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Republicans Wake Up to an Electoral Bloodbath

Republicans Wake Up to an Electoral Bloodbath

“Text from a GOP source: ‘Texas has officially fallen.'”

Some readers may remember the financial turmoil that swept global markets in 1998. Over two weeks, the Dow plunged more than 10% amid fears that the crises in Russia and Asia would spread to the U.S. Making light of the rout, iconic financial journalist Louis Rukeyser, host of Wall Street Week, appeared in a bloodied headband, neck brace, and sling, with a crutch rounding out the ensemble. That image captures how many Republicans must be feeling this morning. I do.

It was a brutal night for the GOP. We were braced for losses, but not for a rout of this magnitude. Democrats have won back control of the Senate, picking up seven seats in battleground states by margins far exceeding what the polls had predicted.

Reality set in early. Few Republicans could have imagined that far-left democratic socialist Senate candidate Angie Nixon would come within three points of unseating Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in Florida — or that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) would win his gubernatorial race by a mere 1.3 points. From there, the night devolved.

Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) luck finally ran out. Despite routinely outperforming her polls, she lost her seat to Democratic challenger Troy Jackson by 8 points.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suffered a crushing 10-point defeat at the hands of progressive challenger James Talarico. Even incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn, I suspect, would have been swept away in Tuesday night’s bloodbath.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also lost his race. President Trump posted on Truth Social, “If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty! President Donald J. Trump.”

Trump was angry over Abbott’s August decision to “pause industry-wide approvals” on data centers until companies give the state more details about their electricity and water requirements.

In Michigan, the controversial Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers by nearly 7 points. Rep. Haley Stevens, his primary opponent, made headlines over the weekend with her last-minute endorsement of Rogers — a move that may have cost her career without changing the outcome of the race. But at least she stayed true to her principles.

When the New York Times/Siena University final polls were released on Sunday, predicting larger than previously expected victories for Democratic candidates in most battleground states, many of us scoffed — myself included. As it turned out, those polls underestimated Democrats’ margins of victory.

Here are some of the highlights [Data via RealClearPolitics as of 4 a.m. November 4.]

Georgia: Ossoff 59.0, Collins 41.0 (Dem Hold)
Iowa: Turek 50.5, Hinson 46.4 (Dem Pickup)
Kansas: Hamilton 50.9, Marshall 46.0 (Dem Pickup)
Maine: Jackson 53.4, Collins 45.4 (Dem Pickup)
Michigan: El-Sayed 52.4, Rogers 45.7 (Dem Hold)
Minnesota: Flanagan 53.8, Tafoya 43.6 (Dem Hold)
North Carolina: Cooper 58.7, Whatley 39.1 (Dem Pickup)
Ohio: Brown 49.7, Husted 45.5 (Dem Pickup)
South Carolina: Andrews 51.2, Graham 46.8 (Dem Pickup)
Texas: Talarico 54.2, Paxton 43.9 (Dem Pickup)

Two Senate races remain uncalled. In Alaska, with 68% of the vote counted, Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan leads former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola by 0.8 points, 48.5% to 47.7%. Although Peltola had led Sullivan in most polls throughout the election cycle, last week’s New York Times report that her campaign had helped recruit a second Dan Sullivan to confuse voters and siphon support from the incumbent may have taken a toll. “Decoy Dan” won 1.7% of the vote and Republican candidate Gerald L. Heikes, won 2.2%.

In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom holds a slim 0.3-point lead over Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, 49.1% to 48.8%. In bright-red Mississippi, this race should never have been close.

At 11:18 p.m. on Tuesday night, Decision Desk HQ projected that the Democrats had won the Senate.

Shortly after 9 p.m., Decision Desk HQ projected that Democrats would regain control of the House.

Although many House races remain uncalled, Democrats have already secured 236 seats — a gain of 30 and comfortably above the 218 needed for a majority — while Republicans hold 148.

So, what the $&^# went wrong?

Apparently, voters feel worse off economically and hold Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress responsible. The war in Iran, combined with Trump’s tariffs, have driven up costs, particularly energy prices, testing the patience of Americans who expected relief.

In my view, confronting a terrorist regime that has threatened the world for nearly half a century justifies some short-term economic pain. But voters remember Trump’s promise of “no more wars,” and the prolonged stalemate is becoming difficult to defend.

While I have reservations about Trump’s handling of the war, I support his reasons for launching it. So far, no U.S. president has been willing to expend the political capital necessary to confront this regime — particularly in a midterm election year. Reports that Iran was two weeks away from acquiring a nuclear weapon added urgency. And a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a far more dangerous challenge.

Unfortunately, voters struggling to pay their bills are unlikely to spend much time thinking about threats to U.S. national security coming from the Middle East.

The same holds true for trade. For decades, the U.S. has tolerated unfair trade arrangements that have hurt our businesses and our workers. The tariffs have been instrumental in reversing some of those imbalances. But, again, the long-term benefits of tariffs are a difficult sell to consumers paying higher prices today.

Additionally, many voters have short memories. The roughly 21% cumulative increase in prices during Biden’s presidency did not disappear when Trump took office; those higher costs became the starting point for his administration. Yet Democrats and the toxic legacy media have focused relentlessly on the 3.7% inflation under Trump, giving no attention to the burden he inherited.

These distinctions matter. A fair-minded press would explain them, giving voters the context to judge this administration’s record.

As devastating as Tuesday’s electoral massacre was, Trump is hardly the first president to suffer such a rebuke. In the 2010 midterms, Democrats lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats. Republicans won back the House, but Democrats held onto the Senate. In 2014, Democrats lost 13 House seats and nine Senate seats, losing Senate control, while Republicans expanded their House majority. Then-President Barack Obama famously said, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone.” He continued focusing on his agenda, even signing the misguided nuclear deal with Iran.

In 2006, Republicans lost 30 House seats and six Senate seats, giving Democrats control of both chambers. The next day, then-President George W. Bush described the defeat as “a thumping,” accepted a “a large part of the responsibility,” and pledged to work with Democrats.

That same day, he announced Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s departure and nominated Robert Gates to replace him — a major leadership change amid dissatisfaction with the Iraq war.

In 1994, Democrats lost 54 House seats and eight Senate seats, surrendering both chambers in the “Republican Revolution.” President Bill Clinton told reporters, “We got the message. And now we have to think about it, analyze it, rest up and move on.”

He acknowledged that voters wanted smaller, more effective government and vowed to work with Republicans to achieve it.

Asked before the election how he would respond to losing both chambers of Congress, Trump said he would become “Mr. Veto.” Eventually, he reasoned, Democrats would tire of the legislative stalemate and seek common ground on bipartisan initiatives.

He will likely work with Democratic leaders where cooperation is possible and rely on executive orders where it is not.

With the midterms behind us, the 2028 election cycle begins.

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Comments

Three possibilities:

1. There was cheating
2. Americans are stupid
3. Both of the above


     
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    Elizabeth Stauffer in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 9:10 am

    Americans are stupid. I wanted to put that in the post. But voters who believe the socialists’ spin are indeed stupid.


       
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      isfoss in reply to Elizabeth Stauffer. | November 4, 2026 at 9:14 am

      Stupid voters like tripe. Who knew?


         
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        loganyung in reply to isfoss. | November 4, 2026 at 10:23 am

        Nothing motivates an electorate like fear. In 2024, there was a fear of out of control illegal immigration, and Republicans, including Trump, were the straight forward solution. The fear was based in rising crime and illegals getting preferences for benefits and jobs. To some degree, Trump is a victim of his own success. The only thing that explains Democrats winning all the way down-ballot (including anti datacenter initiatives) is that there is a genuine fear of AI. It’s not just the fear of AI taking over, it’s also the impact on energy prices and the prospects of getting/keeping a job (including children who are graduating). The Democrats have presented themselves as luddites on this topic, and I think that’s why they ruled the day. I think the opposing fear of socialism is too abstract to have been a big motivating factor. Going forward, what’s the big fear factor going to be in 2028? It’s not too early to start working on understanding and or driving that dynamic.


       
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      MAJack in reply to Elizabeth Stauffer. | November 4, 2026 at 9:47 am

      Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

      John Adams

      We are no longer either.

      Said in a comment about a month or so ago the islamic piece of schiff was going to win michigan because the population is so stupid. Not did he win he kicked rino rogers butt good and hard.
      michigan has a rino mentality on the repub side, dems would rather put repubs in prison or a gas chamber. Power for them is their overriding goal.
      If you thought covid was authoritative aholes in charge, just watch the dems slice and dice it all these coming two years.
      Nothing and no one is safe.


     
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    Virginia42 in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 9:25 am

    Both.


     
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    rhhardin in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 9:36 am

    I’d blame Texas abortion law. Every time no-abortion shows up on a referendum, it’s soundly defeated by both left and right. No-abortion as a policy is not likely to be any more popular.


       
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      Milhouse in reply to rhhardin. | November 4, 2026 at 11:04 am

      Not having such a policy is not an option. If you’re not against murdering babies then you can’t be against murdering Jews, or black people, or sick and elderly people, or poor people, or sex workers, or any other minority that some people think it’s OK to murder.


     
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    jhkrischel in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 10:08 am

    Option 3, sadly. But option 1 alone is what is toxic to our entire american project – we have left the era where elections do their job of convincing the loser that they lost fair and square.

    We survived the autopen years, we’ll survive these years. But it will hurt, again.


     
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    Milhouse in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 11:02 am

    Three possibilities:

    1. There was cheating
    2. Americans are stupid
    3. Both of the above

    I assume there was cheating because there’s always cheating. But I’m not aware of any specific instances in this election, and cheating is neither necessary nor sufficient to explain what happened. Option 2 is the only explanation. Whatever cheating did happen only supplemented the effect of option 2.


 
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nordic prince | November 4, 2026 at 9:09 am

Well, it doesn’t help that the Republicans are ball-less and spineless. I wish they’d take off the gloves instead on constantly acting like pussies.

The Rs are Charlie Brown and the Ds are Lucy. They fall for the football trick every. single. time.


     
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    stephenwinburn in reply to nordic prince. | November 4, 2026 at 9:45 am

    Thune, Paul Ryan, all of them worthless. Deliver. Put it up for a vote even if it fails. Fight for it. Not one key piece of legislation. The SAVE act was a win for US Citizens who overwhelmingly supported voter ID.


     
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    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to nordic prince. | November 4, 2026 at 10:27 am

    This my call for a new political party. The GOP are geldings. And for those who think that forming a new party is impossible, the Republicans came in. The Whigs went out. the worms play pinochle on your snout So it’s not unheard of.


       
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      Milhouse in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | November 4, 2026 at 11:09 am

      It was a very different era in a number of important ways.

      For one thing, there was no such thing as a ballot, and therefore no duopoly control of said ballot.

      Also, both major parties were in such turmoil that they split, and each of them ran two separate presidential tickets. Neither of which had any ballot access problems, because there was no ballot to access.


 
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Wisewerds | November 4, 2026 at 9:12 am

I feel like Charlton Heston did at the end of the Planet of the Apes.

Where do I see about emigrating to Argentina or El Salvador?

You know where they are popping the champagne corks this morning? Beijing.

The mullahs are happy, stupid voters are happy, Communist USA is happy, and Hawkeem is orgasmic.


 
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henrybowman | November 4, 2026 at 9:16 am

WinRed has seen my last greenback.
I can’t compete with commie billionaires like Bloomberg and Singham.


 
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nordic prince | November 4, 2026 at 9:19 am

It’s time for the Rs to become ruthless.

You can’t win by insisting on playing by gentlemen’s rules when your opponent DGAF. You have to be just as Machiavellian as they are, if not more so. Otherwise, their boot will be forever on your face.


 
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starlightnite50yrsago | November 4, 2026 at 9:21 am

The sheeple have spoken and it is not good for America. The coming turmoil won’t be conducive to making our country better. The coming vendettas will paralyze any progress made the past two years. God Bless America, she will need it.


 
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fishstick | November 4, 2026 at 9:25 am

no @Paula

the biggest problem is the Republicans have (and will continue to have) is a turnout one when DJT is not at the top of the ticket

alot of the 2016 and 2024 election wins for Republicans was via riding his coattails

and if anything, both the 2018 and 2026 midterms was a similar showcase of them starting with all 3 chambers and the GOP dragging their feet for 2 years and doing nothing, as to them not having anything to campaign on because Trump had to do 90% of everything by way of executive order

the bad press that orbits Trump also didn’t help, but it doesn’t excuse that the Republican party when put into a position to atleast try and get some legislation passed, absolutely squanders it

or just throws all their eggs in one basket like the big beautiful bill, a literal monstrosity that did nothing to address the real problems of inflation and government overspending

—

the real big defeat to me that really shows how far we overestimated any changes in the GOP in the last 2 years, are the results in Texas and Ohio

Vivek losing by a pretty sizeable margin, and ultra libs taking Texas for atleast 4-6 years foreshadows much of the problems Republicans will have in trying to win over their own voters, much less those that drift in the middle of politics

like if Republicans won’t turn out in droves to vote against the big blue machine, coupled with the seeming lack of interest in the upcoming next gen Republicans

then 2028 will also likely swing back left, only thing time to their DSA wing

I guess the only caveat is how much crazy the Dems will go in these next 2 years, and if anyone on the right and center will even care 🤷‍♂️


     
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    Paula in reply to fishstick. | November 4, 2026 at 9:44 am

    “the GOP dragging their feet for 2 years and doing nothing”

    What are they gonna do when they have numerous RINO’s who won’t stick with their party?

    Susan Collins
    Lisa Murkowski
    Bill Cassidy
    Thom Tillis
    Mitch McConnell
    John Cornyn
    Brian Fitzpatrick
    Don Bacon
    Mike Lawler
    Marcus Molinaro
    Zach Nunn


       
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      SeiteiSouther in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 10:19 am

      Well, you don’t have to worry about Cassidy. Letlow won, but it should not have been that close.

      I still feel warm fuzzies voting Cassidy out at the primary level.


       
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      fishstick in reply to Paula. | November 4, 2026 at 10:46 am

      that’s what I’m getting at though
      we did vote out many of those RINOs
      but that next gen GOP contender LOST
      and in many spots, fell flat vs a far left counterpart

      if our side can’t even bring themselves to vote in droves in the offseason elections
      why would we think they will do so in the presidential cycles

      it is looking more and more like when Trump goes, the “conservative” brand has no one to pick up the torch
      because Vivek is in many ways the opposite of Trump, but far more articulate with far less baggage
      however if even he can’t get voted in a state where Trump won by sizeable margins in 3 election cycles, then we have to look at why that didn’t translate with our voter base

      because if Vivek failed in Ohio …
      what makes us think someone like Vance or Rubio is going to do any better nationwide ❓

Well Tennessee is ruby red. Yay me.

On a serious note, they may have voted due to spin on the Iran war and the economy, but the economy is roaring compared to when Trump took office. I don’t buy the spin.

I personally made a million (plus or minus) betting on the Trump economy. I went in hard on options (QQQ, SPY) going into his election and doubled down during the worst of the tariffs. As those matured I went back to long positions and cut my options to a quarter of the original bet.

I am slowly pulling all those bets off the table. This congress will have an agenda of slowly wrecking the economy and refilling the swamp. If it goes how I suspect it will the market will languish back to a piss ant 5% return rate.

By Feb of 2027 the agenda will be lawfare once again.

I suggest Trump nuke Iran by midnight.


     
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    Massinsanity in reply to Andy. | November 4, 2026 at 9:49 am

    Well markets are up 2% across the board this morning so maybe hang onto to those long bets.


     
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    CommoChief in reply to Andy. | November 4, 2026 at 10:20 am

    The ‘economy’ or the markets? Only about 58% of adults own any stocks/MF/ETF and of those that do there’s no denying that ownership skews wildly to the top 15% which own roughly 98% ish of stocks.

    The misidentification of the markets with the ‘economy’ is one of the main reasons for what happened. The GoP has gotta be willing to start paying far more attention to the broad middle-class the center 70%. The top 15% is doing well and can largely take care of themselves. The bottom 15% has a (far too large IMO) govt teat to suckle. Meanwhile, the broad middle-class 70% between those groups gets ignored.

    We can like it or lump it but if we fail to respect the very real concerns of the middle 70% who are the core of the center/right populist/MAGA/Tea Party movement then the d/prog will happily step into the void we create with our indifference and pull them to center/left populism.


     
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    4fun in reply to Andy. | November 4, 2026 at 1:17 pm

    Look for usaid to come roaring back to fund the dems campaigns and dirty tricks.

Can we cane John Thune now? 🙂

The Dow Jones just opened at 1,047, for what it’s worth.


 
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DSHornet | November 4, 2026 at 9:34 am

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your finances closest.

The markets, puzzlingly to this lay man, are up. Whatever, I see confiscatory taxes in the future. No taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security may not last beyond the next couple of years. My withholdings will bump up a little to head off a rude surprise in April.

It was nice while it lasted. The gimmedats are happy.
.


     
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    rhhardin in reply to DSHornet. | November 4, 2026 at 9:41 am

    You only have to pay last year’s tax with this year’s withholding and estimated tax payments, to incur zero penalties.


     
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    curly surfhouse in reply to DSHornet. | November 4, 2026 at 10:01 am

    Don’t forget…we mercifully have the Presidential Veto for two more years…so no democrat legislation will pass…gulp…I hope and pray.


     
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    CommoChief in reply to DSHornet. | November 4, 2026 at 10:42 am

    SSA is a bipartisan failure of inaction. At this point frankly I’m beyond unwilling to bend to allow Boomer AARP members to run roughshod over other other generations when they relentlessly blocked every effort to reform it and stave off the looming 22% short fall.

    There’s only three ways to get the funds to make up the looming 22% ish cut in current benefits and none of them will be an easy sell.
    1. Cut funding elsewhere in the budget to transfer funds from general budget to SSA. How much $? Roughly half a Trillion first year. I don’t see Congress cutting $ 1/2 trillion from other programs to hand over to SSA.
    2. Raise taxes. Never a popular notion. I could see the possibility of a d/prog bait and switch to lock on revenue/tax increases pledged to SSA but spent on other things.
    3. Borrow the $. IMO This is what will happen b/c its easier politically and frankly nobody in DC cares about the budget deficit the National Debt enough to make dramatic changes needed to resolve it. We’re already borrowing about $2 Trillion every year anyway so what’s another $1/2 trillion to keep Boomers happy? Of course that also eventually crowds out other budget items, increases borrowing costs and makes our children and grand children responsible for the debt causing future higher taxes for them but ‘F them kids’ is gonna happen.

    Along with perhaps a few small tweaks in benefits mostly around timeline for eligibility making it 20-25 years v the current 10 years and maybe on ending spousal benefit claims in future with an outside chance of compression of benefit payout to either a single universal benefit amount (setting the stage for a future Universal Basic Income) or creating 3 tier benefit payout of ‘low, middle, high’ income earning history which basically would reduce the benefits for high income earners.


 
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gonzotx | November 4, 2026 at 9:37 am

As devastating as Tuesday’s electoral massacre was, Trump is hardly the first president to suffer such a rebuke. In the 2010 midterms, Democrats lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats. Republicans won back the House, but Democrats held onto the Senate. In 2014, Democrats lost 13 House seats and nine Senate seats, losing Senate control, while Republicans expanded their House majority
–

The difference being the Democrats weren’t totally insane then
They are now and it seems 60% of the population is with them


 
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gonzotx | November 4, 2026 at 9:38 am

Boo
@IzaBooboo
·

The Chicago Public Schools budget is larger than the budgets of ten states. Their literacy proficiency rate is below 40% and their math proficiency rate is below 30% by 11th grade.
1:19 PM · Nov 3, 2026

—- and it doesn’t seem to matter
Vote Blue!


 
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Olinser | November 4, 2026 at 9:40 am

What happened was voters didn’t turn out for a Congress that did absolutely nothing they wanted done.

The Senate has spent SIXTY PERCENT of the last 2 years ‘on vacation’ under Thune, doing absolutely nothing meaningful.

Everything that got done, got done by Trump alone.

Now I don’t agree, because now they’re going to constantly impeach him and scream for the cameras and waste everybody’s time.

On the plus side, Roberts is going to have to waste the next 2 years of his life presiding over meaningless show trials, so silver linings.


 
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Olinser | November 4, 2026 at 9:43 am

Wish we had an edit button.

What happened was Democrats were motivated by hatred for Trump, and Republicans were motivated by nothing, because the GOP gave them nothing to be motivated about.

Florida has become the Alamo of 2026.


     
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    Paula in reply to MAJack. | November 4, 2026 at 9:50 am

    All the brave Texans were slaughtered last night.


     
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    Milhouse in reply to MAJack. | November 4, 2026 at 11:22 am

    A useless and indefensible outpost that by all logic ought to have been blown up and abandoned months earlier, was instead foolishly defended, but whose inevitable fall turned into a rallying cry that eventually won the war?! That doesn’t match Florida at all.


 
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Massinsanity | November 4, 2026 at 9:47 am

As always, its the economy… specifically inflation which people feel every day. What fed inflation? Idiotic (and illegal) tariffs and a completely unnecessary offensive war. Both entirely predictable and 100% avoidable.

The ironic thing is other than inflation, the economy is doing great. GDP growth was excellent in the last report and today’s ADP report shows a very resilient jobs market and rising wages! If not for the war, last night would have looked a lot different.

The final factor is the abject corruption of the Trump family. We didn’t see this in the first term but this time out they have been shameless. The sons, the daughter and her husband, even Trump himself. Crypto scams, involvement in prediction markets, personal investments in companies with business dependent on the DoD. It is an endless stream of disgusting grift that makes the Biden’s look like petty pickpockets. Good riddance to thhe entire family.


     
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    fishstick in reply to Massinsanity. | November 4, 2026 at 10:58 am

    except there’s been no real rise in inflation as compared to the inflation rates under the Obama and Biden terms

    what people are confusing inflation for, or “affordability” here, is that while inflation rates were curbed in the last 2 years, the end result was still a net negative because those don’t affect prices and cost of living

    Trump’s plan in addressing this is he thinks he can grow the economy to offset the inflation

    this is one of the reasons he’s so gung-ho on the whole AI (super intelligence) BS because that’s the new tech frontier that can shift markets around

    the problem though is, it doesn’t erase the now 40 trillion dollar debt that is just growing and growing and growing and growing …

    and it’s that debt that is driving prices sky high (inflation) and more importantly, keeping them there

    I mean it’s gotten so bad that the now 3rd biggest item on the US federal budget is interest on the national debt

    it’s surpassed defense spending 😑


       
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      Massinsanity in reply to fishstick. | November 4, 2026 at 11:59 am

      The contention that inflation hasn’t reversed its downward trend since 2023 is simply incorrect. After peaking at ~9% inflation (as measured by CPI) trended down to under 3% by the end of 2024. It has since accelerated to 3.7% driven largely by energy costs which hit people hard because one cannot stop driving and heating/cooling their homes the same way they might be able to avoid eating out or eating steak.

      Inflation under Obama and Trump 1 was consistently 2% or less.


 
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The Gentle Grizzly | November 4, 2026 at 9:50 am

I see our president is claiming that had he been on the ballot “we” would have won in a landslide.

Downtick me all you want but I think he is losing his grip.


     
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    gonzotx in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | November 4, 2026 at 10:39 am

    Well if you’ve had assassination attempts at 3 times and threats to you your family, cabinet
    And anyone that bought a MAGA

    You would too


     
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    Massinsanity in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | November 4, 2026 at 10:44 am

    But we won in Guam!


     
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    CommoChief in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | November 4, 2026 at 10:58 am

    Yeah he seems really PO and angry that the rallies didn’t translate into victory. In fairness the last few weeks he worked his ass off campaigning but he needs to come to terms that the center/right populist movement began before him, that he was able to ride the existing movement to victory 2x but that these center/right populists are NOT an automatic get, they gotta be courted and convinced mainly on their OWN economic concerns (not the stock market) the price of fuel, whether they or their kids can afford a home/live a middle class lifestyle.

    Average age of 1st home purchase is above 40. Average age of 1st marriage is 30+. Median home price is now approaching $450K. Rents are ‘too.damn high’. Fuel cost dramatically higher due to Iran conflict. Utility costs up. Vehicle prices are absurd. AI/Data center concerns are very real in middle America/flyover country. Rural areas particularly agricultural areas have been hard hit economically with no relief in sight. Add to that rural hospitals going under. In large part the occasional rural voter is who put Trump and GoP over the top in ’16 and ’24 and many of them feel let down/ignored by GoP and those who tell them everything is fine with the ‘economy’ b/c the stock market is performing. These folks don’t, by and large, own stocks/MF/ETF. They don’t have a 401K b/c they work for small employers or are self employed.


     
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    Milhouse in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | November 4, 2026 at 11:30 am

    What does he even mean by making that boast, other than to sooth his own ego? How does he expect anyone to take it? He’s never going to be on a ballot again, so is he just saying “you’re all permanently screwed and I don’t care”?!


 
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rickcheese | November 4, 2026 at 9:56 am

Do not run on the economy and make the situation worse. And that’s just the start.

Unfortunately the country that will suffer most from this is Israel

Oh, and after today, I never, EVER, want to hear the phrase, ‘well you have to vote for X for the good of the party’, ever again.

We put up with that crap for Bush Republicans for decades, and the microsecond they started losing, they not only refused to vote, but started openly campaigning for Democrats.


 
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SeiteiSouther | November 4, 2026 at 10:15 am

At least my state didn’t shit the bed like the rest of the country. Fat lot it’s going to do us.

wow- the AK guy lost. It was a full clown show victory last night.

“Apparently, voters feel worse off economically and hold Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress responsible.”
.
I disagree. In this election, voters feared Republicans more than Democrats. The secular middle in this country gets whipsawed by the extremes on both sides.
.
The biggest mistake the Republican Party has made has been to continue to tie ideological purity on social issues, primarily abortion, to the fiscal conservatism and national security issues that would align with what most people “in the middle” would agree with.
.
The eagerness with which Republican-controlled state legislatures behaved post-Dobbs to ban abortion ignited the undercurrent of fear that facilitated propganda on other issues, from the ostensible social safety net, to illegal immigration, et al.


     
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    gonzotx in reply to janitor. | November 4, 2026 at 10:40 am

    Godless middle?

    The Muslim middle?

    The welfare middle?


       
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      janitor in reply to gonzotx. | November 4, 2026 at 11:01 am

      A little bit. But mostly people who fear what else comes from theocracy. The vast majority of people who identify as Christian (their point of view, not yours), are not anti-abortion absolutists.
      .
      And once shades of that theocratic purity appears, then there’s the “what else”, that gets used for all manner of propaganda launched on some basis of “being different” to stoke fear on other issues. A lot of the propaganda is bullshit, but the door was opened. Opened by numerous little things, such as no liberal even could watch Fox News or read a conservative website to get some good information about fiscal and security issues without being barraged with contant off-putting and exclusionary religious perspective. Consider your assumption right here that they must be Godless, Muslim, or from that useless eater set.


       
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      alaskabob in reply to gonzotx. | November 4, 2026 at 11:48 am

      Schumer declares ‘relief is on the way’ as Democrats claim Senate win: Iran war ‘must end’. The payoff for Muslims voting for Dems. Jimmy Carter, BHO and now Schumer … breathing life into the monster that wants Israel destroyed and Jews with it.


     
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    Massinsanity in reply to janitor. | November 4, 2026 at 10:48 am

    Nonsense. Abortion played close to 0 role in this shellacking. It was the economy first, specifically inflation, and second starting another offensive, forever war in the ME. This was an unforgivable betrayal of his base by Trump who literally ran on his opposition to such wars.


       
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      janitor in reply to Massinsanity. | November 4, 2026 at 11:08 am

      How do you think some people would get the idea that inflation, primarily caused by the Democrats, would be made better by voting against the Republicans who didn’t fix it fast enough?
      .
      (How did YOU get the idea that we are in an offensive, forever war? And get the point of repeating propaganda that Trump ever promised to not use the military to take out an existential threat?)


         
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        Massinsanity in reply to janitor. | November 4, 2026 at 12:04 pm

        Trump owns inflation since his re-election. The war and tariff man reignited it.

        Forever war? How about we are 9 months in and there is no sign of an end when it was supposed to be 2-4 weeks. Existential threat is too laughable to even reply to.


       
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      The Gentle Grizzly in reply to Massinsanity. | November 4, 2026 at 11:10 am

      The defense contractors snapped their fingers. He jumped.


       
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      Paula in reply to Massinsanity. | November 4, 2026 at 11:52 am

      The news media played the biggest role.


     
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    CommoChief in reply to janitor. | November 4, 2026 at 11:33 am

    Nah man abortion wasn’t really a big issue here. Especially since there’s been more than one intervening election since Dobbs and that 1st election put Trump into the WH and handed the GoP a majority House and Senate.

    This was largely an anti incumbent/PO voter election, especially looking at State races. Many center/right populist voters rebuked the party in power b/c they felt ignored by the party in power.

These results are effing bullshit. There’s no way in hell they’re remotely legitimate.

Do
Any of you think the republicans will defend the President and support the vetos?

We are one vote away from total
Alienation


     
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    txvet2 in reply to gonzotx. | November 4, 2026 at 11:25 am

    Do you really believe that the man who brags about his skill at making deals, and backs it up by trying to make deals with terrorists is actually going to shy away from making deals with Democrats? He can’t, and he won’t.


     
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    CommoChief in reply to gonzotx. | November 4, 2026 at 11:26 am

    From blatantly crackpot ideas or straight up Marxist crap? Yes and that support will hold.

    From a fairly reasonable piece of legislation (say something that’s close to 40% of the loaf for GoP) with broad support in some GoP districts/States maybe like a rural hospital funding fix? Nope probably not.

    Trump gotta be strategic with his veto and not risk alienating specific GoP constituencies. I’m not at all certain that the d/prog will be clever enough to craft separate legislation that appeals to those constituencies like rural areas as an example to force Trump into either a bad veto or into supporting the bill. If they can listen to the calmer heads instead of the heedless bloodlust of vengeance motivated investigation/impeachment they could have an opportunity to solidify this midterm into a longer-term governing coalition. I have serious doubts the less vengeful d/prog will be able to restrain the wild eyed members of their coalition in particular the DSA types who will push to do ‘everything’ all at once and overreach.

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