I really thought we were going to take the plunge. Didn’t you?
Polling got scary as fuck there in the run-up. The fascists were out speaking confidently about their fascist plans. They thought that was what America wanted and needed.
Enough people saw the danger and strangled the movement in its crib. This midterm has been very odd in that the majority party basically stayed one, and in fact we could still hold both bodies. We don’t yet know who will really control the House at this point, but if we Democrats do win it will have been a bit too close for comfort. As of today, there have been seven net pickups by Republicans-enough to narrowly change the balance of power if all races hold. Other than that we have matched them flip for flip. That’s not optimum at all, but if we lose it is not easy for Republicans to claim some sort of conservative “mandate”, and we should be thankful and pat ourselves on the back that new voting laws across America did not stop us from coming out in force to make sure the fundamental nature of America, that of a democracy, was preserved.
So I’m glad I can now have a somewhat sunnier disposition for now and say we aren’t going down the crapper completely…just yet. We still have a rogue SCOTUS shredding precedent that isn’t originalist in nature, and of course we will have to see what kind of effect a Trump run does to 2024 and see if fascism with the proper “strongman” leading it will raise its ugly head once more. We also have to think about who will be taking on whomever the GOP selects-Biden has said he will likely run again, but if he doesn’t Jaime Harrison better think fast as to who is best positioned to put the Trump phenom in the shallow grave it belongs in. Even then we will still probably have to contend with Ron DeSantis, who is also a fascist but may put a more genial facade on the movement.
For now, I cannot exhale fully until the votes are counted and we know who will control the House. But nevertheless, democracy had a hell of a showing even if we come up a little short.