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Sailor’s Warning
That red wave promised yesterday morning should have been a Republican sailor’s warning. And, while the Democrats can’t sing “blue skies, nothing but blue skies, over me” just yet, they can certainly see a silver lining in the dark clouds.
What exactly just happened? Or, what continues to happen today as those who can’t count continue to count?
What happened was America voted. And, despite what many polls identified as major flaws in how they were running the country, they voted for a lot of the same as what they voted for two years ago.
Does that make sense? Of course, it doesn’t.
If you were shocked that Trump came from no political background to win it all in 2020, you had to be shocked about last night into this morning.
Here’s what we know happened, and a few guesses on why it happened.
There is no red wave. Yes, the odds favor the House turning red by a slim margin. And the Senate could as well by the ever so slimmest of margins. Or, it might stay purple. Or it might turn blue. That is not a red wave.
Ron DeSantis sailed far and away as the biggest winner on the Republican side. He won four years ago by the slimmest of margins for his first term as governor. It was a blitzkrieg this time. He motored through Miami-Dade county, a 12-point Biden win county, in the most impressive of fashions. He has to be considered the Republican frontrunner for 2024.
Has the population growth in Florida, mostly from the northeast and accelerated by covid hysteria, come in as transplanted conservatives?
Pennsylvania can’t count. Also, they elected John Fetterman. Sometimes if you have nothing nice to say you should say nothing at all.
Will Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams finally go away?
Beto got a veto in Texas. He’s ‘oh for” in his last three election at-bats. In Texas, you don’t say out loud that you’re coming for the guns.
Abrams said last night that she’ll continue to do everything she can to right all of the wrongs in Georgia. Sounds good until the DNC money goes elsewhere.
Arizona can’t count either. And, they have broken machines in Maricopa County supposedly. Does anyone think to give them a test run a few months back? No.
And, if they don’t elect Kari Lake it will be the second biggest surprise of November. She trails 51-49 with nearly 2/3rds counted this AM.
Republican leadership, we say again, is nonexistent, old, tired, white, and selfish. Young adults aren’t buying what they are selling.
Mitch McConnell and his PAC cronies had a game plan. Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get hit. McConnell and the RNC got pummeled.
The polls got it all wrong again. Like the Republican leadership, it’s past time for them to look at their flawed ways. They didn’t get to Trump voters in 2016. And, they likely whiffed on Gen Z in 2022. Calling landline numbers might be past its prime. Get a TikTok account already.
Could control of the Senate come down to Georgia again in a Senate runoff? Herschel Walker was once a hell of a running back. There are holes in his candidacy as big as the ones his Bulldogs used to create for him to run through though.
So where does all of this leave one Donald J. Trump? Today it is Mar-a-Lago. Tomorrow it’s likely in some court. By 2024, it’s likely on stage gunning for the White House. The Dems can’t wait.
One thing about the weather “they” say. It’s always changing.
The forecast from here till 2024 looks tough to call. Red wave? Blue Sky? One fish, two fish.
Blame it on climate change if you wish.
Comment section
Trump is the dam of the Red Wave. As much as I used to like him, I am now done with him. What he created he is now destroying.
There will hopefully be a new Captain in Florida that will ride the wave. The best thing going for the Republicans is Joe Biden.
Does this embolden them and him to actually try to run again in 2024? By 2028 he’d qualify for social fossilization.
You forgot the majority showed up and voted for women’s reproductive rights. Five states it was on the ballot and five states (CA, Mich, Vermont, Kentucky and Montana) overwhelmingly voted to enshrine abortion rights in their respective state constitutions. (KY and Montana to oppose measures to limit abortion access) Many thought that was being over played with voters, turns out was being played up and was just as important as any issue facing this country last night. This will continue to drum up voter turn out in 2024.
If a voter is a single-issue voter so be it. But, it’s a state-by-state issue and should have no bearing on national choices for the House and Senate. And, red governors did better than blue.
If inflation, crime, the border, foreign policy, uncontrolled government handouts, mountainous debt, selective debt transfer, covid vax mandates, selective shutdowns, and deteriorating education standards aren’t important, then by all means people should vote to ensure the right to extract a baby that could have easily been prevented. Those are controllable national issues.
What’s important for the country as a whole should be placed well ahead of what’s important for an individual.
Ostriches.
Then the denial bill comes due.
Red governors did better then blue is a Fox news type spin cycle. My math isn’t so good but the net was 2 gov seats gained for the blue side and two lost for the red. Even gov seats like in WI went against historic state trends to hold office that usually are flipped.
If you don’t think women’s reproductive rights drove voters locally and nationally you were as off as the national pundits predicting a red wave were. The statement “What’s important for the country as a whole should be placed well ahead of what’s important for an individual” is wildly out of touch statement and sounds like a flippant take that a person who didn’t have their reproductive rights stripped from them would say. Tell that to the millions of women who lost a basic freedom and see the response you get.
Good counterpoints all.
“Women’s reproductive rights” is a word salad for abortion. So abortion drove many to the polls. You can be a Republican(or a conservative which is different) and support early-term abortions as well. That it drove many to the polls is good for the country. That it was the issue that made people vote blue for national offices would be unfortunate as it is now properly a state-by-state issue.
DC decisions in the WH and the Senate and the House are burning the country down. The disappointment is if any or many mistakenly could not be separate the two in the booth.
What is important for the country as a whole should indeed be placed ahead of the individual is wildly correct, just wildly out of touch with the last two me first generations. Historians recall JFK, a staunch Democrat, saying famously “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
We don’t do flippant here. We do some tongue-in-cheek from time to time. But we strive to do measured, learned takes derived from decades of experiences that hopefully provide some shreds of wisdom. It is the very essence of the site.
Red governors hold 28 seats, blue 22. In an otherwise divided almost 50/50 country, a 56% red to 44% blue governorship stands out statistically a bit.
And, one final thing. We reread the published article for a third time. Our editors, similar to the word police formerly in charge of Twitter, found the content very fair and balanced to borrow a phrase.
So there are the counters to the counters.
Well said. It’s going to be such a mixed bag from here on out that nothing gets done. Oh right, nothing gets done anyway in congress. When the going gets tough, congress gets quiet. They’ve punted immigration issues for the last 50 years and continue to complain about governors who ask for help.
I am starting to see some returns come in on local races where some change is desperately needed. Maybe these folks can out punch their weight class. If the Fed’s keep handing out money, locals need to do a better job of spending it!
Whenever these lackeys finally decide who won or lost the hope is that it prevents the fed from handing out the money.
Congress is actually an old English word for “pond scum.”
Let me put it into 2 words ….. We are F–K
This is a way better explanation to the dissenting commenters than I just spent 20 minutes composing.
F–Ked. There, fixed it for you.
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