Trump’s house of cards
After losing all remnants of national power two years ago, the pendulum has swung back for the United States Democrats, and they have won one of the major bodies of political power in the US.
But the midterm election yesterday, which delivered Democrats a majority in the lower House of Representatives, does not portend some new era of moderation and rationality.
If anything, these results foreshadow more political chaos for a country that we can now see is even more deeply divided than it was two years ago, when it made Donald Trump (pictured) president.
The Democrats’ path to victory in the House was through the suburbs around major urban areas, which seem to have become a lot bluer in the past two years. But that shift has not been felt across the more rural and rust-tinged areas, which often got redder.
The Senate is where you see this divide most clearly, as the body favours the states with smaller populations.
In North Dakota, Missouri, and Indiana voters have tossed out their moderate or Right-leaning Democratic senators for Trump-endorsed candidates firmly on the right wing.
This has led to the Republicans retaining their majority in the Senate and likely growing it by several seats (not every result was known at press time.)
Trump will spin this as a win, and it is to an extent.
Save West Virginia and possibly Florida, every state he campaigned in over the final weeks of the campaign flipped to him.
In Missouri, where I saw him, his supporters were still completely enamoured by him, and completely hostile to the concept of a red state Democratic senator.
He will also seek to downplay the size of the Democratic win in the House, which is unlikely to reach the heights of the Tea Party revolution in 2010, and conforms with the historical trend of new presidents losing House seats in their first midterms.
If you look at the popular vote for the House, however, it is clear a decent majority of the country would rather a Democrat was in charge.
Problem is, the Democrats won the popular vote in 2016 too.
Democrats now have the power to subpoena the president and even begin impeachment hearings.
This election will only add to the partisan divides of this country. At least there’s only two years until the next one.
Resigned to the loss of one-party control over Washington in yesterday’s elections, President Donald Trump stared down the prospect of endless House investigations, stymied policy efforts and fresh questions about the resilience of his unorthodox political coalition. He celebrated GOP success hanging on to the Senate and distanced himself from any blame.
Trump stayed quiet for much of election night as Republicans maintained their hold on the Senate and Democrats captured control of the House — a shift all but certain to redefine his presidency. Late in the evening, he offered a brief tweet that simply read: ‘‘Tremendous success tonight. Thank you to all!’’
Trump called House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, a conversation that her office said included congratulations and a nod to her pitch for bipartisanship.
Widely viewed as a referendum on Trump’s presidency, the results offered a split decision that revealed deep tensions in the American electorate — distances that could easily widen during two years of divided control. Trump’s aggressive campaign blitz, which paid off in some key victories, suggests he is likely to continue leaning into the fray.
Control of the House gives Democrats the ability to launch investigations into the president and stifle his agenda. But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders minimized the magnitude of Democratic gains. ‘‘Maybe you get a ripple, but I certainly don’t think that there’s a blue wave,’’ she said, pointing to several early Republican wins.
As for Republicans retaining control of the Senate, she called it ‘‘a huge moment and victory for the president’’.
White House aides called on Democrats to work with Republicans in the next Congress.
In addition to the call to Pelosi, Trump also called Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, as well as a number of candidates he backed during the race, the White House said.
Sanders said he would continue making calls today.
Trump had aggressively campaigned in the closing days of the race, his focus on boosting Republicans in states that he carried in 2016.
Of the three races he targeted in the final day, the Republicans won all of them: Mike Braun defeated Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Josh Hawley defeated Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Attorney General Mike DeWine defeated Democrat Richard Cordray in the race for Ohio governor.
Trump spent election night watching returns with family and friends at the White House.
Nearly 40 per cent of voters cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate, while about 25 per cent said they voted to express support for Trump. –