Dov S. Zakheim, National Interest: What Happened to that "Blue Wave"?
At best, there was a wavelet, not the much vaunted "Blue Wave."
There was no Blue Wave on Election Day. At best, there was a wavelet. The Democrats took the House, but the number of seats that “flipped” from Republican to Democrat was far lower than that of 2010, when the Democrats lost sixty-six seats, or for that matter, smaller than the average turnaround in a midterm election held after a new president had assumed office two years earlier.
President Donald Trump naturally has claimed victory, as everyone expected he would, unless Republicans had lost the Senate as well, which they did not. They added seats. The Democrats, and their supporters in the mainstream press and cable television, are crowing about the House. But just as Trump may be misreading his victory—he has yet to feel the pain of ceaseless House hearings and investigations of his conduct and that of his leading appointees—so the Democrats need to rethink just what the country was telling them.
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WNU Editor: When I went to bed last night I reflected on the results of the midterms and the only thought that went through my mind was .... why do people vote for politicians who promise to raise your taxes, and who are committed to limiting the driving forces for your economy (i.e. energy production, taxes, etc.). When I woke up this morning and reflected on the results .... a different view formed. When I looked at last night's results and the history of such elections .... the loss of Republican House seats was below the usual number that is lost in a midterm, and in the Senate the Republicans actually won a few seats while losing only one. Considering the massive advantage that the Democrats had in raising campaign funds, coupled with an overwhelmingly supportive media, the retirement of over 40 Republicans, and President Trump's negatives .... I can understand why expectations for a Blue Tsunami were there, and I can understand why many Democrats are not happy (if not angry) that it did not happen. The failure of not capturing the Senate must also be a huge disappointment for the Democrats. It is true that they had a large number of seats to defend, but these were incumbents, and they were supported by a vast machine of supporters and funds, while the Republicans had three open seats that were ripe for the taking. But the Democrats lost 3 Senators, and this now gives President Trump a great deal of leverage to make sure that his nominees for government posts, the cabinet, and for the courts will proceed without much trouble. And as for the Republican Senators who were President Trump's foes in the past .... they are now gone (McCain, Corker and Flake), and will not torpedo or block his agenda. I should also add the Republican Party is now unified behind President Trump. Those who supported President Trump were successful in their election bids, while many who opposed him were defeated. That is a message that I am sure many Republican insiders are going to take from this election.
As for the Democrats .... they now have an opportunity to govern and to show to the American public that they are a viable alternative to the Republicans. Unfortunately .... I do not see that happening. Many who won yesterday are hardcore progressives, and they are taking their election win as a mandate to go after President Trump. And while I do expect some of the "elders" in the Democrat Party will try restrain them, the problem is that their hatred towards President Trump is far more important to them than governing. This hatred also includes senior Democrat leaders who have made it very clear today on what they want to do .... Incoming Democrat Chairman: Dems Will Go ‘All-In’ On Russia, Impeach Kavanaugh For ‘Perjury’ (The Federalist). So get ready for the subpoenas, televised hearings, and investigations. Unless of course the White House decides to do an Eric Holder .... I BET DEMOCRATS ARE WISHING that Obama Attorney General Eric Holder had not set a precedent that the AG may simply ignore subpoenas from the House of Representatives. (Instapundit).
10 comments:
There was a Blue Wave.
It was HUGE!
It was a psy ops campaign by the DNC, MSM, pollsters and Silicon Valley.
The Operation started in December 2017.
The operation was meant to depress Republican voter turnout and rally Democrats. It was also meant to intimidate Republican lawmakers into not pushing any agenda or implementing any policy that Democrats disapproved of.
The pollsters of 538 are not do incompetent that their polls at the end of September and the ones on November 5th or 6th should have been that different. The political landscape of voters did not shift that radically.
Pollsters lie to accomplish psy op goals during an election cycle. Then in the last month or two they ramp up or ramp down to the actual truth so that they can claim that they called the election correctly. This ramping process has been called out and written done over a decade ago.
Time for this lying crap to stop!
Not disappointed here in upstate NY where Brindisi beat Trump stooge Claudia Tenney.
Fail-son DJT Jr. and his hag girlfriend tried to get out the vote and failed, because that what fail-sons do, fail.
Walker and Kobach lost as well, though it looks like Kobach will become AG. BTW, Trump lost the general by almost 3 million votes, Bush lost the general in 2000 and it's very likely that Trump will win in 2020 and lose the overall vote again.
America is not the shining city on the hill. Our structure of gov't, in particular the Senate, which disproportionately represents rural states and the ridiculous electoral college, a quaint and dated relic of rigid property owners, is in need of a shakeup.
And WNU editor, most people here in the US, which you are not, don't HATE Trump. They have genuine differences with him and his ilk about the direction the country is going.
What ILK!!?? Really, you can't imagine the strategic momentum we have built! Rising seas lifts all boats and if you can't see this your blinded by hatred. Go read how the Romans fell, how Russia and Germany imploded and how Venezuela is now a failed state. You cannot simply elect officials that will give you what ever you want - just does not work that way. Ugh!!!
"Rising seas lifts all boats...." Nice freudian slip. HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAH!!!!!!!!!!
Global warming will see to that. You and I will be dead by that time 80-100 years from now when the Earth becomes largely uninhabitable, but I'm sure our grandkids will figure something out. Or the Market. HAAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
The Democrats have Occassia-Cortez elected to Congress.
Her and her ilk simply will not shut up.
She is young and photogenic, so the media will air whatever she spews.
She is a loud and proud socialist, which will ensure a Republican house, Republican Senate and Trump in 2020.
In the meantime the Republicans will not have the baggage of Flake, Boehner, Cantor, Paul Ryan and other limp writs.
Just remember there will be several to a score of international events that none of us foresee that will upset apple carts. The Democrats will assume that the with their media allies can control the narrative. They will not be able to do so.
Anon 940 never did any modeling.
He, she, or it does not have the calculus, statistics needed to create models or judge other people's models.
Yet the freak laughs.
Back in 1992, they said it would all be over 10 years ago. We are still here. So the AGW people are counting on doomsday prediction #6.
See a pattern here?
Democrats lost badly. Think of it. 2 years they had to prepare for this take-back. 2 years they hyped each other into a blue wave, amped up on "Russia Russia" hysteria, and when even the dumbest saw through it about 1.5 years in (even our own Fred got a bit less parroty, if you noticed), then they switched to "half the country is racist because they want legal immigration". wtf haha I have never seen such a failure of a political party as the Democrat party right now. They are completely cannibalizing each other as well, half are truly on Cortazio's side for social welfare state, the other is still somewhat sane, but still find it normal that their news networks' Jim Acosta almost gets into a brawl with White House staff so he can listen to himself asking predictable questions that are only there to shape a narrative. So, so pathetic, this party, this man, this fake news network of cnn
MAGA
First Anon is spot on. And it is a bit weird that Democrats (many with liberal backgrounds) seem to be absolutely OK with massive corporations working together with their elected officials to shape a narrative that half the country is racist, bigot, stupid, and listens to "dog whistles". It is beyond astounding. But, I guess as long as it's a sexy app on your shiny iPhone, you don't care. You are just a drone. A consumer. Not a thinker. Just a nodder. Like a parrot. Like Fred.
"Why do people vote for people who promise to raise taxes and limit the driving forces of their economy?" I've often wondered the same thing. I think it is because some people like free stuff at the expense of others. Some are learning this doesn't work.
In the Houston area where I've lived my entire life, we are growing massively. This is because of relatively sensible tax and regulatory policies. Many newcomers are fleeing high tax and high regulatory areas and have shared their own horror stories.
As such, this was part of the reason along with other factors that led me to prefict a massive red wave. This did not materialize. Neither did the predicted by many blue wave. I'd describe it as a "blue ripple" and a small one at that.
While I cannot "know" for certain, I credit Trump's tireless camoaign efgorts and his overall appeal with preventing the situation from being worse for Republicans during this election cycle. With much of the Republican dead weight now eliminated and Trump's position in the party strengthened I expect the Republicans and Trump are going to be in a much better position in 2020.
Certain foreign powers will need to be held off though. I am cautiously optimistic that this can be done.
I suspect all the Democrats have to do is act with saneness, gravity, and dignity to regain the presidency, but I’m afraid they are rabidly mad. Trump’s craziness is baked into the system, but the Democrats is not. If they aren’t restrained look to an easy re-election for Trump.
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