Beshear: More states within 'margin of error' for Democratic

Andy Beshear says Democrats are within the “margin of error” to flip a bunch of governor’s mansions this fall. That is a polite way of admitting the party is still trying to convince itself it can walk again. A year ago they were on the floor, and a few decent special election numbers have not changed the fact that their national brand is toxic.

Give Beshear credit for winning Kentucky. Fine. But he did it by running away from the Democratic Party as fast as his ads would carry him, hugging Trump voters while the national left cringed. That is not a national playbook, it’s a personal survival act. The same Democrats now hoping to ride his coattails are the ones pushing defund-the-police remnants and gender ideology in classrooms. Kentucky voters didn’t reward that. Neither will voters in Georgia or Florida.

The reason Democrats spent last year “picking themselves off the floor” is simple: voters remember. They remember the inflation, the border crisis, and the cultural excesses that came with Democratic control in Washington. Governor’s races aren’t fully national, but they aren’t insulated either. If Republicans campaign on what they’ve actually delivered and let Democratic candidates keep talking about “margins of error,” November will be a lot less close than Beshear hopes.