We still need to figure out how to make voters angry at Republicans

Paul Waldman unintentionally illustrates the confusion gripping liberals right now. He's talking here about vulnerable Democrats in swing districts:

Here’s the political dilemma they find themselves in: Although tackling difficult problems and passing legislation won’t ever guarantee victory for a party, not doing so almost certainly guarantees defeat. Delivering for the voters is the necessary but not sufficient condition for success.

....There’s no real mystery about what could help Democrats now. Only two times in recent decades has the president’s party avoided a major defeat in a midterm election — and it wasn’t because the party delivered well-designed legislation that brought tangible benefits to the electorate, who then flocked to the polls in a show of gratitude.

Both times it was because that electorate got angry at the opposition party. The first time was in 1998, when voters were angry at Republicans over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and the second was in 2002, when a Republican scorched-earth campaign convinced them that Democrats were on the side of terrorists.

So which is it? Are Democrats doomed if they don't pass great legislation? Or does it not really matter because voters mostly vote against a party, not for it?

IHNRAC,¹ but I'll take door number two. It's hard for me to think of any good examples where legislation played a key role in a national election. Reagan's tax cuts, maybe, though even that's iffy.² Or possibly Bush's Medicare prescription bill among elderly voters, though there's not much evidence for that.

I have to remind myself all the time that no matter how oblivious we think most voters are, they are even more oblivious than we think. They simply don't pay attention to politics and haven't got the slightest idea of what legislation is pending or whether Joe Manchin is being a dick. Hell, even the stuff they think they know is usually wrong.

So from an electoral point of view, nobody should be worrying about the failure of voting rights or BBB. It's far more important to make swing voters afraid of Republicans. You'd think that would be pretty easy these days, but so far Democrats haven't found the magic key. A strong economy will keep us in the game, but we still need a killer app against the party of the Big Lie.

¹I Have Never Run A Campaign.

²Reagan's reelection landslide was primarily due to a booming economy. His tax cuts helped seal the deal, but didn't really play a huge role.