EDITORIAL: The warning sirens get louder for Democrats

Tuesday’s election was a debacle for the Democratic Party. The combination of a White House in deep disarray and a party dashing madly to the left has clearly alienated independent voters.

But don’t expect overbearing progressives — in Nevada or elsewhere — to recognize the tea leaves.

Just one year after President Joe Biden easily carried Virginia by more than 10 points, political newcomer Glenn Youngkin became the first Republican to win a statewide office there in 12 years, defeating heavily favored Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s race. In New Jersey, which Mr. Biden won by 15 points, incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, clung to a tiny lead over his GOP challenger in a race likely headed for a recount.

Democrats are now engaged in the predictable finger-pointing, and Mr. Biden should be a main target. His first 10 months in office have been remarkable only for their aggressive ineptitude. The southern border remains a mess, the Afghanistan withdrawal was an embarrassing fiasco, employers can’t fill jobs, and American consumers are now facing the threat of long-term inflation not seen for decades, paying more at the pump and at the supermarket for everyday staples.

Voters are in a foul mood — and for good reason.

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden’s primary focus in recent months has been to coddle his party’s vocal socialist chorus, which insists on blocking a bipartisan infrastructure bill until they can guarantee passage of a more radical, multitrillion-dollar package of budget-busting giveaways intended to cripple the market economy and expand government dependency. The president’s move to the left certainly hasn’t helped him with the middle-of-the-road voters who were tired of Donald Trump’s egomania. Turns out that relentless wokeism doesn’t play well outside gentry liberal enclaves on both coasts. Who knew?

Speaking of Mr. Trump, Virginia Democrats did their best to tie Mr. Youngkin to the former president, but to no avail. Mr. Biden at this point isn’t much more popular than Mr. Trump. For his part, Mr. Youngkin preferred to talk about the issues rather than get embroiled in rehashing old grievances. Perhaps that’s a lesson for Republicans in Nevada and other places who are still whining about a fictional “stolen” election.

The warning sirens were blaring in 2020 when Democrats woefully underperformed in congressional races despite a deeply unpopular president leading the GOP ticket. They should be even louder today given how progressive extremists have now overrun party moderates under Mr. Biden’s watch. But the fact that most independent voters aren’t agitating for a socialist or woke revolution is irrelevant to Democrats in eager pursuit of such ends as they wallow in denial about the electoral ramifications of their toxic agenda.