First, although scant time remains before the end of the current federal legislative term, I would hope that the Dems can propose and pass some type of election reform that attracts a few GOP representatives who are interested in preserving our democracy. Nothing fancy, but certainly, at the least, laws that specify the role of the Vice President in certifying the electoral counts, and that require states to honor the votes of the citizens (no alternate electors). And, if possible, federal baseline standards that require some sort of early in-person voting, automatic mail-in ballots to be distributed for the general election when a voter participates in the primary of that year, automatic approval of a request for a mail in ballot (no reason needed), and perhaps a drop dead receipt date for mail-in and absentee ballots, say the actual day of the election, although I would want this requirement to be a part of a state's extended in-person voting.
In my decades of political discourse with friends and family, making voting easier was never a partisan issue. GOP and Dem alike almost to a person thought that retaining Tuesday as voting day was absurd, weekend long availability being the most common opinion, and eliminating the obstacles to requesting a mail-in ballot being second most popular. When my wife and I applied for our mail-in ballots this past election cycle, a reason needed to be offered. Why? My right to vote should not require a reason to be given if I want to vote via the mail.
And, now that I have done it twice, I find voting by mail to be much better. Receiving a ballot up to a month before election day gave me much more time to research the candidates, in addition to not having to worry about the weather, unexpected sickness within the family, work related issues, long lines at the polls, or any other of the innumerable reasons why someone might encounter an obstacle to voting, especially when there is no early voting option.
For consistency, I reread my first post related to the mid terms, which you can read using the link below.
One interesting tidbit that you may have missed, is that with Warnock's victory, this was the first mid term in about 80 years that the party holding the White House did not lose a Senate seat. In this case, the Dems gained one with the flipping of the PA Senate seat to John Fetterman. As for the House, the GOP gained 9 seats, from a minority position of 213 to a 4 seat majority of 222. (218 is needed for control). Certainly, good news for those in the GOP who wish to derail any other legislative efforts by Biden in the next 2 years, but no where near the landslide that was expected as recently as 6 months ago.
To put this into perspective, in the last 11 midterms which encompass 1 Biden term, 1 Trump term, 2 Obama terms, 2 GW Bush terms, 2 Clinton terms, 1 Bush term and 2 Reagan terms, only GW Bush in his first term and Clinton, in his 2nd term, didn't lose House seats. The other 9, including Biden this year, lost an average of just under 31 seats. Biden's 9 puts him just behind Reagan's second midterm of 5, and the first Bush who lost 8. By contrast, Obama lost 63 seats (a true red wave) in his first term, Clinton lost 52 in his 1st term, Trump lost 40, GW Bush lost 30 in his 2nd term, Reagan lost 26 in his first term and Obama lost 13 in his 2nd term.
So, despite the highest inflation in 40 years (since Reagan's first term), in this years midterm election cycle, the Dems lost the least amount of House seats in a midterm since 2002, and gained a Senate seat for the first time since 1962 when JFK gained a 3 total seats.
Why?
Well, clearly, the Supreme Court's decision to return women's reproductive rights to the individual states had a lot to do with it. But also, as Mitch McConnell alluded to back in November, candidate quality also mattered. A lot! No better indicator of that reason is the Georgia Senate race where the GOP candidate under-performed as compared to the GOP Governor candidate by 200,000 votes, then lost by about 100,000 votes in the runoff, an increase in deficit when compared to his loss by about 37,000 votes in the original election.
And who hand picked that Georgia Senate candidate? Like the word loser, his last name also has 5 letters. As I said in my original post, it is past time for the GOP to jettison its association with the former president. This is especially important in light of the fact that in 2024, the Dems must defend multiple Senate seats that they hold in red or purple states. It is clearly possible for the GOP to retake the Senate in 2024, but only if they run candidates that are not beholden to the former president's lies and treasonous actions. Like this election cycle, there will be seats to take back, but only if they choose candidates that can put two cogent sentences together, who believe in a women's right to choose, and who believe in election results even when they lose.
In the meantime, inflation will continue to cool. While a recession is still a possibility, by November 2024, economic hardships may not be as prevalent as they were this year. This makes it even more critical for the GOP to acknowledge that they got what they wanted from their 2016 presidential election win (a 6-3 seat majority on the Supreme Court), but need a new direction if they want to win the White House.
I firmly believe that the current GOP agenda has little to do with governing and more to do with an emphasis on grievance and culture war issues. We will see how this plays out in the next 2 years in the House; will there be bills passed which address our national problems, or will it be 2 years of interminable hearings and posturing. If the latter, that will make it all the more easy for the Dems to fend off further legislative losses. While I believe that more people lean right than left, I also believe that more people want effective government, and want their public servants to pass laws that help the everyday American citizen, not just the rich or influential.
Like life, politics is cyclical although sometimes the cycles lag behind what is needed on Main Street. Regardless of the party you prefer, we need to demand from our public servants that they put us, the 90% of people who can not buy TV ads to voice our opinions or send our lobbyists to DC, front and center.
The majority of Americans believe in freedom for all, including women to control their reproductive lives, and all Americans to marry whomever they love, to worship the god of their choice, and to use birth control, but even more importantly, to not pass laws that discriminate against others in the name of one particular religion.
Whichever party embraces these basic rights, is the one which, hopefully, will win more then they lose, both in 2024 and moving forward.
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