There was supposed to be a red wave that would put the corrupt, entitled, arrogant Democrats in their place. The GOP was supposed to take the House by an emphatic margin and possibly the Senate, too.
They said it was not a question of if, but when it would happen.
As someone on Twitter rightly observed, at this point, the GOP would be lucky to have Red Trickle. Even if the GOP takes the House, it will be by a slim margin.
Joe Biden, despite his catastrophic misgovernance, historic unpopularity, and rapidly declining cognitive abilities, could end up with a better mid-term record than Democrat stars such as Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
There have been various theories on why it went so wrong.
Post-mortem analyses are always easy; you have the results, all you have to do is walk backward and provide reasons. Had the GOP won in a landslide, the very pundits who are certain why they underperformed tonight would have provided another set of reasons.
Let’s examine some theories that are being put forth.
Did the narrative of the Red Wave seem like hubris?
At times rosy expectations can be the mother of all disappointments. The relentless talk of a red wave, which began in conservative media and spread like wildfire, could have had multiple consequences.
Perhaps GOP voters presumed a victory was inevitable and chose to stay home. Perhaps Democrat voters thinking that their party needs them in times of peril chose to vote.
Perhaps some voters thought of this talk of the red wave as hubris.
Voters often do not like politicians taking them for granted and second-guessing them.
Perhaps they decided to give the GOP a reality check?
The overturning of Roe v Wade?
It will never be easy to gauge what impact the overturning of Roe had on the mind of the public, especially women.
Dr. Oz said “I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.”
Oz was making a broader point about law-making by consulting all parties involved. Most of the mainstream media claimed Dr. Oz thinks that the decision to have an abortion must be between a woman, her doctor, and local politicians.
Perhaps women truly feared that the Republicans would be involved each time they visited the gynecologist. Perhaps women feared imprisonment for even mentioning abortion. Perhaps they believed the claim that contraception would also be restricted.
Fear tactics often work, irrespective of whether the claims are factual.
Perhaps the Democrats managed to scare people sufficiently.
Was it the media?
The mainstream media is the propaganda arm of the Democrats, while most Republicans get their news from Fox News, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, NewsMax, and various other right-leaning websites.
But what about independents? Perhaps they brought the media narrative that if the GOP wins there will never ever be elections in the US and Trump would become a dictator.
End of the Trump era?
Some experts claimed that Trump’s choice of candidates was a major reason for the GOP’s subpar performance. They cite the loss of Dr. Oz to severely cognitively impaired John Fetterman to demonstrate their point. They feel Trump incorrectly endorsed celebrity Doctor Oz; perhaps a principled conservative and a Pennsylvania local would have served better. They claim that the underperforming of the GOP is proof that Trump’s era has passed. They claim he should gracefully step aside and allow Ron DeSantis to be the nominee in 2024. They claim Trump lacks discipline, has too much baggage, and polarizes people with his rhetoric.
So what has Trump’s record been so far in the race?
But:
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Since Trump descended the escalator in 2015 to announce his Presidential campaign, there have been many who have been predicting his political demise. Yet he still remains a force to reckon with in the party. It would be a mistake to count Trump out this easily.
Beginning of the DeSantis era?
Ron DeSantis was re-elected in Florida by almost 20 points; it was an emphatic routing of his Democratic opponent.
After DeSantis’s victory speech, the crowd chanted “USA! USA! USA!” and, in a nod to an expected presidential run chanted, “Two more years!”
The DeSantis wing of the GOP claimed that DeSantis is Trump without the baggage. They say he is disciplined in his message, he is younger and has a proven track record of governance during crises such as COVID-19 and Hurricane Ian. hence is a much more viable Presidential Candidate.
They say cite winning among minorities to make the case for his broad appeal. DeSantis is the first Republican gubernatorial candidate since Jeb Bush to win Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, which also has its largest Hispanic population and was once considered a Democrat bastion.
But does a victory in Florida make him a viable candidate all over the US?
What about the point of having no Trump baggage? The Democrats may despise DeSantis, but they haven’t gone after DeSantis the way they have targeted Trump. If he becomes the GOP nominee in 2024, they will give him the Trump treatment or perhaps worse. They could dig dirt or invent lies about DeSantis, i.e., create a great deal of baggage for him.
Even worse, President Trump just openly threatened to sling mud at him, saying, “If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”
What about DeSantis’s endorsements?
DeSantis endorsed Colorado Senate Candidate Joe O’Dea and recorded an automated phone call for the campaign, saying “I’ve watched Joe from a distance. And I’m impressed.” O’Dea went on to lose his race. But Colorado is a liberal state; perhaps O’Dea was going to lose anyway?
In the end, it isn’t pundits or experts who will decide the GOP nominee it is the public who will cast their vote.
What about funding?
It has to be remembered that no candidate can win without a minimum amount of funding. A MAGA victory is as troubling to establishment GOP leaders as it is for Democrats.
It has been documented that for various Senate races, the GOP leadership in Washington, i.e., Mitch McConnell, were not supporting MAGA candidates financially. Perhaps that played a factor in impeding the candidates from pushing their message and the overall narrative.
Did Biden’s meddling help?
Biden signed Executive Order 14019 back in March asking all 600 federal agencies to “consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”
The details of what was actually done remain unclear. Perhaps Democrat voters were surgically mobilized? Perhaps voter identification rules were relaxed?
We will never know because Biden refused to share details about its coordinated efforts to engage in a federal takeover of the administration of elections.
This concealment makes it very suspicious.
Hi, Ted. You said,
I will take you at your word. Today is certainly not a good day to try to psychoanalyze you or anyone. You have often expressed your support for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, and have averred that when you say
“America”, you are referring to the Administrative State. We definitely disagree concerning Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine War; but that’s a separate matter.
Concerning the US elections, I’ve just been following Frank Speech live,
https://frankspeech.com/
seeing live capture after live capture in PA, GA, CO and AZ, where the vote tabulators are SUBTRACTING up to a million votes at a time, as well as increasing Democrat totals with repeated, massive dumps. Unlike the 2020 election, the officials are brazenly cheating real time, right before our eyes. It is distressing, to see this happening in broad daylight, and seeing perhaps millions of people purposely (Am I jumping to conclusions here?) believing and repeating lies about what is going on.
These are perilous times; and it looks as though the deception will get worse before it gets better. I’m confident that I and my fellow Republicans here have done what we could. Right now I believe it is time to stand aside and watch God reveal the arm of his strength:
Ephesians 6
[12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
[13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand..
@Michael
You are jumping to conclusion. All my life I have loved the US and its judeo Christina principles and it constitution and founding documents..But the deep state is now in charge.
Also After the Iraq War, I saw how imperialist and hegemonic the US is.
Finally the US, aside from Trumjp, is busting our balls in Israel. They won’t let us do what the electorate wants..They6 are therefore out enemy.
So, we will see where things end up.
The feckless Oz conceded to his Zombie competitor, marking the most ridiculous move in the election so far, and setting that bar pretty high for anyone to beat.
Hello, Ted
I’m awake now (3PM, local time), and much more refreshed than I was this morning.
I’m sorry I named you specifically in my kvetching. I know you see America differently than I do. Having been raised Canadian, I should have realized that we have different views of the United States, a difference that goes way back to 1776. Canadians look and speak so much like my countrymen, I never even noticed until recently (during the Trudeau tyranny) just how deep our differences run.
The US is not the Deep State, nor its leaders (including Trump). nor even necessarily the majority of its people. America is a dream in the hearts of our founders, many of whom risked everything in order to worship God according to the pattern he showed them in their hearts; endeavoring to pattern their lives and society not after human strength and ideas, but after God’s word and faith in it. The founding principles of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution are unique in the world today and in history. They acknowledge man’s depravity and the need to keep checks on the tendency toward tyranny; and they also acknowledge that God ultimately rules supreme over the affairs of men. Leaders change, from year to year; Fad ideas come and go; but the truths in which we put our trust have not, and will never, fail.
God won.
cf https://gettr.com/user/ilpresidento
https://youtu.be/3RJ6U9BJgMg
Would he do that if he wasn’t sure of the outcome?
They ALL fear Trump! Right and Left.
There is another factor to consider, namely, the hyperpartisanship of Democrat voters. They will vote for anyone with a D in front of their name, with no regard for competency or policy. We saw that in 2020 when they voted for Biden, and we saw that just now in Pennsylvania when they voted for that left-wing zombie Fetterman. Throughout the election campaigns, Demorats avoided talking about illegal immigration which is permanently ruining our country; they avoided talking about inflation; they avoided talking about foreign policy, and more. Voting Democrat has become part of their identity no matter what.
What ignorant twaddle. You can cast your vote for whomever you choose, and it will be counted to support whomever the Elites select.
Any honest post mortem would include the important role which election shenanigans held in generating this massive Red disappointment, which strongly contrasts with every expectation of both the Right and the Left going into the election, and which stretches the limits of all reasonable credulity. We are to believe that the people are so upset over the disintegrating state of the economy (#1 complaint in every poll) that they voted to keep the the lever of power in the hands of the very same corrupt and inept fools who caused the economy to disintegrate?
Remember,
We must remain devoutly attuned to the truth where ever it leads us, even if it were to lead us to conclude that this electoral defeat were truly due to Trump’s proposed lack of political wisdom in choosing outside of the Beltway candidates or if it were due to his lack of popular appeal due to his polarizing nature, as Laad suggests. Notably, if all of this were true, we wouldn’t be waiting on election results to be cooked and calculated over the coming days and weeks as some plausible algorithm is derived to manipulate the election math to support the above stated RINO-Dem Uniparty Neocon narrative.
We should recognize what is staring us clearly in the face for what it is, and it is not that the MAGA movement lacks leadership and strategy, but that it lacks the ability to outvote an openly rigged system, something which Seth Ketchel warned about more than 6 months ago.
Thank you, Ted, for showing a modicum of interest in the US election. When you have something like 7 million of Wisconsin’s 4 million registered voters casting ballots, please excuse me for being skeptical of the “results”.
At the moment, we have millions of illegals pouring into the US, the country you and the MSM say is the worst country in the world. Isn’t that uncanny? Maybe they are really trying to migrate to Russia, but someone messed with the signs!
If you and others realize your dreams, there will no longer be a US for anyone to flee to. I do not favor this outcome. In answer to Rajan Laad, as to how the GOP has been letting everyone down, it’s too soon for me to give him a good answer — we’re all exhaustive from weeks of canvassing, manning phone banks and processing a deluge of new members and volunteers.
Good night.