Out-Parties No Longer Wait to Criticize

Jonathan Bernstein: “Once upon a time, out-parties used to wait to harshly criticize the new president, not necessarily out of respect for democratic norms, but because they didn’t want to immediately put themselves on the other side of the majority (or at least the plurality) of the electorate, which after all had just chosen the new president.”

“Democrats in 2001 and 2017 didn’t have that reason to withhold judgment, given the splits between the Electoral College and the popular vote in those elections. Republicans in 1993, 2009 (to a lesser extent) and 2021 have either convinced themselves that their electoral losses weren’t real or decided that they’re only interested in appealing to their own strongest supporters anyway. Or both. That certainly didn’t appear to hurt Republicans early in the Clinton and Obama presidencies; I guess we’ll see whether the same pattern holds this time.”