Voters rejected all that Democrats stood for

You can’t sugarcoat it. Tuesday’s Election Day smackdown of Democrats was nothing short of a complete and utter rejection of President Barack Obama’s policies and governance.

And in Nevada, voters by proxy punished Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, rejecting his hand-picked candidates with a vengeance. Disdain for Reid’s politics delivered Nevada a Republican governor, a Republican Assembly and a Republican Senate.

What’s left to say after that?

“Thank you,” comes to mind. But it doesn’t quite cover it.

It’s too snarky and too gleeful, because what the president and his enablers around the country did to tarnish the American brand goes way beyond partisan criticism.

Now, you will hear all kinds of excuses, cloaked in political analysis, designed to mitigate what happened Tuesday. Some pundits will go to great lengths to cauterize the plain truth by isolating the blame and attributing some of the damage to external forces beyond the control of any president or any party.

The left-wing wacko ideas weren’t the problem, they’ll say. The president’s lousy instincts are not to blame, and neither is the “leadership” of Harry Reid, or Nancy Pelosi, or Mark Pryor or Mary Landrieu, or Mark Begich, or Kay Hagan, or Mark Udall, et al. Democrats succumbed only to a few minor miscalculations coupled with a spot of bad luck. That is all. Move along. Nothing to see here.

That “analysis” is, of course, a pile of horse apples.

What went on Tuesday was deeper. It was more visceral. President Obama and Democrats nationwide foolishly thought they had permission from the people to re-create in their own image a skewed hegemonic caricature of real American principles and values.

In the end, that vain overreach became a weight around their necks. And they fell to Earth. Like a rock.

However you want to label the Democrat downfall, it is important to count the ways. So here we go:

■ Democrats promised to fix the economy. They didn’t.

■ Democrats promised good jobs. The American people got welfare and part-time work.

■ Democrats promised Wall Street reform. Americans got foreclosure notices.

■ Democrats promised plain talk. Americans got politically correct double-speak.

■ Democrats promised the truth. Americans got flat-out lies — sorry, buddy, but you can’t keep your doctor.

■ Democrats promised prosperity. Americans got poverty.

■ Democrats promised a brighter future. Children of Americans inherited a dimmer future.

■ Democrats promised a reduction in debt. American children are now born deeper and deeper in debt.

■ Democrats promised a big, competent bureaucracy. Americans got a big, inept government coupled with zero accountability.

■ Democrats promised transparency. Americans got secrecy.

■ Democrats promised respect for the press and civil rights. The Associated Press got its offices bugged, and every American cellphone got the “NSA” treatment.

■ Democrats promised equal and fair protection under the law. Americans got tiers of protection — some are more equal than others, depending upon the color of your skin or party affiliation.

■ Democrats promised better, less expensive health care. The people got less care at a higher price.

■ Democrats promised a more friendly world. Americans became more hated worldwide than ever.

■ Democrats promised the respect of the world. Americans got a president who bowed and apologized.

■ Democrats promised they had al-Qaida “on the run.” The people now endure a greater threat from radical Islam than ever — this time in hometowns everywhere.

■ Democrats promised dignified immigration reform. The people got an unsafe border and chaotic enforcement of immigration laws.

■ The Democrats promised to end America’s “war-footing.” The people find themselves re-fighting the same ground upon which American sons and daughters just months ago shed blood to win.

■ Democrats promised choice for women. The people got federally funded abortions.

■ Democrats promised the complete truth about the IRS, Benghazi and Fast and Furious. Americans got stonewalled.

■ The Democrats promised a “post-racial” country. The people got racist Al Sharpton as the go-to White House adviser.

There is no silver lining for President Obama, Harry Reid and Democrats. Performance counts.

And, by the way, you’re fired.

Sherman Frederick, former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, writes a column for Stephens Media. Read his blog at www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/sherman-frederick.