You want to talk “fake news”? Here’s some fake news:
Trump thinks that losing control of the House to the Democrats is somehow a “victory” because the Republicans still have control of the Senate.
Yeah, Trump with the Senate’s help can still do a lot of damage to this country, especially in terms of him picking/choosing judges and cabinet nominees, but…how in ANY way is losing Republican control of the House a victory???
It isn’t.
By losing control of the House, Trump has lost control of passing GOP legislation without issue (let’s see some of that “deal making” you’re so good at, Donald) so that desire to repeal the ACA??? Or giving your billionaire buddies even further tax breaks???
But also, losing control of the House means that Trump has lost control of subpoena power. So he, his staff, and his family, can all be investigated and called to stand trial. For example, those tax records he’s been so determined not to reveal? They can now be forced into the light.
I’m not saying the Republicans didn’t walk away without something. Control of the Senate and winning a few seats that used to be Democratic is a loss, however we knew it was always going to be tough to maintain those seats, and practically every poll was against us from the beginning.
That being said, some of those Republican Senate seats were not won easily. Despite Cruz holding onto his seat, the fact that his race came *that* close? When in 2014 he won it by a larger margin? That’s worrisome for Republicans. The fact that more and more suburbs, which many Republicans once saw as a safe bet (or at the very least, “purple” if not solid red) are leaning more and more blue than they ever have before. Which could be “problematic” for them in 2020.
And let us not forget the record number of WOMEN who won last night, and the strides taken by people of color (especially women of color) and LGBTQ persons, being represented at the national level by congressional winners like Lauren Underwood, Rashida Tlaib, and Sharice Davids.
Oh, and Trump shouldn’t ignore the number of governor seats that flipped from red to blue. The Republicans are always going on and on about how they’re the party for “states rights”, and losing Republican control of various states through governors…including traditional red states like Kansas…that’s also problematic, especially when trying to “force” these states to adopt your nationalist agenda.
Yeah, there were a great many places that used to be seen as solid Republican strongholds that went blue last night. In Oklahoma, Kendra Horn upset the Republican to win the 5th district; Staten Island in New York, a traditionally red region, went for Democrat Max Rose, and Jennifer Wexton and Abigail Spanberger overturned two powerful seats in Virginia.
Honestly, I don’t see how Trump and his cronies can call last night a “victory” for them.
They had some successes, I’ll not deny that, but it was not a “victory” by any counts.
If anything, it was a buzzer going off. A buzzer indicating time’s up.
Florida, Georgia, Texas…the seeds have been planted.
Do not lose hope and think this was all for nothing.
It wasn’t, because you, along with Andrew, Stacey, and Beto planted the seeds to get democracy back on track.
Turnout was huge, bigger than it’s ever been. It was a progressive step forward, and believe it or not, it *did* put a dent in the red stronghold. Truly, you weakened it.
The work is not finished. Continue fighting, continue working, continue pushing forward and demanding change. It’s coming. And these last few months/weeks/days was a sign of that. Change is coming…and it will arrive, but only if we keep fighting.
Just called for a Dem-majority House. I can go to bed and actually sleep now!
For now, but remember–Trump and his cronies are going to do everything they can to pass whatever they can *before* January, so we need to be on red alert…or dare I say, BLUE ALERT these next few weeks
Musings of a Yankee Countess 