, is that the overwhelming majority of Americans disagree. A recent CNN poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans support virtually all measures against ISIS other than returning troops to Iraq. Furthermore, TNR’s allegation – that Republicans would block modification of NSA’s surveillance programs – is demonstrably false. The key voices against the NSA programs have been Republicans, not Democrats. Moreover, as a conceptual matter, as head of the executive branch, if Obama orders the NSA to stop any particular aspects of their surveillance program, there is nothing Congress can do to force them to continue it.

TNR also alleges that if Republicans take control of the Senate, they will attempt certain tweaks in Obamacare, such as repealing the job-killing medical device tax and eliminating the so-called “risk corridors” that provide taxpayer bailouts of insurance companies who lose money under Obamacare. TNR might take note that defending almost any provision of Obamacare is not a winning political move, but in particular, that the risk corridors are probably the single most unpopular concept in all of America right now. A poll conducted in June of this year by McLaughlin and Associates asked “If private insurance companies lose money selling health insurance under Obamacare, should taxpayers help cover their losses?” In other words, do you favor the Obamacare risk corridors? By an 81-10 margin, Americans responded that they opposed this entire plan.

The democrats have had free run of the country for the last 6 years. They have had every opportunity to enact their policies and they have done so. Unfortunately for them, these policies have been broadly unpopular with the American public. Accordingly, as they stare into the face of electoral immolation, all they can do is scare their base that the Republicans will repeal these unpopular policies, which has the effect of galvanizing swing voters against them. The only plausible pitches they have left are pitches that place victory even farther from their grasp.