Mid-Term Election True Analysis

Blue Wave? More Like a Ripple
The View from the Middle

Let me give you, my readers, a true analysis of last night’s mid-term elections while the mainstream media is busy covering their collective butts after projecting a blue wave just a few months ago. For perspective, Barack Obama lost 63 seats in the House of Representatives and thus lost control of the House and put Nancy Pelosi out of the Speakership in his first mid-term election. Democrats also lost six Senate seats and lost control of dozens of state legislatures and six governorships. To quote then President Obama, his party took a “shellacking” in his first mid-terms. Did the media call it a red wave. Nope! There were excuses galore. The party that controls the White House always loses seats in the mid-terms! The base didn’t show up! The independents took a right turn! The mainstream media, forgetting what their actual job was, acted quickly to cover up the shellacking and then quickly change the subject.

Now, let’s take a look at what really happened last night. First, we must understand the backdrop of last night’s elections. Republicans had to deal with an unprecedented 42 retirements in the House. Given the power of the incumbency in today’s politics, holding the House was going to be almost an impossibility for Republicans. With this in mind, not only can’t you call what happened a “blue wave”, you would probably have to call last night’s results a Trump win.

The Democrats did take control of the House, but they did that by switching around 35 seats in the House, about half of what Obama lost in 2010. Again, with 42 retirements, that was be expected. Then, it looks like Republicans will pick up about four or five seats in the Senate, and we really need to treat Marsha Blackburn’s win in Tennessee like a pick up. The current senator, Bob Corker, had decided to retire, and Blackburn was running against the very popular X-governor, Phil Bredesen. And, if Marsha McSally holds on to win in Arizona, where Jeff Flake had retired in anticipation of an electoral trouncing, Republicans could hold a commanding majority in the Senate. Democrats and the media, although I repeat myself there, will have to admit that this performance in the Senate was unprecedented and even unexpected just a couple of months ago. This was a huge win for Republicans and some credit must go to President Trump.

But this could all work out for the American people. First, with Republican control in the Senate, Trump’s economic plan is guaranteed stay in place, and Nancy Pelosi has even spoken words of bipartisan compromise in the House. She may well understand that two years of frivolous investigations with no progress on things like infrastructure and immigration could spell disaster for Democrats in 2020. Infrastructure is a bipartisan issue and I believe Trump, the great deal maker, will revive his “wall for dreamers” proposal which will be an offer Democrats can’t refuse.

If you have any doubt about the impact on ordinary Americans as a result of yesterday’s election results, look no farther that the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was up over 500 points on Wednesday. The market loves a divided government. At a minimum, it could spell gridlock, and when the government passes no meaningful legislation to restrict business it actually is enabling our economy.

So let’s be honest, the blue wave, which the mainstream media has been projecting for the last six months, didn’t happen. But, what DID happen is probably the best thing for us. Both sides of the political spectrum have something to feel good about and it may drive some compromise progress that will be good for the country. It may turn the party of “resist, insist, persist and throw hissy fits” into the party of action that could work with the great deal-maker, Trump. I’m even hopeful both parties could come together to address our debt and deficits. Hope springs eternal.