(11-04-2026 06:49 PM)Crayton Wrote: (11-04-2026 04:29 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: (11-04-2026 01:01 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote: Vance is wrong. It wasn't the war. And I am not even sure that it was the economy (but I am less certain on that point).
It was poor-quality candidates - - Darline Graham? Ken Paxton? And a president with disapproval ratings equivalent to 2016 Hillary Clinton who insisted on making the mid-terms about himself.
Then how do does that explain Greg Abbott in Texas? That was a good candidate that has run the state well---who nobody thought was in trouble. This was a perfect storm election. There were multiple factors that all combined to create an overwhelming storm that the Republicans had little chance of overcoming without a near historic mid-term Republican turnout.
We had a mid-term election where the president's party almost always loses seats. Additionally, the party was led by a president who has fumbled the Iran War, driven up gas prices, cozied up to a VERY unpopular Russian dictator, enacted tarriffs that increased prices, needlessly treated allies worse than enemies (the result of which is a Trump job approval rating in the low 30's). We have an economy where most young adults---along with most of the lower and middle class are facing an increasingly difficult affordability crisis where their standard of living is perceptibly falling---not rising. Then---I would agree---in some cases---you can add in the fact that the Republicans had some less than stellar candidates in some assorted races.
Overall---like I said----It was a perfect storm of factors that conspired to deliver a historic reversal for the Republicans.
Good analysis. I’ll add that the economy wasn’t appreciably different with Biden; it has just been “bad” for young adults and the lower/middle class since the pandemic. Trump just did a horrible job empathizing with those impacted.
I almost hope Trump works with the Democrats to finally fix the economy. Biden didn’t do it; Republicans didn’t the last 2 years. I’m not even sure HOW it can be fixed, but perhaps Trump+Democrats will produce a winning combo. He has some interesting ideas about state equity in AI.
It is not just that high prices make things difficult. It is that in 2026 they can be traced to specific boneheaded decisions by the administration (tariffs on imports, closing the Strait of Hormuz).
That’s devastating. The first rule in leadership, as in medicine, is “Do no harm.”
It’s hard enough to win as an incumbent when the economy is ailing. Joe Biden knew well that inflation can prove an albatross even in a post-pandemic recovery. Bush 41 lost in the post-Desert Storm recession of 1992.
It becomes impossible to win when voters decide the incumbent is not only the cause of the problem, but too out of touch to notice.
The Trump idea of how to meet the moment was to go out and simply tell everyone the economy is great, tell everyone the press and other candidates were lying. After that, change the subject. Freely associate about airplanes and ballroom, helicopter rides and Mar-A-Lago parties, which people around him have good bodies and which people he thinks dress well, how evil the press is while they are standing right there covering him, which people persecute him and which people call him “sir.”
Basically, to keep telling you how much more glamorous and important his life is than yours. To hope that, as long as the audience gets a red hat and vicarious sense of involvement, maybe he gets its vote one more time.
As a voter you quickly get the message that this person is not paying attention. He is telling you as much. What you, and so many around you, deal with every day is not showing on this man’s radar.
So you turn to people who do pay attention.
And if you are a younger voter you look for younger candidates. You need someone who gets it. Who gets
you.
still can't see what happened can you? He got played like a fiddle and based on the results last night it worked.
