Where I grew up in a farming town in the Sacramento Valley, the ordinary decent citizens had a term to describe the racist, misogynistic folks in our community, Trash. Somehow now they’ve been elevated to legitimacy. Fear certainly is a powerful mobilizer.
14
I don't any issues with Nancy Pelosi holding the gavel in January 2019. She will have a large freshman class with much to learn and she has much to teach them. I do think Democrats should begin identifying and grooming her successor and that person should take over by early 2020. I am grateful for her service, but there should be a new House leader well before the next Presidential election.
9
This article stands in direct contrast to the column written by Bret Stephens. It clearly lays out the winning strategy used by the democrats and describes the chaos starting at the top and drifting down to the house and senate. Thanks so much for this and although I am a strong supported of PP support the talking points Pelosi insisted be the message for the election. It paid off.
3
Though Republicans won't admit it, Trump in reality has no political allegiance to their party. He is a party of one; he's in it for himself and no one else. Trying to fathom what he wants and how to give it to him is a fools' errand. It's a no-win situation. Catering to him earns them his disrespect; not catering to him earns them his rage. No matter what they do or say, he makes decisions only on the basis of what's best for him.
16
An excellent article depicting the poor campaigning by the GOP. Indeed, the results were sown by the so-called 'Freedom' caucus that foiled attempts at reforming the current immigration system, updating the healthcare system, and passing a public/private partnership infrastructure bill.
These failures gave the Democrat party opportunities to campaign on a number of out-of-context quotes that did not truly represent the Republican party positions.
Treating those who support a centrist or right-of-center agenda as extremists, uneducated, rural bumkins who mistreat and disrespect women and minorities is an aspect of the national media that is difficult to overcome - however untrue it may be. The majority of non-partisan Americans have no voice.
1
Republicans: Got what they deserved!!!! And Trump? WHAT A BABY!! Throwing a temper tantrum over the most insignificant - and often - perceived - "slight"!!!
Ha ha ha ha!!! No more "rubber stamp" congress!!
7
"Trump cast aside a positive Republican message about economic prosperity in favor of stoking racial panic about immigration — with appeals that veered into overt racism, alienating moderate swing voters"
This is a textbook example of language used in pieces like this that cause anybody right of center to accuse the NYT and other main stream media to have a significant liberal bias.
"Stoking racial panic about immigration" - The writers just assume Trump's motivation was to stoke racial panic and state such assumption as fact. This is not reporting, this is opinion. Many people who are not on the left see a group of thousands of foreign nationals approaching our border in a coordinated fashion and are appalled not because they are racists but because they respect the rule of law. Sure, our legal system provides for an asylum process but many of us believe this process is being severely exploited. The left loves to talk about "dog whistles" on the right but this is an example of how the writers of this piece use a dog whistle to the left - you see, those who aren't welcoming to the caravan are racists and bad people; the rest of us are really nice people.
"alienating swing voters" - This is just a broad generalization by the writers used to fit the narrative of "every reasonable person agrees with the left on immigration". Again, this is opinion and not reporting on the facts. But sneaking it into a piece that is supposed to be straight news makes it seem like fact.
2
The reality is that too many losers turned out. This won't happen again.
GOP leadership was outraged that Paul Ryan decides to quit complaining it’s “selfish”. That’s rich, the entire GOP legislative strategy is built upon the concept of selfishness.
3
Trump's domination of the news is a dual edged sword. One the one hand he drowns out any other coverage, pro or con, about the Democrats. On the other hand the Democrats don't need to spend a lot defining him, because he is doing it himself, and it is often not pretty. A majority of Americans don't seem to like a mean spirited liar as President.
8
The Democrats just gained another seat in a red district. After absentee ballots were counted today first-time candidate, Xochitl has taken an insurmountable lead over her GOP opponent in New Mexico's CD2.
5
Sen. McConnell "thought it was selfish" of Speaker Paul Ryan to announce he would not seek reelection and abandon support, especially his fund-raising efforts, for his Republican colleagues, clearly facing an angry electorate.
But Ryan is a disciple of Ayn Rand, and her so-called "philosophy" elevates crass selfishness to the pinnacle of moral virtue.
Is McConnell that ignorant of what makes Paul Ryan tick? Who could possibly be surprised?
4
The only tools in Trump's tool belt is gasoline and a lit match to turn out his political base.
2
How did the Democrats win the House? In my opinion, it is very simple but terribly distressing: they won because it is the only process in your system that is somewhat democratic. What we have learned in 2500 years of democracy is that when you ask a sensible group of people a sensible question in a sensible way you get, invariably, a sensible answer: that's what you've got with the House.
On the other hand, when you play by rules that are expressly devised to cheat you get a crazy answer...The crook in chief was elected by an inept and antiquated system that is as democratic as... that of any banana republic in the world! The republicans have taken the Senate by taking advantage of a totally un-democratic system that values certain votes 100 times more than others!
The U.S. democracy has been exposed, by Trump, as what it truly has become: a system governed by money, greed and special interests...A sad irony for a nation that boasted itself, for 75 years, has beeing the guardian of democracy in the world...
Good luck!
4
We, and much of the world, have a safe and prosperous economy. But R losses or razor thin wins (FL gov, GA gov) demonstrate the '40%' excellence that Rs have been milking. But let me be specific, McCarthy is only about McCarthy - even his team knows it. And Joe... or 'Kevin' as you now brand, are never going up from here.
Fabulous reporting. Well done! It's difficult to imagine that any team of people under the President can survive his self-absorbed pettiness.
It's startling to see this laid out in one article.
1
I live in one of the suburban Philadelphia districts that flipped from Republican to Democrat on Tuesday. This area is populated mostly by moderates. The healthcare and jobs message of the Democrats was a strong one.
Plus, many, many people around here are simply turned off by Trump's tone, tweets and divisive messaging. Tax cuts? Great! Job creation? Fantastic! Veiled racism? Now hold on there. Taking away healthcare? Ok, you lost my vote.
6
The pendulum swings in these midterm elections every four years. it happened to Bush and Obama as well. One can analyze this to death and that cycle does not change. Thank God we have a democracy where that is the case.
1
This is excellent reporting, writing and editing.
1
The big "elephant" or shall I call it a Nationalist in the room is that the country is strained under the current constitutional make up. When rural states like MT, NE, WY, AK, ND have 10 senators and CA, NY and TX only have 6 explains the angst in the country today.
85 million in those three states have a senator for each 14 million people, In 5 mentioned it's one for every 400,000. The citizens of those rural states have 35 times the voting power of large states with both rural and urban populations. The few are loading our judiciary, making treaties (or breaking them) with foreign countries and obfuscating the will of the people.
The founders never envisioned urbanization at the scale we've seen. Jeffersons dream was agricultural in nature and Mt. Vernon was a it's own little town. We revere the constitution but have not taken advantage of an important feature--that it can be changed.
Of course the narrative here is that the Republicans bumbled through the election process while Democrats were strategic masters. Why can't it be as simple as the House flipped against an incumbent President in his first mid-term just as it usually does and as it was expected to do?
1
The best part about all of this is that we have gotten rid of a lot of guys who did not want to be in Congress anyway. We have made a start with the Republicans and over the next two years we can continue the two party purge with focus on a very weak Democratic Party.
American voters want nothing to do with either Party. Both Parties are long past their prime. The 2018 election cycle is the beginning of the dismantlement of American government as we have known it.
What is known as "American-style democracy" as a governing force does not work on this planet. It is a minority and failed system of governance.
Under President Trump America is being restored under a one man, one country ethos of effective executive leadership. Congress has never exhibited leadership. Americans have always looked to their President for true national leadership; President Trump is restoring that vibrant force after decades of deterioration of the Presidency under weak indecisive men.
1
Half right. The Democratic focus on health care and pre-existing conditions was accurate and a big engine to success.
What is missing in that analysis is that when it stopped there, it worked. When the Progressive wing got ahold of the football and ran it downfield from there- "Medicare for all"- it turned from a winner into flopping like a dying fish on a beach.
A victory for centrists? We'll see. If the Democratic party tacks back to the hard left, you can kiss 2020 goodbye. The sooner Bernie Sanders and his message of economic insanity disappears, the better.
4
Did the Pennsylvania Court hand the U.S. House of Representatives to the Democrats by recently ordering new district lines?
Chaos it is, and no one should need to be told why no country can thrive when the leadership, acts, laws, speeches and agenda are nothing but chaos.
This man is a disaster artist. Unfortunately, we're the canvas he's slashing and destroying for his "art." I think it was Kristol, of all people, who pointed out that anything DJT does needs to have the rider, "for a toddler..." attached. That's a great painting...for a toddler.
I would have counseled the Dems to go slowly on impeachment, to establish first a sound foundation of legislation and attempts to work across the aisle.
But I have now watched the attacks on Jim Acosta, April Ryan and other members of the press, have listened to the noisome continuing idiocy about the caravan (Forget the British. The babies are coming! The babies are coming! Hide the pacifiers and diapers!) have witnessed the filthy, dirty tricks deployed by Kemp and his cronies, and, above all, have watched in disbelief as DJT did the one thing calculated to confirm an ongoing effort to obstruct justice: firing Sessions.
Democrats. It's time. Impeach a man so thoroughly unfit for office that no other single act will do more to repair this nation than removing him from power. It's either that or Article 25. We cannot face another two years of criminal, corrupt, hysterical, unhinged, chaotic "leadership." He's leading us to ruin.
4
Trump insisted this election was a referendum on his presidency. Here are the aggregate results:
HOUSE
Democrats got 48 million votes and won 230 seats
GOP got 45 million votes and won 205 seats
Victory margin for Democrats: 3 million votes and 25 seats
SENATE
Democrats got 42 million votes and won 22 seats
GOP got 32 million votes and won 13 seats
Victory margin for Democrats: 10 million votes and 9 seats
The people have spoken. The majority rejected Donald Trump.
4
The Democrats did what needed to be done: advanced their agenda and made it clear to voters that Donald was a GOP problem. In NJ, we were in the thick of multiple, successful campaigns by highly qualified first time candidates. They ran on their own strengths, qualifications, and talked exclusively about what they hoped to achieve. They pledged to work in a bipartisan fashion to make better the lives of American people. I heard about healthcare every single time. I heard about infrastructure, taxes, sensible gun control, voting rights, immigration reform, education and things that truly matter.
When someone brought up Donald’s latest stunt, i.e., whatever his topic du jour was, it was deftly jumped over. The most direct response was along the lines of, “I disagree. What I am running on...”. The refusal to engage in his nonsense and validate his behavior, to stick to what their proposals were, to policy, to how to legislate was brilliant.
They stole his thunder.
Donald made it clear to the GOP that you were either his loyal toady or out. He read the list of the ungrateful and the vanquished yesterday in case anyone missed the memo. For those stay on in the GOP, any vestige of independence is foregone. You are owned. So the GOP will field lousy candidates and collapse under the considerable weight of Donald. Or he’ll be dumped. But he IS THEIR MESS.
And Kevin McCarthy is sorting Starbursts for him, important work.
5
Dems didn’t pander the news cycle, exactly! They IGNORED him and reduced him to background chatter allowing him to fall on the lameness of his message. Some folk who watch favorable news sources to Trump, got tired of hearing it and saw through it.
So dems Love rationalizing social issues
into complexity where some scratch their heads and don’t get it. Resist a lecture, keep it practical and simple and
Moms from the burbs will vote for you.
1
Considering the GOP's long history of voter suppression and election tampering, it's no surprise that so many races are requiring recounts. Brian Kemp in Georgia did his dirty work in plain view, as 700 wrapped and never used voting machines remained in a government warehouse, while many people of color found it impossible to cast a vote because of too few machines.
Trump was right, this election had his name on the ballot. I can only hope that losing the House is just the beginning of the end for Trump and his criminal caravan.
2
This is Thursday.
On Tuesday my comment was on a life-long Republican woman who had just voted "straight-ticket" Democrat for the first time.
The reason was because trump and the Republicans were trying to frighten her with "The Caravan".
Hauling out the Army.
Stringing up razor-wire.
A group 600 miles away and in a different country isn't what I fear, she said.
I fear AR-15's.
In Thousand Oaks, California, there are now 12 dead and many wounded
Democrats: THIS is why you were elected.
There is nothing you can do about the Senate - but here is your duty.
Outlaw AR-15's. For a start.
Today's the day you start.
4
McConnell thought Ryan was being selfish? Now that’s a laugh! The whole GOP agenda is now catering to the selfishness of moneyed elite, so why shouldn’t Ryan take the money and run...away? Me thinks McConnell has been playing his bait and switch game with voters for so long, he now lives under the illusion he is striving for the greater good. I can’t stop laughing.
And so America a great portion of it still supports lies abuse and cruelty. My sadness is so deep that anger is the only thing that prevents me from depression.
The adage is true: hate can make you become the thing that you hate.
3
I’m delighted to hear from expatriates living around the world but would prefer to hear why they have left the country.
Two commenters have moved to Vancouver but don’t say why.
After fifteen years as an expatriate my political efforts continue for both France and America. The treaty between France and the US requires that I pay all my income tax to the US and none to France.
In return for all my American taxes, congress refuses to allow me to use my Medicare overseas. Why not? The total number of retired Americans living overseas is not so large that all those taxes could not cover the expense.
The advent of Trump served to reinforce my decision to leave the country after Bushe and his wars originally drove me out.
The incredible efforts of American women in the current election who have just shamed us all with their success has given me new hope for America!
3
The GOP made a deal with the devil in supporting Trump to get their wish list implemented. Not only has it failed, but lo and behold the deal caused some unsavory and costly consequences, which this article lays bare. As the GOP's brand smolders in ruins, I am reminded to be careful the company you keep.
2
Can we settle this “billions of dollars we are spending to forgeign government tha would be better spent taking care of ou own citizenry first.”
American sends a lot of money to Israel, we get back sometimes information from their intelligence, a lot of the other is spent of military bases within the countries. Also we give to some countries so that they stay friendly and giveamrica what it wants back.
Some people will argue this money is keeping America safe and perhaps the world. The main point is America does NOT out of the goodness of our hearts just give away money. We do/didgivemoney to the UN but do not buy into we do it because we are big hearted , we do it for what we want from them. Sometimes for those countries it is not a good deal.
1
Something is wrong in the PA-11th district. The boundaries were redrawn by the courts because of gerrymandering. The democratic funded poll showed the race within the margin of error - 5 points a few days before the election. Unfortunately, there were no independent polls taken because of the huge edge in registered republicans. However, the grassroots campaign King ran was huge and she outspent Smucker. Despite that and the very close poll the final results from the York County Government website were Schmucker 65.22% and King 34.68%. That must have been the most biased poll ever to miss by 25 points. Something doesn't add up.
1
How ironic. The Republicans tried to win on Jobs Not Mobs yet their own undisciplined campaign is mob-like behaviour and cost them their jobs.
5
Lt. Gov. Brad Little, sprang into action. They assembled footage of Mr. Labrador criticizing Mr. Trump during the 2016 primary, when he was backing Senator Ted Cruz, and steered it to the West Wing.
The endorsement was off.
What a childish need for constant approval.
Or if he grabs yet more power, what a frightening need for revenge. What might come next?
2
Excellent piece. Good work.
That laser Democrat focus cost them more seats in the Senate. I expect it wasn't their focus in the House either. The question is will they squander their gains in the House with legislation for the people or try to continue to pursue showing us why they lost the presidential bid for 2016?
3
The notion that the Republican Party was "fatally" undone by the House flip is implausible. It might be a nice exercise for the classroom to imagine a nation in which either of the political duopolists, the Dems or the Pubs, might be undone, but it ain't happening. Rather, what happened in this midterm was exactly facilitated by how the Framers set things up in their system of checking the anticipated tendency to have one party or another (what Madison in Federalist No. 10 called a "faction") dominate. Madison today is smiling down on some angel's wing. Divide the power and the power will not so easily oppress. Read No. 10. It's short. It's largely current. It explains much more than this piece.
1
As I posted on elsewhere, there are winners and losers in this country. The winners are the cities where growth is and will happen in spite of politicians and the losers are everywhere else. The winners want to progress and the losers want the merry-go-round to stop. Voting is following that trend and there is no easy solution.
I live within an hour’s drive of world class health care and universities. My quality of life would be poorer if I lived in the upper Midwest or west of the Mississippi until Denver. Or in Kentucky (home of the most powerful man on earth). It’s what it is.
2
The Empire Strikes Back Again
I have a renewed sense of hope, in politics and my fellow Americans, and feel a great sense of relief, that I will not be left to die, from my ongoing health problems, due to unchecked greed and cruel indifference.
As a person who works and takes many medications, in order to live, like many others like myself, I feel a bit more secure, after taking to the polls and keeping things “blue”.
70% of Americans identified Health Care as the number one issue this election. It was also refreshing to know that my fellow Americans voted to expand Medicaid, across the country.
This is the promise of hope that defines America, as Ronald Reagan described as “that shining city on the hill”. Today, America shines brighter and stands taller, because it has finally done something to take care, of the least among us, and in the process, demonstrate what is the best within each of us.
1
The USA is the only major power on Earth that refuses to implement single-payer health insurance for all of its citizens. We won't get that until the Republicans have marginalized themselves into oblivion.
5
Interesting the author uses the phrase "white, rural base" to describe Trump's "base" in a way that some could construe as borderline pejorative. Regardless, the growing number of Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians who are starting to vote Republican in places like like Bexar County (San Antonio, Congressional District TX-23) and Southern California (Young Kim, Congressional District CA-39) would beg to differ with the mischaracterization.
A growing economy provides opportunity for all regardless of ethnicity. That is probably the key reason that the supposed Blue Wave never materialized despite the overwhelmingly negative coverage of Trump by the national press core.
3
The Dems were harping on how gerrymandering was making it difficult, if not impossible, to get true representation of the people. Yet, in the House races, where gerrymandering is in effect, they won. In the Senate races, with no gerrymandering possible, they lost.
Perhaps they are right about gerrymandering after all.
5
Now that the GOP is the party of Trump, we can expect more of this disarray heading into 2020. The party can’t govern nor govern itself. If Dems play it smart, like they did this cycle, they should pick up the Senate bolstered by a favorable map.
7
he knows this. He has only 18 or so months to seize power. how far can he go without violating the last semblance of patriotism among the Senate majority?
2
This is the best article on campign 2018 I've read.
It has it all, top to bottom.
7
This article and many of the comments neglect to mention one of the biggest reasons for the Democratic win: the grassroots organization and mobilization of American voters to maintain their democracy in the face of the oligarchy. Thank you to all those anonymous citizens who registered voters, stood on street corners with banners, went house to house to get out the vote. It worked.
42
Except it didn’t work in Ohio or Florida, where it really needed to. Or Arizona, or Indiana. Or Missouri.
All very interesting and almost certainly true, but I think it tends to obscure the point.
Let me suggest that the salient factor was, in the words of Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", that it was the "powerful odor of mendacity" that filled the nation, and began to gag most of us that did them in.
11
The only actual error Republicans made was in 2016 when they rallied behind Donald Trump and elected him.
There is plenty of opportunity to spin and to dispense with hypotheses on what happened. But in the end the entire thing is centrally about Trump and his incompetence as a politician.
Republicans are diverse enough to occasionally put pragmatism above idealism, something Democrats are terrible at, and those republicans who voted democrats this year (or elected not to vote republican) are the unsung heroes of this election.
Now, let's hope moderates on both isles can mitigate the fringe noise pollution and put this genie back in its bottle.
2
It seems that Democratic politicians came to their senses in the nick of time although many of the most fervent on the Left still have not. Vocal Twitterites obsess about identity and values; the voters whom the Party needs to attract care about bread-and-butter.
If the Democrats want to win in 2020 they need to continue repeating to themselves: Economic issues always come first.
7
I know we all sometimes waste lots of time on twitter but does the average voter actually care about left vs right culture wars on twitter? Twitter is not rational debate. It's just people venting.
Agreed but what does this have to do with Sessions being fired?
It seems to me that the Democrats used Trumps playbook. He had one message....MAGA. Who can argue with that? Clinton on the other hand went through 180 some odd campaign slogans and ended up with “I’m with her” to which many said
“No I’m not”. The lesson learned here is use one message that resonates and then stick with it. You want to counter MAGA, then find one message and stick with it.
6
Strange that “pre-existing conditions” was the DNC mantra when it was not even being threatened.
At least the caravans are real.
May the "progressive" wing hear this message and hear it well. Let the liberal left not fall on our swords again as we did in 2016 with idiotic "Bernie or bust" petulance. Pick attractive candidates and stick to an economic message that resonates in the 'burbs. That's the only way to beat that solid 42 percent on the right.
19
@Mikoana. Listen up, Democrats. You won by managing your campaigns the way Republicans once did. Stick to the message and don't get drawn off target. It worked this year and it can work again. And for everyone's sake, pick a candidate with broad appeal. Check for worts before nominating.
2
The most amazing clips of all of the campaigns were the ones of Republicans swearing that they supported ACA's "pre-existing conditions" - and then the next clip would be of them swearing they would get rid of all of it.
How many times did Republicans vote to get rid of ACA, especially "pre-existing conditions"?
70.
70 times.
What kind of morons did they take the voters for?
Having watched both trump and Ryan betray everyone they know, I'm not surprised and someday, hopefully soon, both Ryan and trump will both be "hung out to dry".
Looking forward to that day......
23
trustiing ANY republicOn on health care is an exercise in fololhardiness.
10
Do you guys ever tire of spinning ? "Republicans would suffer grievous losses in November." Grievous ? Really ? Per Real Clear Politics, it looks like Dems are gaining 27 seats. That's less than half the 56 seats that Republicans gained in 2010 after Obama's first mid-term. If 2018 represented "grievous" losses, what was 2010 ?
Put it another way. Dems needed 23 seats to gain the majority. So yes, they'll have a majority - but we're talking single-digits. Moreover, most of the extreme left-wing "Resistance" Democrats lost their election including NE-2 and CA-45.
If there is a positive light for Dems (more than a bare majority), it is the continued movement of college-educated suburban voters toward Dems. This didn't help them in the Senate (given the number of red states being contested) and is of questionable value in the battle for the White House (since most battleground states have lower than average college educated populace). But it does help them win the House - albeit by small margins.
12
Republicans have gerrymandered the states - it’s disgusting how they have cheated to hold onto power. So, yeah. It’s impressive the Democrats could win this many seats when the cards are stacked against them. Honestly, you need to qualify not just quantify.
1
Part of me is squirming at how Ohio rolled Republican this time around, but then I looked at the results spread for those who gained office. The Dems who won seem to have landed solidly, while everyone else who won squeaked in at a 45-55 (or less) margin.
I find this unexpectedly reassuring. We are sitting in a spectacularly gerrymandered state, and we have urban pockets that roll liberal (Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, and, um...Athens? Looks like, anyway). Don’t assume too much from how the tally ended. DeWine may not have been my preference, but he has redeeming qualities; I might have voted for him in other circumstances. More to the point: I’m not sure what’s going on in the non-urban/non-suburban regions, but evidently something’s up, because the Republicans who won only came in with marginal leads.
Don’t call this state red, just yet. Feeling very purple.
9
Minimum wage adjusted for inflation since 1968 should be fifty dollars an hour. Imagine 250,000 thousand jobs with weekly work schedules of twenty to thirty hours per week (that have replaced the traditional forty hour work week, with benefits,) benefitting say someone working at Walmart twenty hours a week at fifty dollars an hour. Would that be sufficient in covering living expenses for most, if not all areas of the country? Residents of rural areas of the country would enjoy a standard of living just as residents of major urban centers do in this country.
Both parties support industry's adherence to a slave mentality when it comes to what the American Worker is entitled to.
All else is pure hogwash.
6
Why not double it to 100, or, even better, 200 dollar per hour? This will double and then redouble again the benefits for the few that will remain working after 90 percent of the jobs will move to the rest of the world? Just asking.
So, do you believe that corporations should pay workers insuffient wages to live, so that like many Walmart workers, they need welfare even thought they work? Why should businesses foist the cost of keeping workers alive on the taxpayers?
2
Democrats masterfully hid their defacto open border,sanctuary city policies and eliminating ICE proposals. Many Democrat candidates mouthed words for strong border,curbing illegal immigration and pretend supporting rule of law. Suburban women bought it. They will be disappointed as Democrats can't hide their ever more leftist sacraments long.
5
I don't understand the claim Dems want open boarders, unless as hyperbole from someone who wants a solid wall and fortress country with no immigration. I suppose If you oppose all immigration, any looks like open boarders.
No one wants a, open boarder. We want a controlled border with lots of doors. Build the wall. it's a great boondoggle and will be a great jobs program while the construction lasts, but build it with wide doors. I'm counting on immigrants who want to work to pay my Social Security. Americans don't have enough children to support Social Security, so let's import workers.
Democrats had a really good night last night. Sure it would have been nice to win in Texas and Florida, but what most people are missing is the significant improvement in various state houses for the Democrats which hasn’t happened in years. Quite a few more Democrats now in governor mansions and that will help them significantly in 2020. And going forward many states passed to have independent commissions draw the districts which should further help.
Finally, Obamacare is here to stay! Three red states joined to expand Medicare, and with the House there is no more repeal bills, hurray.
17
Seems like the writer ignored the steady, very large drip-drip-drip of the American Resistance, which literally formed organizations like Indivisible and protested outside the offices of said "retiring senior legislators" -- with sheet cakes no less!
Also the supposed Republican "juggernaut" issue: ACA repeal, drove protesters of the -- wait for it -- American Resistance to sit in offices, and drown Republicans in letters, emails, phone calls, and protest "gifts" sending a message that these legislators had failed and the Resistance would make their next elections very, very difficult.
Of course the GOP is falling apart from the inside. But underestimating or ignoring the broad, grassroots outrage that has been effective in changing power in the House is an all too common oversight in pieces such as this.
Does the Resistance have to file to become a corporation in order to count as a factor in American politics so you might see we are people too? Just wondering over here.....
6
When are the Republicans and the *POTUSA" going to stop beating a ",dead horse"? The Obama's, Clinton's and the Bush Clan are gone. All that's coming is all on Trump's watch.Get with the new situation and work together for our Republic. If not get of way for new people that will get the. job done.
4
The Dems , even with the set-backs in the Senate did well. The house controls the purse strings and, as has been noted, can exercise its power to investigate . What has not been noted, have been the Democratic gubernatorial victories just before the 2020 census following which states can reconfigure their congressional districts. The Republican's sole success has been the retention of control of the Senate and the ability to appoint judges. Its a serious setback for justice since these appointees serve for life. Beyond that the Republicans obtained no advantage beyond what they currently hold and are susceptible to additional losses in 2020.
5
Trump is only the third President in 100 years to gain seats in the Senate in an off year election.
Obama lost 63 House sets in 2010. Tump lost 26 yesterday.
Let’s get real here.
11
That’s false. Trump is the third president to gain senate seats
*while losing the House*
in an off year election in 100 years. Just saw the article in “Marketwatch”.
Of course, we all knew that the senate seats up this year were in many states that, for whatever reason, had disproportionate shares of the minority of Americans who can stand Trump. The nation taken as a whole rejected him and his.
13
Of course Republicans suffered losses in the suburbs; the big tax bill actually RAISED taxes on the stereotypical suburban family with middle to high incomes, children, and property taxes paying for good schools.
When not being injured that bloc of Republicans is ignored; the GOP attacks cities, butters up rural dwellers, but suburbanites can’t be heard at all.
8
The country voted the same way it usually votes in mid-term elections.
3
I still can't understand how anyone votes for republicans. The GOP is against healthcare, wants to damage Social Security, is anti-union, gives tax cuts to the wealthy, tries to control women's bodies, and does everything it can to serve its corporate donors. They operate as if they own this nation. But their mindless followers are blinded by partisanship, and continually vote against their best interests.
22
@Joseph
I still don't understand how everyone votes for.Dems. Look at all countries with Socialist systems. Other than the Scandinavian countries, who have a highly civicaly-minded populace, the rest are examples for avoidance. Basket cases.
Yet, otherwise educated, intelligent men such as yourself, continue to believe in the lie that people can organize to work for the common good in a large scale and for a meaningful amount of time, just because they are nice and they love their fellow man. Life will soon disabuse you of this notion.
Conservatives operate from the point of view that dependency on government is corruptive for both the citizen and the government.
Trump and congressional republicans would have been much better served pushing the success of the economy rather than the negative rhetoric of a group of migrants hundreds of miles from our border.
1
There is no sympathy for a party that has slavishly followed a demagogue right off the cliff. Average Americans have little respect for politicians who follow Trump like lemmings. Senators Flake and Corker did a smart thing by getting out while they could, but in the end we (the American people) are left with the Democratic party and the Trump party. There is a raging fire ahead in such predictable confrontations between the two parties. Citizens will have to shelter-in-place until sanity is restored and Trump exits the scene, one way or another.
7
This analysis reeks of the complacency and self delusion that lead Democrats to think they had the Presidential election in the bag. Wrong, given the toxic Trump presidency, this Democrat result is not the landslide it should have been, they continue to fail to acknowledge legitimate working class concerns.
5
You mean unimportant positions like:
Affordable Health Care
Covered preexisting conditions
Use of government power to negotiate drugs costs
Affordable schooling
Clean air
Clean water
Product safety
Consumer protection
Fair Pay
Good jobs
Too bad Dems are unconcerned with issues relevant to average working people like:
No planned parenthood
Specific religion dictating government policy
Massive government debt saddling their children’s future
Building a wall that no one actually believes will work
Ability to regain highly coveted jobs currently being denied them like picking strawberries 16 hours a day, or killing chickens and hogs in meat packing plants
No NPR
No NEA
Making sure ultra-rich have enough to get by on...
Corporate welfare
3
Thats all great, but in politics when some people say : what about factories and jobs being shipped to Mexican and China, or how about uncontrolled borders: ordinarily it pays to listen. Thats how one captures a vote.
2
You reach absurd conclusions. Given the history of midterm elections, Democrats turned in sparse success.
8
Baloney. Dems turned out four million more voters than the Republicans and the Dems were within .5 - 2.6 points of winning in deep red states against popular incumbents.
1
So, the only way to get a true number of votes for Democrats & Republicans in the USA for the mid-terms would be to total all of the votes cast in all the districts for the House of Representatives.
Does anyone know where I can find that number?
How the house fell? Republican chaos?
Can we please stop pretending this was even close to a "thumpin'?"
Surely it's been repeated ad nauseum, but:
Dubbya lost 30.
Clinton, 54
Obama, 63!
Republicans last night under DJT have lost all of 27. (Trust me, I'm hoping that number rises to 32.)
There was no blue wave. Even the indicted were re-elected! The furor came out today emboldened. And it's only Wednesday.
8
@Mike, Dubya gained seats in 2002.
guess it's not just "the economy, stupid" anymore! we are really post-Clinton now in every sense of the word.
1
What do people mean that there was no Democratic wave? They won the Senate popular vote 60-40% with an unfavorable collection of states and the House popular vote by similar margins. These are pretty impressive numbers and they speak of one thing: the GOP is now so unpopular that they cannot even win with the system that totally favors them.
5
one wonders though, that unless the gerrymandering of seats is fixed, we will see a Republican Senate and Democrat Congress forever more. not that gridlock would necessarily be a bad thing.
4
Not to mention, the stellar leadership of the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, aka "Lying Ryan" (accurately), who is now positioning himself to be the Republican nominee for 2020. Just saying.
2
He should dream on. Time to get a real job.
1
Historically, the incumbent president’s party usually loses ground in the midterms. Over the past 21 midterm elections, the incumbent party has lost an average 30 seats in the House and 4 in the Senate. Yesterday’s result falls short of the historical average, and pales in comparison to Obama’s 2010 reversal (loss of 53 House and 6 Senate seats). Democrats have gained only a small majority in the House and even lost a number of Senate seats. They can pat themselves on the back and praise their ‘focused’ messaging publicly, but this is certainly not the energized “blue wave” they were hoping for and predicting.
7
This argument ignores the blatant gerrymandering and Republican voter suppression that literally made national news.
You're discounting unprecedented voter turnout and hysteria drummed up by this President to freak his base out.
2
Beg to differ. It is astounding that the President's party could lose so many House seats when the economy right now is chugging along so briskly and the unemployment rate is 3.7%. By contrast, in October 2010 the unemployment rate was 9.6% (!) and had shown no signs of moving downward since May of that year. Americans were in a foul economic mood at the time, whereas now they should be richly rewarding the party in power and instead handed that party a wet slap.
Clearly this was an unforced error by the Republicans.
2
Oddly, this headline says exactly the opposite of what various pundits were saying in the weeks before the election: that Republicans were focusing on immigration and Democrats had a mixed message. I doubted that then. I'm glad to see the Times has come around to seeing it this way now.
Though the Democratic candidate for SC governor, James Smith, did not win, neither did he stoop to blatantly biased or pandering advertising as did his opponent, Governor McMaster. SC will suffer, but not because the Smith-Powers Norrell message was not on target. A lot of people here love Trump and vote against their own interests. So no Medicaid expansion in SC for now.
3
Thank you Mr. Burns and Mr. Martin for this great reporting and very interesting insight. The Democratic Party is far from perfect in its branding and messaging, but the cracks in the Republican Party are starting to show, thanks to the vitriol and divisiveness coming from the top.
157
@Mr. Florentine
We get the government that we deserve!
@Mr. Florentino : Mr. Burns and Mr. Martin neglected to mention that historically the party in opposition always gains in mid-term elections. This basic fact eludes the authors, who have no notion of context and no historical background. They are mere reporters, not journalists.
2
I am a fiscally conservative, socially center-right registered Independent. I believe that both Dems and Repubs won various races because of one, overarching reason: they ran superior candidates to those of the opposing party. There were certainly exceptions on both sides, and to deny that President Trump was a big factor is simply naive. The two party system is antiquated and successfully drowns out viable people who do not neatly or fully embrace either party's tired dogma. It would be nice for both parties to compromise and find some kind of affordable, workable approach to the health care system in this country that is as broken as our laughable immigration system. One way to accomplish this would be to reanalyze whether the billions of dollars we are sending to foreign governments would be better spent taking care of our own citizenry first. The Democrats are not all evil Socialists, and the Republicans are not all corporate-owned puppets. Legitimate debate about policy, methodology and even ideology can take place without the acrimony that we've come to accept. That said, what Americans need most, from ALL of our politicians, is a willingness to put the electorate first and their own personal power and position second. I haven't seen a lot of that since Harry Truman was the POTUS, and I fear that I may never see it again.
109
@Ron Edde
how about taking the obscene tax cuts and redireting them to health care?
22
@Ron Edde: aren't part of the billions of dollars
sent to foreign govts spent for US military bases?
and if US [or EU] foreign trade policy were truly FAIR
much le$$ would have to be spent to repair
the damage economic exploitation does elsewhere.
3
The large number of Republicans who decided not to run again in 2018, led of course by Speaker Paul Ryan, a former vice-presidential candidate, was instrumental in preparing the battlefield for the Democrats.
Yes, the Democrats were smart. But in many Congressional races, Republicans shot themselves in the foot repeatedly. They played to lose. And they did.
A bad night? Maybe. But a stronger Republican majority in the Senate. Not bad. The Senate approves judges ... and justices ... and cabinet nominees. And if the House blocks ... then things do not move ... and the Republicans in the White House and Senate have their foil.
Not a red wave. But certainly not a red bloodbath by any means.
19
@rcrigazio-Please note: we're not done yet.
https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/?from
4
@rcrigazio. Surely you know that the Senate gains mainly came in red parts of the country? Wait until 2018.
3
The Republicans controlled all three branches of elected national government.
Two of them were up for election yesterday in the “best economy in the history of the country” and the EXTREME luck of having many Democratic senators up for election in rural states.
They lost one of the two branches: a 50% loss! They lost the suburbs and a huge percentage of women as well as independents (over a 20% decline). Their message of fear and hate driving them away.
Harrowing visions of the next presidential election are appearing through the mist after losing those constituencies which were the difference beyond his base that got him to the White House.
And according to this article the Rs are now essentially a leaderless party arrayed in a circular firing squad.
Yeah. You’re right. Good day for Republicans......huh?!?
10
The Incumbent since Clinton has lost at least 1 chamber in their first midterm. Clinton lost both, Bush lost the Senate and Obama lost the House. All 3 got re-elected. This is just part of the modern election cycles.
3
When I read about 40 House Republicans leaving or retiring, it is obvious that they were not prepared to go down and take the heat following this long-anticipated house collapse, which they could predict was imminent. The GOP has gone into meltdown, hijacked by a tyrant who will also bring the party down further in the impending political bloodbath coming in the next few months and years. I admire the American system though. It is robust and despite flaws, the constitution cannot be broken or besmirched. It is inviolable and will endure.
6
Just looking at the brief summary of this article made me drop my head and shake it sadly. Someone, maybe the authors, maybe some nameless editor, claims that Democratic gains and Republican losses are due to Democratic focus and Republican chaos...in other words, that political skills decided the election, and not the relative worth of the parties' values and policies. I get it that politics is a game, but aren't governance and core values of some importance? I weary of seeing political reporting devolve into sportswriting.
8
A personal shout-out to my home state, the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Once a Red/Purple state, VA twice went to Obama as well as Hillary in the past 3 presidential elections. VA now has a Dem governor, 2/2 Dem senators, and now, after flipping 3 house seats, 7/11 Dems in the house of rep...
How did this happen? IMO much of it was thanks to the redistricting of the Tidewater region following the redistricting mandate by SCOTUS and the migration of NoVa surbabanites (d/t high cost of living in the DC area) outwards, towards more traditional conservative districts.
Now of course VA is just BARELY left of center, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rep win a future Senate seat or the governorship... Nonetheless I think it's safe to finally say, the former capitol of the Confederacy is now a blue-leaning state.
9
I'm just as happy as anyone that the house flipped, but the idea that this is because of Republican chaos or Democratic focus is nonsense. In 2010, the Republians gained SIX Senate seats and SIXTY-THREE House seats. Was the Obama administration in disarray? It turns out the Blue Wave of 2018 turned out to be the standard shift of a midterm election with a newly elected president in the White House.
5
The main things I took away from this article are that an ultra-progressive campaign agenda, in general, is a losing proposition for Democrats, much as I'd like to believe otherwise (being a diehard liberal myself) -- though in a few districts, it may be just the ticket. Stemming from that is the second point that if the ultra-liberal faction doesn't drink a dose of reality and understand that most Americans, including Democrats, want their candidates to support reasonable border protection measures and stop the nonsense about "open borders," we'll have six more years of Trump. It's a big reason Clinton completely blew it.
65
@steve
Dems are the big tent party- republicons the straigh jacketed extremistrs with no tolerance for dissent ...or ideas new or otherwise....I'll take the Dems 7 days a week.
Twice on Sunday. GOP= party of no ideas.
14
@Steve What strikes me is that the party identified with a president so detested achieved only a modest loss. This should have been a blue tsunami, not a wave. One problem was that by following the leadership's instructions to emphasize health and economic issues, the Democrats never articulated a clear policy on immigration to counter Trump's lies about the party's supporting "open borders." Inroads into Trump's deluded xenophobic public were thereby curtailed. This problem was replicated repeatedly: seeking to avoid tit for tats, the Dems left the field to Trump on foreign policy, employment, growth, etc. I don't think there is any evidence that the Pelosi strategy worked better than a more engaged debate would have done and there's some reason to believe it worked worse.
If the Democrats don't do better in 2020, they are likely to lose again to a GOP that will have taken the 2018 mess as a lesson and pulled itself together. There's simply not enough evidence of a swayed electorate to assume otherwise.
"Ultra-liberal" has the feel of right-wing jargon in this context, stabbing at the principled voices we would consider the rational mainstream and the best beacon of hope for restoring the Republic if we weren't operating in such a mad climate in which simply defending the equality clauses of the Constitution is considered radical left.
4
@steve Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million. Hardly "completely" blowing it. Trump had a little help from Russia too. And she was hardly a left-wing candidate.
7
They lost because the repubs who retired feared the blue wave and bailed thus costing them the benefit of incumbency. Had they stayed they might have won. Don't give the Dems too much credit. They are about to embark on a dog eat dog quest for the nomination that will leave no one standing. 30 plus candidates will make repub 2016 seem like a church picnic. Bernies people remember 2016 and aren't going to be civil. Actually should be very entertaining. Plus Trump will be kibbitzer in chief.
2
Democrats didn't win because of health care. They won because people wanted Trump gone, or at least a check placed on him.
2
@KH I disagree. I want trump gone obviously but it was the health care issue that made me wait until after the election to pay my premium . If we lose the ACA and go back to before there would be no point in throwing good money after bad
1
It is wonderful news to see the Democrats back in control of the House, the People's House. And there were a few other bright lights shining-- Beto's incredible showing in deep red Texas and Trump toady Heller going down in Nevada. But Florida results are truly gutting. I was convinced Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson would win. Their loss, however close, devastating. Gillum is a terrific candidate, ran a great race and his debate performances impressive but alas, a victim of the ever lingering racism in our society. More pronounced now that we have an unapologetic "nationalist" in the White House.
7
There’s a recount in the Senate race.
1
Reps. Hunter and Collins were re-elected . despite having engaged in blatant illegal and unethical activities. They should at least be censured if not removed from office.
3
A party that's all about championing the ethos of being in it for yourself can't work together. This is what vultures do to each other in the end, eat their own. It is clear from this article that their leaders have no concept of true leadership. And the Republicans let Trump, a man with no loyalties, take over and tear them apart.
1
Republicans lost the house because they deserved to lose. They thought they touched the skies when tax cuts were passed. They did not care about the national debt and they did not succeed with replacing the flaws of Obamacare with a better plan. Several of the Republican congresspersons wanted to get into private sector leaving a void. Speaker Ryan picked a bad time to bolt and the Republicans were in disarray and rudderless. The sleeping giant missed opportunities and failed to see the writing on the wall.
The democrats were hungry for grabbing power and that motivated them to sink their differences to keep their ship afloat. Let us see what the democrat congress does differently. If they are just as lazy and complacent as the Republicans in house, they will get the boot too.
1
The house flipped because most voters are horrified by Trumps obnoxious and undignified behavior. It had nothing to do with focus and infighting. As far as I can tell, both parties are in disarray.
The Senate will flip in 2020 when there will be far more Republican seats up for grabs.
1
The tally as of 3 pm PST is 97.3 million Democrat votes and 80.7 million GOP votes, a difference of 16.6 million.
Democrats decisively won the House majority, Republicans barely defended their Senate majority. Democrats had 26 Senate seats up for election while Republicans had only 8. That Democrats only lost 2 seats, with at least 2 races too close to call, is remarkable.
But the reality remains: political legitimacy -- the permission granted by the majority to those who are chosen to represent them -- is again thwarted in the upper chamber. Democratic Senate candidates and incumbents received 12.4 million more votes in aggregate than Republicans.
That insures the Republicans -- and Trump -- will continue to appoint and confirm Presidential nominees to the federal judiciary, including Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court seat as he is expected to resign so Trump can name another partisan Justice picked by the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, and Fox and Friends. America, meet Justice Jeanine Pirro.
I'm well aware of all the rationales historic and current for the Senate's political illegitimacy as well as the Electoral College.
But consider that the same Constitution that enforces political illegitimacy also once counted Black votes as worth 3/5ths of a white vote, barred women from voting, and set an age requirement for voters.
Democracy is 1 citizen, 1 vote. Not 1 vote in a slave-legacy state counting as 60 votes in larger states.
6
Paul Ryan is selfish, because he decided not to help Trump, and politicians willing to jump on the Trump bandwagon? Nonsense: that's the most patriotic thing he did, to date.
Good for him. Hopefully, Trump will be voted out in two years, as will most of his cronies, and Ryan can come back as a principled conservative politician, willing to set partisanship and self interest aside for the good of the country.
1
Despite the best gerrymandering in the history of the USA and all those supress the vote legislations, the Republicans find a way to lost the House. The way is called no policies: no replacement for Obamacare, cut taxes for the riches, the corporations and the 1% and add their total lack of discipline and you got the perfect recipe for defeat. Also the majority of the American did not buy the fear, racist and anti-Semite campaign of President Trump and the Republican Party.
3
This gives me hope!
2
I am tired of worrying about the poor. Let's let them move in with Trump and Melania and the evangelicals. Enough. Let's take care of the educated.
The disciplined focus on healthcare inequality in the USA in 2018 hit home. The truth shall set you free.
I say let's give those Trump supporters absolutely everything they voted for, Democrats have to quit trying to save them
3
"In a presentation compiled for the PAC in the summer of 2017 by the Democratic polling firm Normington Petts, party strategists delivered an unambiguous assessment: “The strongest policies for a Democratic candidate are almost entirely economically focused.” And it warned that Mr. Trump was not the “most important villain” — congressional Republicans were."
Thank you for writing that. Pay less attention to the man jumping up and down in front of the curtain yelling "Look at me, I'm saying outrageous things!" and look at what the issues that interest most voters. Look at Scott Walker and Kris Kobach following Paul Ryan out the door.
Look at what voters in three Red States did "Idaho, Nebraska and Utah Vote to Expand Medicaid"
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/health/medicaid-expansion-ballot.html
And please, Democrats, do something special in the House - invite the GOP again to work with you on stuff. Well, not Jim Jordan and that weird cult of right-wingers, but the more normal ones.
3
I am a Republican, and I must say the New York Times is absolutely right about why the Republicans lost the House. Much of what I read in the Times is biased, and an attack on conservatives and Republicans, but this article is very objective and informative. Too bad more Republicans don’t read the Tines, because they could learn something from this story.
1
'... stoking racial panic about immigration ...' I stopped reading the article right there - the author didn't comprehend that simple principle, so what good was the rest of the article?
1
Democratic Focus ??????
Surely you must be joking
Leaderless, with no agreed upon agenda, there battle cry was "Anti Trump"
Now, that they actually have the House, it will be interesting to see what IS there agreed upon agenda.
2
@Talesofgenji
You might actually read the article and/or look at analyzes of speeches, media coverage and advertising massages which note that Democrats were remarkably focused on ONE message which they hammered home.
Healthcare. Because it was the #1 concern of voters. And there was a remarkable absence of anti-Trump commentary.
And there absolutely an agenda -- again read the story and look at the evidence.
The real beauty of the Dem's successful effort was that it was a group effort -- leaders working TOGETHER in unity -- and it didn't rely on one "leader" who dominated. Look how well one "Leader" worked out for the GOP. He dragged them down a rabbit hole.
1
The Senate contest had a very few states favorable to Trump with Democrat senators that Trump could concentrate upon. The man knows where to pick his battles.
As for the House: Too many holes in the dike.
Hilarious! The Dems are the ones who screwed up health insurance and completely neglected health care under Obama; now their message was all about health care. And the people fell for it.
1
@gymlock
Screwed up health insurance? The Democrats gave 30 million Americans health insurance who hadn't had it before. That's hardly "screwing up."
4
@gymlock
The PEOPLE spoke -- they like what they have. They can hardly be 6++"25 -- they have coverage, pre-existing conditions must be covered etc
They voted on what they KNOW and are experiencing.
People like you can't stand that Obamacare, with flaws and problems, is nevertheless working for the people who needed and use it.
1
The article says, "House Republicans proved unable at every turn to stay ahead of their troubles — including many of their own making."
They can't think for themselves. Remember that Dictator Grover Norquist said he and his Robber Baron paymasters didn't want anyone who can think - they'll do it for their operatives.
They didn't count on WE THE PEOPLE rising up to stop them. It's going to get ugly and WE must not let them make us
fearful ,angry or hateful. That's their game. OUR actions to stop them will be much smarter and honorable.
21
So, after weeks of “Dems in disarray!” articles, you’re saying they took the house because of disciplined messaging? Maybe people are disgusted by the blatant racism and corruption of Donald Trump and company. Maybe they saw through the cynical Republican lies about protecting preexisting conditions. Maybe, when presented with the choice between a party that separates refugee children from their parents and jails them and fear mongers about a criminal caravan of brown people and a party that finds that reprehensible, they chose the latter.
275
Several have commented here that there was no "blue wave."
Well, Ted Cruz barely won re-election in a deep red state where he was supposed to win handily. Beto O'Rourke got over 4 million votes, 48.3% of the total and raised over 16 million dollars. Beto might not have won, but Republicans are understandably nervous about future election prospects as a result.
Kansas - which is about as red as it gets nowadays - now has a Democrat as governor. Jon Tester held off his Republican opponent in Montana, another deep red state. As this article points out, numerous House races went to Democrats where Republicans had been favored.
Yes, there very much was a Blue Wave. Dems didn't always win, but they made a lot of supposedly "cake walk" House & Senate races very, very close. And they picked up key governorships in Wisconsin and Michigan, two states that along with Pennsylvania pushed Trump over the 270 electoral vote hurdle in 2016.
All of this will make a big difference in the 2020 Presidential election. Stating otherwise is just whistling past the graveyard...
127
@hdtvpete Cruz "barely" won -- after Beto outspent him by a factor of 3! And, don't forget: As Beto told us via debates and in the NYTimes at least 9 (I counted) times, he visited every one of Texas' 254 counties! What a magnificent achievement!
Yeah. Just how much time did he spend in Loving County, pop. 84 (including children)? (The 2017 census figure of 134 is an estimate.) OTOH, it also has the highest median per capita and household income of any county in Texas.
@hdtvpete It was a mixed message that ensures gridlock which Wall Street loves. Historically the Repubs did great in the senate and good in the House. Everyone got something they liked. As far as 2020 goes, if you can tell me what happens in a couple weeks, I might believe you about what will happen in two years.
@hdtvpete-
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662095109/old-voting-machines-confuse-some-texans-during-midterm-election
https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/sorry-state-voting-rights-texas
U.S. appeals court lets Texas' revamped voter ID law take effect ...
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/04/27/appeals-court-upholds-texas-voter-law
Hmmm two quick questions:
1. What was the range of probable gains forecast for the Dems in the House? (Hint - it was 80% at between 20-60 seats
2. What was the ACTUAL Dem gain in the house?
Blue wave or blue ripple?
8
@SteveRR You can diminish it all you want , this is the opening salvo , we have regained the House , decisively , along with a slew of governorships , state legislators, even in bright red territory, please diminish it , poo poo it , see you in 2020 .
4
It was enough
@SteveRR: May be a blue wave transform in a blue ripple thanks to gerrymandering and supress the vote legislations.
1
"Ms. Pelosi authorized party groups to meddle aggressively"
These are the reasons Democrats need new leadership. We're not attacking Pelosi personally. However, her ethics have been examined and repeatedly found wanting. If I wanted someone to meddle with the local primaries, I'd vote Republican. Pelosi needs to go. The sooner she leaves, the better off we'll be.
7
@Andy
Nancy Pelosi made Obamacare happen. For that we should be forever grateful. I think she's a great leader.
3
I'm pleased with the results for the House, but make no mistake. Nothing happened that hasn't happened in every midterm election. They won the first game of the World Series. High-fives all around. But tomorrow it's back to work. Not everything went well and the opposition showed its strengths. The clinching game of the Series in in 2020, and after that another Series begins.
I am very cold-blooded about politics, the one thing I share with republicans. So, democrats, govern like you mean it and never forget why you want to be there. Most important, make the people *want* you to be there whatever that takes, and it may well take some sacrifices of your most cherished goals. And keep in mind what the opposition can do and do your best to neutralise it. Play defense as well as offense.
PS: I confess to being ecstatic that Scott Walker lost. He's a loathsome man.
88
@Stevenz preach brother preach!!!
5
The Democrats' strategy to focus on healthcare was perceptive and their discipline in implementing it was a pleasant surprise. Donald Trump may be a vulgarian, a racist and a demagogue, but these realities have long been known to every attentive voter. Anyone sensitive to these issues had already defected to the Democrats. Nothing was to be gained by further paroxysms of political outrage.
Pelosi's media style probably does not appeal to anyone under the age of sixty. And she is now a primary political target, having replaced the recently sidelined Hillary Clinton as the Republican shrew of choice -- the focus of an incessant subliminal undercurrent of partisan misogyny that persists from one electoral cycle to the next.
But whatever flaws her public image may encompass, Pelosi possesses the best organizational mind that the House Democrats have. She is their one indispensable person, both in terms of having shaped the successful midterm strategy and in going forward to plan for a new term of divided governmental authority. It was fine for newcomer candidates in close races to reject Pelosi's leadership in asserting their independent credentials, but when they arrive in DC one hopes they are smart enough to understand the limits of that tactical pretense.
81
I'm disappointed you didn't mention the 2 special elections in Pennsylvania In both the old 7th district (Mine. This was the infamous Goofy kicking Donald Duck district, although I sometimes thought the district looked more like Goofy kicking Bullwinkle the Moose) Pat Meehan resigned after the NY Times found he used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim and so Mary Gay Scanlon D and Pearl Kim R were running both in the special for the lame duck term and in the new 5th for the full term beginning in January. Charlie Dent also resigned, which meant there was a special election in the Lehigh Valley too. (old 15th, the new District was the new 7th.)
2
Come now this is basically foolish. Historically the party in power looses seats, combined with so many retirements it would have been very surprising for the Republicans to hold the House. Most house elections are very local, after all it is a choice of those running. In my area there is no chance any Dem has of winning.
5
@vulcanalex, greetings from the center of Oklahoma, from which a newly minted democratic woman House member will travel to D.C. soon. People said no chance, sure, it's been decades--but we're sick of the hell republicans make for us all when they get their ways. We've got miles to go to escape the faux-Christians, racists, and oil barons and make a place worth living again. But we're going, and we're not going back.
4
Had Hillary listened to and heeded Nancy's advice, we would not be in this mess. This Grandmother will keep L'Enfant Terrible in his place where he can have his tantrums, count his lucre and, not cause even more harm.
21
Nancy, you go girl! I can never figure out why young liberals will disavow their greatest asset and mentor. Lamentably, youth is wasted on the young.
42
@robert And yet they love that kooky old Bernie. Go figure. Bernie has hardly had any remarkable legislation while Nancy has accomplished a lot. I've often wondered if some of this has to do with her gender.
4
@robert A good number of Democratic leadership have also voiced concerns with Pelosi becoming Speaker. Pelosi as Speaker really is a liability and not an asset.
It seemed like the GOP plan to offset the huge deficit caused by the tax cut was to cut Social Security, MediCare & MedicAid. Presumably, the Democrats will block any attempt to do so, now that they have a majority in the House. So will we be stuck with the massive deficit or will the Republicans rescind some of the tax cut and/or defense spending?
11
@Rob Mis
Rob,
Have you noticed tax revenues to government are at record highs? please stop with the tired argument of “paying for tax cuts”. Tax cuts always increase revenues, even JFK knew that.
6
@Bicoastal
What was the name of Reagan’s Budget Director, oh yeah, David Stockman. Supply side economics didn’t work then and won’t work now. It’s the delta that’s important not the gross revenue. $1.3 trillion isn’t going to get paid by the delta. That was a gift to the rich, pure and simple. Work on your economics before you cross swords with a Democrat.
3
@Rob Mis, no, Bicoastal, they don't. Even Reagan found that out and raised taxes.
2
I think it's more simplistic than the many analyses you've done in linear fashion.
Trump's message to women, to people of color, to immigrants or those wanting asylum, to LGBTQ, to Native Americans was that they are unwelcome in the country where our binding legal & precious founding document starts with "We the People".
So, We the People marched, worked, volunteered, donated, voted and ran for office to take our country back.
Some of us consider it a vow as strong as marriage. We will do all of the above, until "death us do part".
Hoping every generation will feel the same way.
30
Thank you for such a well researched, thorough, and easy to read article. Keep it up we need you
8
I agree finally the NYT wrote a coherent only moderately left leaning political article. A thousand more would go a long way to regain the all the news that’s fit to print slogan.
I look forward to more folks -- democrats, republicans, everyone -- coming to their senses and rejecting Donald Trump's attempts to make Americans hate one another.
Given the fact that he just fired Jeff Sessions, the president certainly appears afraid of something. I imagine that his worst nightmare is the idea that we would all rediscover our common ground.
28
@Elinor I would not call it afraid, but perhaps realizing that when you want change you don't appoint any traditional types. This was his biggest mistake, gave up a senate seat, got a person opposed to the changes that this president desires.
2
I call it afraid when he is t even Man enough to request Session’s resignation to his face and won’t answer questions.
Bullies are always cowards
1
I am not sure where The left keeps getting the idea Trump fears any thing or anyone. He hired an ineffectual guy to do the job who I might add was condemned by the Democrats from the get go. Now he gets rid of him and it’s because of fear. I don’t think so. He has mastered the media and keeps dems and Republicans guessing at every turn. This guy can’t be as incompetent as you say at the same time he strokes you all into a frenzy.
1
It's how it goes when you are only one who knows anything, me or them. In the beginning you find a few allies but as your circle collapses you turn on each other until one man is left standing, alone and helpless. Follow Trump over the cliff and the landing may not be pleasant.
5
This seems to show that with the Clintons finally off stage, the Democratic Party can get back to winning elections. There are vulnerable gop senate seats up for election in 2020. The Dems can retain the house, capture the senate and make a strong bid against a weakened trump for the White House in just 24 months from now. This is like half time, figure out what’s working best, where the opponent is weakest, and hit the field running hard for another two quarters.
8
@doug mclaren
What’s not working are Obama endorsements. He lost 63 seats in 2010, not to mention over 1000 assorted nationwide democrat seats throughout his eight years.
Please keep rolling out the Clintons, Obama’s, Beyoncé, Oprah, Taylor Swift, Jay Z, P Diddy, Uncle Joe, Hollyweird and the millionaire socialist Bernie, etc. for all future elections. Maybe ask Al Gore to make a few appearances as well.
Good luck with that.
6
@Bicoastal
Sorry to inform you @ Bicoastal, but it wasn't Obama's doing...can you say gerrymandering?
22
Considering this was a mid-term election, the expected decisive Democratic Blue Wave amounted to little more than a pond ripple. If nothing changes by 2020 Democrats will again surrender the House.
8
@GWB, gaining 222 seats and control of the House, plus flipping 7 governorships from red to blue (not to mention numerous seats picked up in state legislative races), is just a "pond ripple?"
Really?
Watch when the next wave comes through in 2020. This was an energized electorate. 47% of voters STRONGLY disapprove of the job Trump is doing, according to exit polls. And 55% of voters disapprove.
The tsunami hasn't hit quite yet....
13
@hdtvpete Democrats didn't gain 222 seats, so far they gained 29 seats. They were expected to win as many as 60 because of the so-called "blue wave."
Meanwhile, Republicans gained greater control over the Senate and Dems even lost 2 seats.
Live coverage of the midterms and coverage immediately following the next day on CBS, ABC, and NBC was abuzz with sentiments that Democrats did not see the results they expected. Hardly a blue wave.
1
The problem with Republican leaders wasn't the lack of "a coherent message," but more Americans are waking up to the fact that the Republican brand is toxic to the middle class and democracy.
31
Not that the Democrats will do anything in the house. The point isn't to deliver what was promised but just to con the voters into electing them.
You won't hear anything about healthcare until the next election. And the House members will extort as much grease as they can from the healthcare industry, in the meantime.
5
The House Oversight Committees might have something to say about that...
7
Get rid of gerrymandering and there'll be even more representation. I'm looking forward to the effects of Michigan passing its anti-gerrymandering provision.
61
All this money being spent on political campaigns makes me sad. If any Democratic candidate would give even 25% of their campaign funds to house or feed people and run on the strength of their convictions I would vote for that candidate in a heartbeat. I feel safe in saying that there is little chance of any Republican candidate doing so. This may be naive to the point of being laughable but it is exactly what I would like in a candidate.
10
@Gretchen King Not to mention the millions spent by various groups.
@Gretchen King 25% of campaign funds dwarfs the amounts the federal and local governments -- if not controlled and blocked by Republicans -- could do.
If we just stopped fighting wars for a few days or weeks, we could feed/ clothe/ house/ provide medical care and educate every citizen in this country for a year. The Pentagon spends $250 million a day currently on the war.
Not exaggerating -- my father worked for the military where one fighter plane costed $35 million to build. And it wasn't even the highest cost plane. One B2 stealth bomber costs $1 billion to build.
@Gretchen King Here in CA, big dialysis clinic operators spent $115M to blanket the airwaves with scare tactic commercials to defeat an initiative that would have required them to stop gouging patients and to clean up their clinics. Sadly, it worked. Imagine if they had just stopped gouging their patients and used that $115M to clean up their clinics?
So why didn't this work in the Senate campaigns?
4
Over here in Australia there is a old political saying.
Its the government that looses the election not the opposition that wins it.
So it would seem in the USA as well
3
Ugh, how terrible is this analysis.
The notion that healthcare was galvanizing for democrats - except in some places - is questionable. It was not sufficient in Indiana, Nevada, Texas, Florida, or Georgia. If democrats now work to save Obamacare, they will lose the presidential election in 2020; a majority of Americans do not want any healthcare benefits for "others" they deem illegitimate, and rightfully inferior to them in status.
The notion that republicans did not have a message is also nonsense. They did; it was spelled TRUMP. There should have been a democratic tsunami; they got a small wave with key senate and gubernatorial losses.
I hope they spend their time investing in what is necessary. I.e., redistricting, registering voters without waiting till November 2020, working on organizing communities in all localities, and a political machine necessary for lasting victories.
11
@Kalidan Or by having proposals that benefit the people, instead of say socialism.
1
Keep thinking that way , please , keep that mindset right through 2020 , everything is fine : ) it’s just a ripple .
Socialism is designed to benefit the people. And it works fine in many European countries
2
For those with short memories, this is what a real "wave" looked like.
2010 midterms: "The Republican Party gained 63 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, recapturing the majority, and making it the largest seat change since 1948 and the largest for any midterm election since the 1938 midterm elections. The Republicans gained six seats in the U.S. Senate, and also gained 680 seats in state legislative races"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_elections,_2010
I don't recall the 2010 NYTimes article entitled:
"How Congress Fell. Democratic Chaos And Republican Focus".
15
@rfmd1
Ouch! Facts.
3
How could Democrats lose the crucial Governorships of Georgia and Florida , and allow the Republicans to grow their Senate Majority ?
Where was the Blue Wave ? Why didn’t President Obama campaign in Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota for Democratic Senators who were booted from office ?
6
-Racism
-Voter suppression
-People are not enthused by Democrats that are really Republicans in a blue cap
1
@Angry
Victims make excuses.
1
With all the raging Dems, why was the senate spared? Now, Mueller’s in trump’s sights. I would expect the Democratic house to bear all its judicial pressure on trump and his financial dealings. We the people have had enough of a criminal in the Oval Office. Even if he fires Mueller and Rosenstein, the evidence remains, and that’s what the house should subpoena with Mueller as chief witness to vouch for the evidence.
4
@Larry No the criminal was kept out of the oval office by Trump.
1
Please point to a criminal act
This article sounds a little desperate. The "blue wave" never happened. The map was such that only a complete flop by democrats would have kept them from taking the House, and they never really had a chance at the Senate. The so-called "toss up" races all went to the republicans in the end. The fact is that enough people are so far from getting behind what the democrats are trying to sell, that they are willing to put up with the corrupt and obnoxious party of Trump because they prefer those policies.
8
*Completely ignores the propaganda machine that is Fox News and the comical political ignorance of the average voter*
2
The fact is that more people voted against the Republicans than for them. But disproportionate representation makes it much harder to turn that into seats.
Leadership teaches that the easiest time to root out a problem is at the start. As soon as the problem is diagnosed, it needs to be exorcised. "Donald Trump is a chaos candidate, he'll be a chaos President...", diagnosis made, problem not solved. So the Republicans have to live and die their Chaos-in-Chief.
3
Trump was correct. If the r’s had a one or two count majority bills would be held hostage by showboating/special interest holdouts.
2
Not one, but two fantasy headlines in one day from the Politico team. No doubt this one will be re-written as well after garnering the requisite click count. Embarrassing but par for the course. Enjoy the moment.
10
So many writers seem to have finished their stories the day before the midterms, because ‘the blue wave’ really didn’t happen even though many seem to proclaim that it did.
What these results look like is total ambivalence, which means maybe that America is as confused about where America’s modern soul is going as the rest of us outside America now are.
Does simple economics trump concerns about racism, lack of health care, worsening class divides, and virulent racism?
9
@Roger Yes, it does, at least in this House race. People in these elections vote their pocketbooks, as we say here. Healthcare is as much an economic issue as anything else. The Democrats stayed on message. The Republicans couldn't, because Trump hijacked their economic message and made the election about the hordes of terrorists and criminals supposedly coming to invade the U.S. Most of the electorate wasn't buying it.
6
@Roger
I live in a Republican comfortable enclave just on the edge of light purple. Do you really believe Democratic candidate conversations about racism, worsening class divides, immigrants who want asylum, and virulent racism would move that needle to blue?
Came close, but no cigar. What got them, especially women, was worries about health care cost. Pelosi was right on message.
Purity will kill in 2020.
8
Not. it wasn't Trump or moral convictions. This race turned on MONEY.
The goofiest, mosy unfair distribution I've seen so far is how the Wisconsin Dem outspent her opponent. The wascally wepublican had EIGHTEEN percent of the cash the Dem had to spend.
Next time you moan and weep over money in politics, just remember which side always has the most.
Thankfully we now will enjoy some gridlock, which was always the Founders' hope for our federal government.
The LAST person you wanted speaking on your behalf? Barack the Divider. No one he showed up to pump-up won. Trump-supported candidates won 9 to 2.
11
@L'osservatore
Tell that to Beto O'Rourke who spent about $70M. That was more than twice as much as Ted Cruz.
6
@Amy Don't waste your time with the trolls
1
@Amy
Facts hurt, Amy
1
Unfortunately for Mr. Ryan, it isn't working for the middle class. The jobs the GOP touts are mostly serf level jobs. But it all looks rosy for him now, having given the biggest tax cut in history to the wealthy (for the 2nd time in 17 years), and no doubt setting himself up for a long career of philanthropic and candidate "giving." Maybe the shame of it all (remember the budget wonk) made him retire.
His budget schemes never reflected logic once the CBO did the math, so it fits that he would finally cave to a tax cut scheme that has again set this country back another Trillion $$, and worsened the lives of tens of millions in the process. That their lives (and votes) could be bought so cheaply.
Maybe last night was a small step back, but this country has so far to go. Ryan only made it that much steeper a climb.
10
The “blue wave” would have been even greater if:
Democrats had addressed the hot button immigration problem during Obama's first two years—before they lost control of the House—instead of trying to overhaul health care with the band-aid known as the Affordable Care Act.
That mistake gave the divisive Trump a hot, red meat issue which has now cost Democrats—who knows how many votes and seats.
[Thank fortune Bernie Sanders has put single payer universal coverage back on the table where it belongs.]
1
"Democrats, in turn, delivered a message about health care with the repetitive force of a jackhammer."
The Democrats stayed focused, what a concept!
10
All Trump can run is Trump.
He can't run casinos, an airline, a for-profit college, an online steak business, tie business, bottled water business, a real estate empire. And now the Republican Party.
Next up, a bipartisan American Government.
15
@Matt Is that why the majority of the country thinks he's doing a bad job and seems fundamentally incapable of anything beyond lying and shameless self-promotion?
4
@Matt
Hard to think of Trump not being devisive.
Or do you expect everyone to fall down and genuflect to their new “leader”?
I'm thankful to have Democrats in control of at least one part of Congress. I'm not anti-Pelosi, but the Dems better find some young bloods who can step up and take the reins, if only because Pelosi, Schumer, Sanders, and the like are getting pretty long in the tooth, physically and and at least somewhat ideologically.
20
Great reporting. Thanks for this.
11
If this was a referendum on and repudiation of Trump, there should have been a blue tsunami.
Consider the repudiation of Mr. Obama in 2010 with the transfer of 63 House seats, the greatest realignment of the house in over 70 years!
Unbelievable. Only 26 seats, when we’re dealing with the odious Donald J Trump.
10
@srwdm
We would have had more if not for republican designed gerrymandering.
11
@E B
Yes, the evil gerrymandering.
But this is more than twice as many seats changing (in fact nearly 2 1/2 times as many!).
1
The ancient Greeks playwrights were right -- hubris is the fatal flaw of the human condition. House GOP saw this coming -- all the research pointed to Democrats running on and motivating voters on the issue of preexisting conditions in health care. All they had to do was a pass a bill guaranteeing coverage by a Federal pool for PEC uninsurables, financed by something like a stock transfer tax of a penny a share per trade. But no. This reminded me of Obama's insistence on doing health care at the start of his presidency, which led to the wipeout of 2010, and President Bush doing social security after winning in 2004, and getting nowhere. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
4
Wow. Doing away with both Paul Ryan and Scott Walker is too good to be true. I smell really bad memoirs and a lot of golf in their futures.
102
@robert b Don't forget Kris Kobach in Kansas!
19
@robert b
More like a smooth turn through the revolving door and fat paychecks for lobbying and "consulting."
4
Haha, did everyone forget how midterm elections work? The majority of presidents lose seats in both the house and senate. Compared to history, Trump and the Republicans did very well this midterm. Hilarious.
13
@Don Q Actually, no, the Republicans should have stormed to victory on the back of a very strong economy and stock market, usually the things that drive midterms. JP Morgan sent out a research piece this morning concluding unequivocally that the Republican performance on Tuesday was, adjusted for economic performance, the worst showing by a majority party aligned with the President in a hundred years.
70
@Matt: "The GOP gained senate seats. That is gerrymandering." There: I fixed it for you.
7
@Richard Gerrymandering at the Senate level? How so, when senators are elected state-wide, not from tortuously contoured districts?
Big Win for the Eric Holder/Obama campaign over the last two years to fight Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics.
This campaign helped change the picture in places like Pennsylvania, and also pointed toward initiatives like giving back the vote in future elections
to 1 million+ Floridians who have served their time for a felony. This time around, 51 million voted for Democrats in the House, versus
47 million votes for Republicans---AND, sure enough! The Democrats will control the House, 229-206. This is just basic democracy, and it HAS prevailed.
40
This was a very interesting look behind the scenes at the two camps, I'm feeling very grateful today that I'm in Nancy Pelosi's camp.
21
So lemme get this straight....the GOP invests heavily (in $ and ambition) is partisan gerrymandering in 2010, no doubt at the beck-and-call of major donors like the Kochs and Adelson. They reap some measure of benefit in 2012, 2014, and 2016. In 2018, it all goes to pot, at least partly due to the egregious character and voice of their leader Trump. They lose the House in 2018, not least because gerrymandering has as many downsides as upsides (e.g., political cretins who think they are not accountable and can say, and vote, any way they want).
What's the lesson, kids? Gerrymandering is not worth the money or effort. This may be a good moment for Democrats AND Republicans to come together and write new rules that protect the parties from their own anti-competitive instincts. It is certainly the moment for Democrats to not go down the road to gerrymandering, now or ever.
26
@Brian Prioleau
If you study the records well, you will find the Democrats have “gerrymandered” many a time when they controled statehouses etc. Check out old articles including from the left (Harper’s magazine) to corroborate.
1
Spare me the hymns of sympathy and praise for working class white voters, said to have been so neglected by the Democratics for years that they are inevitably swayed by the white nationalist politics of Trump and his Republican minions.
I grew up in North Carolina with those people. They were my neighbors and my extended family. All of them were racist to the bone and anxious to keep women in the kitchen, "foreigners" (a catch-all term encompassing "Yankees and Jews") out of their towns, and big tobacco companies in charge of the state economy.
Fast forward to 2018 and the details have shifted, but the belief systems and bigotry that animate Southern and Midwestern rural white populations have not changed. Trump's supporters are willfully ignorant and the blather about "liberal elites" is simply an attack on the premise that education is good thing.
The ability to distinguish fact from fiction is not a function of economic privilege. Anyone who isn't blinded by their racism, misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, and/or homophobia can easily see through Trump's lies. No excuses for his supporters and enablers.
480
@Donna, right. Which is why Trump has so much support among the vast majority deplorables that populate the criminal and horrible American armed services, who so poorly represent our country in doing disaster relief work, etc.
10
“Extended family”? Wow, have you ever thought of moving?
3
@Observer of the Zeitgeist
Note that the originally poster did not suggest that the Armed Forces were among the people she talked about in her note. It's your insinuation.
Having cared for people in the military as an MD and a father who worked with military officers and staff on satellite defense systems, people in the military are not immune from prejudices. If they hold them, it's not necessarily from their military involvement but rather from their upbringing. It is well-known that the current military (bar say the academies) draws disproportionately from poor and rural groups. That is likely what explains Trump's support.
(The military in fact should reflect the US and I would not be against policies requiring for instance, some type of military or civilian term of service for all young people.)
46
They won the House. They didn't capture anything. (Neither did they "seize" the House, as WaPo says.)
That kind of rhetoric belongs to other political parties who treat this like war and who engage in any tactics to win.
16
@Tim Thank god we have a president who would never stoop to such tactics, right?
7
@asg21
Dang, Did anyone think of saying that the GOP controlled all of government and still didn't build that wall? But those sweet little Trump rally attenders got themselves a nice tax cut for the 1%.
America has a problem yet to be reconciled: its racism and xenophobia, particularly from the middle of the country. Striking that almost every district that actually borders Mexico voted democratic and even the ones that may be lost to Republicans, such as District 23, will be by the narrowest of margins. At the same time, the middle, rural of our nation were fed a rich diet of hate and racism by our president while the emerging trade war is punishing these farmers and will punish all its constituents with higher prices for everything they buy. It’s absolutely incumbent on Democrats to fashion not just a message but policies which can lead this nation in 2020 but Trump and his complicit republicans have unleashed something wicked about America and only hard, blunt talk is going to allow us to solve it.
84
The Republicans fell because Trump set the agenda for their failure, and that was/is racism, white nationalism, sexism and
a politics of hate against immigrants who are black or brown,
and people from other cultures.
This is not a manufactured division of hate and racism,
this is deeply felt by Trump who peddles a racist view
that runs in his family, as his father was a member of the KKK
and he was arrested at a rally.
The GOP is Trump's party as many stood on the Trump
hate agenda, and they lost the House.
Now the Democrats can do two thing as once,
they can work to build a stable and equal society
with the Republicans, and they can also carry out
investigations against the Trump regime and their culture of corruption, and they can finish all the investigations that the
Republicans suppressed or failed to carry out a diligent
investigation.
Democrats have tremendous power in the House,
and they must carry out investigations into the culture of corruption, and they must investigate in an open way what Russia did in 2016, and what part did the Trump campaign
do to conspire with an enemy of America.
If the Democrats don't do what they must, then in 2020
they will experience what the House Republicans experienced
at the Midterm elections.
America needs to know the facts and the truth.
18
Can someone please explain why more races haven't been called? I understand that some are too close to call or there may be irregularities, etc. But some of these have a pretty wide margin and 100% precincts reporting. Others -- like the Utah-5 seat -- have been stuck at 68% of the vote counted all day -- they haven't counted a single vote since yesterday night? Why not?
5
Why did the Republicans lose the House?
Was it "chaos", or lack of messaging, or the malign effect of Trump?
No.
It's because losing the House is what almost always happens in the first midterm after a president wins.
Come on, guys. This is either a silly article or an attempt to make Republicans/Trump look bad. In either case, it doesn't reflect well on the NYT.
9
Why did the GOP, in control of the Presidency and Congress and with a booming economy get hammered in the midterms?
Donald Trump. Have you seen his post-election "victory" press conference? Bunkers...
14
It's hilarious that a tea party Republican like Gardner thinks he can win in a blue state during a presidential election year. Doesn't matter how much trump talks about the caravan, Gardner will never be reelected.
3
As a first draft of (political) history this article was detailed, organized, and logical. The reporters generously supported the assertions they made. Thank You New York Times for this work and much of the other articles you provide to the public. Articles like this make the Times a significant part of that vital, sorely needed democratic institution, a free press.
93
This nation desperately needs affordable health care for all. The present system is a disgrace. I hope the Democrats can move to fix the problem. Further, we need public servants who actually believe that good public policy exists and is worth fighting for. I am giving the new members of congress the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
13
@Nat Since that is impossible we won't be getting that. Now "affordable" counts all the money that it takes, not just what an individual might directly be charged. Since the senate and the president are not Dems, they will be the source of any "solution".
A few weeks before our State of Washington ballots were due to be mailed out I looked on the Sec of State website to verify that my long-standing registration was still intact. It also informed me my ballot had been issued.
My husband and I filled out our ballots in the comfort of our home and returned them at our convenience. Washington State does pay the postage if you put it in the mail. Or you can deliver it to designated sites. The website then verified my ballot had been accepted for tabulation.
When I see the lines and hear the stories of "lost/vanished registrations", insufficient or malfunctioning machines, old machines without paper ballots, excuses about not buying new machines related to cost, changing polling places... I don't understand why every state doesn't vote from home.
Well not really.. we do understand why some states don't want to utilize these modern, cost effective, convenient methods.
Unless and until our election systems are secure, and voting from home is the most secure, we will continue to have "unexpected" results.
62
@DEBORAH Hear hear.
3
@DEBORAH I recently moved from NYC to Colorado which has the same system you described. Receiving my ballot at home well in advance of election day gave me ample time to closely study the ballot initiatives. After dropping my ballot in a designate ballot box, I received a text message that it had been received, and the next day another text that it had been accepted. It was all so smooth and terrific!
3
Identity issues divided us in 2016.
Economic issues united us in 2018.
It looks like we are learning. Winning is not about playing to your base. It's about including everyone especially independent voters.
9
Any smart consultant or business executive would recommend that the Democrats select three to five issues around which they can build an inclusive platform, despite some significant differences between representatives like Conor Lamb or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Healthcare. Immigration. Trade and Employment. Infrastructure. Protection of SS/Medicare benefits.
While there are many worthy and necessary areas of focus, these five seem to relate to exit poll priorities for many constituents. Gun safety regulations, gerrymandering, veterans’ support, and abortion/women’s reproductive rights must not be forgotten. There seem to be common sense approaches to these issues but, to some extent, individual states can probably exert more influence than Congress can.
More than anything, don’t squabble. Be constructive, not condescending. Local political interests cannot be universally or satisfactorily resolved by partisan litmus tests, but all Americans are concerned about their economic and personal wellbeing.
Be consistent and systematic about the approach to House leadership and the run up to 2020
4
@SMK NC Those are the exact issues that Republicans have, you might not like the solutions, but they at least have some, unlike dems.
1
The election was obviously hacked. People rarely split their votes. If the Democrats gained in the house and governorships, then they should’ve also gained in the Senate.
6
@Peter D.
Your logic is faulty. Not every governorship nor Congressional district was in play. The results, in and of themselves, do not prove that the elections were hacked.
7
@Peter D. That's utter nonsense. Such a thing would hold true, if even then, if each state that had a governors race also had a senate race. Those that had both races overwhelmingly elected someone of the same party to both positions.
6
@Peter D.
I have never voted a straight party line - I have always "split" my vote. I bet it happens more than you think.
1
'Focus'
Oh My, who are you kidding?
This was pure chaos, and the DEMS control the House by ... 2
Just wait until your Socialist start voting 'no' to please their voters and assure their own reelection, and the DEMS control drops by ... 4.
So in reality you are at 216, needing 218 to control the House.
That's not focus, that is pure danger.
5
God forbid, we have two of those scary socialists in office.
1
So, top Republicans make life uncomfortable (or untenable) for their members of congress, then complain when those members retire.
This would be humerus if these people were running a little league team. Running the country? Not so funny.
5
I can't begin to express what a relief it is, what sweet balm to my soul, to hear Nancy Pelosi speak from a position of authority again. Spine of titanium, that woman. Without her there would be no health care reform, period. Skills of a traditional grandmother. What better person to tend to a big baby.
368
@polyticks I love Pelosi and she inspires me so much. I am 29 and I think I want to run for office too.
19
@polyticks I agree with your sentiment but I also laughed out that. The mental image of the grandmother with the big baby is just spot-on. Cheers!
21
Since when is $1.4 million "paltry"? I wish I had $1.4 million. Get BIG MONEY out of politics! Washington DC resident for 41 years so I know more than you do.
7
This is excellent reporting.
33
And why shouldn't we Republicans pin the lose of the House on the Speaker? Paul Hamlet Ryan treated his majority like he treated his Speakership: "if I must, I'll do it." Well, he did no one any favors. A Speaker needs fire in his belly to deliver an agenda, and Ryan's flame was always lambent. And let me get out while the gettin's good? He's supposed to be an experienced politician, the Wunderkind from Wisconsin future of our party. Where was his leadership, his shaping the narrative, the national discussion? Yes, there's plenty of blame to go around, but a good deal belongs at the door of the gentleman from Wisconsin.
10
I hope Paul Ryan's legacy of destroying America to enrich himself follows him to the end of his days.
179
Picking up 29 seats is no great shakes, so let’s maybe tone down the headlines a bit. The blue wave turned out to be low tide.
6
"Democrats, in turn, delivered a message about health care with the repetitive force of a jackhammer."
The only unbelievable thing about this is that it took them so long to focus on an issue of critical importance to virtually everyone.
This is what Democrats need to do going forward: concentrate on real issues that affect everyone, and forcefully point out the ways that right-wing efforts harm average people.
304
@Pat Health insurance is not important to me personally, I have Medicare. When I had insurance through my employer it also was not important. Not important to those on Medicaid either. Not important to many.
@vulcanalex And yet the Democrats took the House campaigning on health insurance. Wow, just think of how well they could have done had they found an issue that actually mattered to people. Like maybe the imminent invasion of poor Central Americans that consist mostly of criminals and drug dealers that threatens our very way of life!
4
@vulcanalex-Health insurance is not so important? Isn't that a rather self-centered POV? Wait until the Republicans come after your Medicare benefits and then Social Security. Will you be so indifferent then?
11
The Times is being way too generous with why the Democrats won. While I am optimistic that there will hopefully be more checks and balances with the the new democratic controlled house and the crazy white house, make no mistakes, we should give credit where credit's due. Trump personally handed the house back to the democrats with his rhetoric, misogyny and racism, the dems have not demonstrated "focus" as this article suggests. Quite on the contrary, there has been anything but "focus" in terms of agenda and strategies. If there were any focus, they would have (should have) won with a significantly bigger margin, aka a "blue wave" would have been seen, but that did not happen. Now, for 2020, let's see some of the "focus" that was discussed in this article.
26
@Flora Sunshine Oh for Pete's sake! If I had told you 2 years ago that we were gonna handily win the House, plus a number of governorships, (including Kansas!) you would presumably been thrilled.
But because you became overoptimistic now you've got a load of sour grapes! Ridiculous! You're never going to see as much focus in a midterm as in a presidential election. That's structural, there's no presidential candidate.
But, in fact, the Democrats were absolutely focussed. The article discussed this in some detail. Your claim is that we weren't focussed because we should have done better. Based on what?
You write "Trump personally handed the house back to the democrats with his rhetoric, misogyny and racism." All of that was on display in 2016. How come it didn't deliver the White House to Clinton? Not to mention the House.
Talk about seeing the glass as half empty. Buck up, if you're posting honestly. I have a nagging feeling you're playing some kind of game. If so, grow up, this ain't no game.
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And how fantastic, some of these new representatives represent a new terrific species of politician. Yes, now an oddity but hopefully soon to be universal. These blessed people won their elections with out taking pac money, with out taking money from large corporations. These people do not have to vote in the interests of their donors. This new blood can actually serve us regular folks. And we the people gave them small donations, we the people feel more represented.
Nancy can toot all she wants about how she brings home the bacon, but it is tainted bacon. It comes with the price of favoring big business over the workers.
So elections can be won with out corruption. I kinda think this is what our founding and now somewhat floundering fathers meant. Didn't they themselves only leave their farms or businesses for a few months a year to govern?
Oh and do not get me started on what a well armed militia means. But Yippee for our new kind of elected officials!!!
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@cheerful dramatist Can't you silly left-wingers spend just one day being happy? We're a diverse party ideologically as well as in so many other ways. This is a good thing. Last thing we should want to do is emulate the Republicans.
Last night I watched former Senator Sanctimonious assert that we Dems were gonna have our own Freedom Caucus and that it was going to be as much of a headache. In your dreams Sanctimonious! Ain't gonna be like that.
We'll have good, strong debates about the way forward, we'll compromise a little with each other and we'll have a game plan. The Republican ideology is based on lies so it can't have a good foundation. Our approach is based on reality and ideals.
During FDR's time in office there were a bunch of leftists who put him down for being bourgeois. Who were these people? No one really remembers them because they were so useless.
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Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of people.
And by "nicer," I mean a soulless pack of power-hungry, cynical, self-interested, and very possibly corrupt politicians whose only goal is to enrich themselves and their patrons.
The Dems stayed on their messaging and were rewarded. I am personally elated by Issa, Rohrabacher, Walker, Kobach, and Culberson's oustings. Beto and Gillum's losses are disappointing, but they are young, charismatic, and have national fanbases. They will be back.
Enjoy the investigations, Pres. Trump.
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@Sara
If investigating Trump is the priority of the Dems. then the Republicans will be back and Trump re-elected. Real issues are infrastructure, health care and inequality. Handwringing about wedding cakes and which bathroom to use are not major issues either
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@Reflections9 - Republicans are the ones who spent time and money trying to deprive people of equal treatment.
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@Reflections9 Not inequality unless it is created through corrupt government. Nobody should worry about inequality due to capability.
I think the recap reporting on this election - "Wow - big Democratic takeover of the house!" - is way off the mark.
Just like all of the punditry and polls were "Beto! Blue Wave! Gillum!" - preceding it.
Democrats and almost all of the Coastal Media Elite all agree that Donald Trump is the worst president in American history.
Yet they only picked up 30 some odd house seats in the midterm. The ONLY opportunity since 2016 for Democrats to express their hatred for this president and only 30 seats?
Beto!
Lost
Gillum!
Lost
Abrams!
Lost
If this is all the Democrats can do they are in big big trouble in 2020.
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@Luciano I think your view is overly pessimistic. The Dems did take over the House. That is the major big win of the day. Beto, meanwhile, never led in the polls; while his loss is disappointing, it is not unexpected. An alternate view of his loss would be to recognize that, for the first time in several elections, the Democratic challenger lost by less than 220,000 votes, and no doubt managed to help boost some other TX Dem races in the process, like TX-7.
The evening was certainly not wall-to-wall victories for the Democrats, but to portray it as as a disappointment is far from accurate.
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@Luciano
"Beto! Lost" - Narrowly, in predominantly Red Texas
"Gillum! Lost" -- by .7%, almost within the range to require a recall; an African-American challenger in predominantly Red Florida
"Abrams! Lost" - Nope, hasn't conceded yet; the race is very close, considering Kemp's racist voter-suppression efforts , and considering Abrams, an African-American progressive, was challenging another old establishment White Guy in predominantly Red Georgia.
Rather than describing these results as "losses," I see them as the country beginning to move to correct the damage being done by the extreme right.
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@Luciano
Can you say "gerrymandering"?
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Dear House Committee Chairs,
Please investigate Kavanaugh for lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee and investigate the Committee itself for not carrying out its constitutional duty of advise and consent re: Gorsuch.
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@Mike B
Sorry, I meant Garland not Gorsuch.
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@Mike B You really think the house can investigate the senate? That would go to the supreme court where they might be angry about it.
Election result is not that great for Democrats either. It's not what many of us expected considering Trump and GOP's total mismanagement and wrong policies in almost every sector.
Democrats needs leaders who have clarity in vision in contentious issues, including immigration, ability and courage to articulate that to the people in a very transparent & factual manner.
We also need to improve our public education and reduce growing influence of religion there. It's not just Evangelical or Christian fundamentalism alone.
I mentioned Immigration to show utter lack of understanding among many Dem leaders & public representatives, which is needed for such policies. Loss of the Paul Ryan's vacated seat is good eye opener. I think immigration will be a passionate & crucial issue in next election.
Dems must not keep on appeasing its minority vote bank by invoking irrational emotion of first generation immigrants. We can't make our immigration policies & laws redundant to enable almost anyone to come for a "better future". I didn't come to this country to make it the same from which I had to migrate due to rampant corruption with intolerable religious & racial discrimination there.
"Intellectual" Left leaning think tanks and policy makers must not behave the way right wing ones do to enrich themselves. One of the main reasons for lack of trust on "intellectuals" and even on science (and scientists) is that, as nicely described by the recently published book, "Tailspin".
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I don’t put too much stock in the punditry of messaging, because you cannot separate the message from the messanger. Healthcare is an important issue to campaign on, but it matters just as much that in a mid-term that the message was being carried by an energetic and charismatic group of candidates who knew how to talk to their constituents. So long as the DNC will let local leaders lead, instead of imposing one-size-fits-all expectations, it should be fine. When the eventual presidential candidate go on the road, they should change focus based on the advice of local leaders who know their neighbors. Rural Ohio will be the same as Miami, and vice versa. They won’t want to talk about the same things.
But I hope the Democrats do not get mired in in-fighting for 2020. There are already a lot of ambitious Democrats posturing for a presidential run, and I hope they don’t let ego come before country and get into an ugly mud-slinging contest.
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So Dems only won because the House Republicans were “mired in infighting” and lost control of their messaging? No. Dems won because Republicans (a) only serve the interests of millionaires, (b) became a party of hate, racism, sexism, and fear and (c) will lie and obfuscate shamelessly in order to advance those interests. People saw through it.
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@Kate
The DEMS 'won' by having now 220 Representatives.
220, they needed 218.
That is nothing to cheer about. Subtract Ocasio-Cortez and her insurgents and you do not have a majority.
Then if they manage to get anything at all passed, the Senate, the SCOTUS and the POTUS will LOL while they say 'no'.
Lose 3 of those 220 votes and you're in deep hot water.
That's not a win, that is tethering on the edge of the abyss and laughing.
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@AutumLeaff
Well let us see now, the people you mentioned will most certainly not be for more welfare and loop holes for corporations or to give more tax cuts to the rich. So you are afraid they will vote for silly things like clean air and water regulations for us and absurd health care for all which 11 other civilized countries have and be against the big pharma companies who charge us triple what they charge other countries for drugs and oh yes, try to stop old big pharma from paying doctors to over prescribe their painkillers which cause addiction and death?
And will these so called " socialists" have the insane audacity to regulate banks and protect people from payday lenders and try to save the planet from extinction by funding green energy. What party poopers!
Imagine, what will the people who have made millions off all the wars do if they cannot get them to keep voting for huge war budgets and more senseless wars? Gee, just because it saves the lives of millions here and abroad, and that money can go for education and infrastructure who cares?
And will they have the unforgivable disrespect to not agree with their fellow Democrats who are on the take and have to answer to their masters. Hmm, what if the corrupt Dems have to give up butter on their bread? Doom and gloom for sure with honest Representatives. Yeah, and I love it!
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@AutumLeaff I legitimately cannot tell if you are disagreeing with me from the left or the right.
To put it more plainly: any check against the fascism brewing in the Republican Party is a win, in my book. If you disagree, that tells me all I need to know.
And I don't think anyone is laughing.
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