Despite an click-bait crazed corporate media doing its level best to depress Democrats’ voter turnout by trumpeting “polls” that inaccurately forecasted a “red wave,” Democrats will hold the Senate and be nearly tied for control of the House – this win is historic. Democrats’ midterm performance is the best for a first term president in decades. Democrats also now have eight women Governors (and will have DEM Governors in 24 states). All election-denying Secretaries of State in crucial swing states lost their elections resoundingly. As Democracy Docket’s Marc Elias notes:
“Combating the “Big Lie” and protecting the future of free and fair elections seems to have been motivating for millions of voters nationwide. By the time polls closed on Nov. 8, 2022, a staggering 68% of voters believed that democracy in the United States was at risk in the election. An electorate worried about the erosion of democracy was not going to elect a Kari Lake or a Doug Mastriano [both Gubernatorial candidates], whose campaigns relied heavily on election denialism.”
The message from America is clear: We want a return to responsible governance, not flame throwers.
Pompous male pundits should also sit shamefaced for their ‘predictions’ that women would simply “get over” having rights to their bodily autonomy taken from them via the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. As Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin pointed out:
“Dems won independents by 2 points – virtually unheard of in midterm. That’s cause independent women went for Ds 54-42. Dobbs. Dobb. Dobbs.”
In Republican Kevin McCarthy’s bid to take over as House Speaker now that GOP will narrowly hold the House, he indicates that, once again, his agenda will be to hold pointless hearings pushing fictional crimes, cut Social Security and Medicare, push more tax cuts for the rich at everyone else’s expense, continue election denialism and obstruction—a recipe for the overall inept non-governance that has marked recent GOP reign.
Republicans still maintain an advantage since mainstream media cannot resist functioning as GOP stenographers. But based on the results we saw, even after constant TV network fearmongering, that evil spell may be wearing a bit thin, too.
With the exception of extremists, I also believe that regardless of political persuasion, the majority of Americans want a return to the rule of law and reasonable, respectful conduct.
When I lost my Mom to Covid-19 in May, 2020, as horrid as that was, it was almost as painful that our then *president couldn’t be bothered to express sorrow or sympathy to the many thousands of Covid victims. To do so, trump would have had to acknowledge that there was indeed a pandemic. He was too busy pretending it didn’t exist to save face, instead acting like a dog who had defecated on the rug, desperate to kick his mess under the table to avoid the punishment that was surely coming. His resounding loss in 2020 came as no surprise.
I fondly remember when President Biden and Vice President Harris were first elected. They held a candlelight vigil at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on the eve of their inauguration to pay respects to Covid’s many victims. I was so moved and grateful to finally have that moment of acknowledgment. Covid-19 was a vicious, insidious killer with no mind to political affiliation. All those we lost deserved to be mourned, their families’ losses respected. Something sorely lacking before Biden and Harris took office.
All along, the Biden/Harris Administration has indicated their willingness to reach across the aisle to find solutions to our problems. Thus far, this Administration has been very effective despite GOP doing nothing to help. From all indications this past week, the flame throwers still in charge of the GOP have not learned their lesson.
The American people want problem solvers, they want to work, to preserve benefits they have spent a lifetime paying for, to have health care, to care for the environment and our veterans, to have our civil rights, marriage rights and bodily autonomy respected. Those who do not heed that constructive message do so at their elective peril going forward.
