Lefty Alyssa Milano is reeling from what looks like another election loss for the Democrats in Ohio. The actress decided to take time to calmly analyse where her party went wrong. Only joking! She blamed Russians of course!
The Republicans secured a narrow election win in a conservative area, where the party spent millions on ads and activists. Milano has spoken for a generation of hysterical Democrats by coming to the only conclusion possible – Moscow did it, and may have been in cahoots with the Green Party.
The Ohio 12 special election was held after the Republican incumbent Pat Tiberi stepped down. As it stands the Republicans have claimed victory, but the result is so close absentee ballots could still swing it when they’re counted later this month.
Milano, a famously left-wing actress, managed to hit out at both Russia, the Republicans, the Green Party and the basic workings of democracy on Twitter. She was angry that Democrat challenger Danny O’Connor appears to have fallen just short of what would have been an unlikely win, in part because the Green Party took 1,000 votes.
In the mind of Milano, there are only two outcomes in modern politics: a Democrat win, or Moscow meddling. She is a symptom and the consequence of a political environment where it is easier to blame Russia than accept personal fault or a failure of policy.
I wonder if she thinks the tens of thousands of people that didn’t come out to vote at all are all being held captive at the end of a Kalashnikov in their living rooms.
Democrat O’Connor enjoyed an impressive surge of support in Ohio’s congressional special election, but not quite enough it seems to beat the Republicans in a traditionally conservative area.
The Five Thirty Eight blog which has a stellar reputation when it comes predicting elections based on actual stats and information said the Ohio 12 special election “basically went according to script” calling the result “in line with Democrats' average overperformance in these elections in the Trump era.”
Milano asks of Green Party's modest success: “Why else would anyone cast a protest vote in Ohio when there’s so much at stake?” She has inadvertently, and you have to assume unwittingly, highlighted the issue facing the Democrats and their supporters. They still can’t work out why people would vote against them. If Russians are so successful at swinging elections, the DNC should hire some to help them win something.
The reaction on Twitter at least suggests some common sense does remain in the atmosphere of anti-Russian hysteria around US elections.
The Ohio 12 special election will prove useful in predicting the outcome of the upcoming midterms due in November. The numbers suggest that the Democrat party could get an impressive swing towards them. Milano’s comments suggest, that if it’s not enough to beat the Republicans, they’ll just blame Russia.
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