Feeling pessimistic, might delete later. You can blame ICE kidnapping people off the streets, a stupid gerrymandering strategy, endless idiotic wars, or even just Ken Paxton being hated. But I think the only reason Texas (and some other usually-red states and districts) flipped is because a lot of people were pissed off that it was costing $200 to fill their huge trucks and SUVs. Is $6 diesel the result of Republican policy? Of course. But if we invaded Iran and it didn’t cause a huge spike in gas prices I don’t think we would be where we are today (and to be clear, I’m very pleased with last night’s results, even if my fucking stupid Florida continues to underperform).
Quick edit to whoever admins this community: I just read the sidebar & rule 1. Mea culpa.
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I think prices were a big part of it.
But more than that I think people actually took the time to vote, which is why they will have a Latina governor now.
Sometimes, getting the right thing for the wrong reason is good enough.
No argument there. Any port in a storm.
Americans overall proved the DGAF about corruption, rape and pedophilia. It was the price of gas. They aren’t saying no to war and killing children, just if the consequence is expensive gas for their Canyonero.
So if Iran resolves and gas goes back down, they will flock back to the next geriatric pedophile rapist.
No, ALL those things factored in as well. It wasn’t ALL about gas prices.
Correct. The particular swing among Hispanics can be directly connected to Trumps unpopular immigration enforcement.
Also, speaking with a couple former Trump supporters, the disillusionment with Iran goes beyond gas prices (or even inflation in general). There really was a belief among a lot of Trump supporters that the US shouldn’t be messing around in the middle east. And, lets not forget about the Epstein files. That really took the wind out of the sails of a lot of his supporters.
Not all of us :( but too many
With all the fuckery of the last two years, the GOP still got elected in 44 senate races.
the GOP still got elected in 44 senate races.
They absolutely did not as there were only a total of 33 contested seats. Total including D and R.
You’re confusing the final count with the actual election. Republican absolutely did not get elected in 44 races on Tuesday.
We don’t hold 100 Senate elections all at once, they’re staggered.
There were only 35 seats open. But your point still holds: At present Dems won 20 of those seats, Reps won 13. (with two still uncalled ATM). Still way too many wins.
Way too many
Prices are not going back down. Actions in the strait cannot be undone.
Prices are literally already going down.
Overnight, gas went down like 20¢ here.
Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, Smells like a steak and seats thirty five? Canyonero!
Oh, fuck off. Gas prices were higher in 2022 under Biden but there wasn’t a massive shift towards the right in the midterms.
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the main cause of this blue wave was gas prices.
The last 10 years have proven Americans aren’t particularly concerned about their democracy. Gas though…
Of course, it was the same reason Trump won last time. The dems were holding the inflation hot potato.
2018: Republicans try to cut taxes and repeal Obamacare. First blue wave happens.
2022: All-time high gas prices, higher than this year, under Biden. No red wave.
Fuck off with this pessimistic bullshit
This is why I’m telling folks not to rush into another impeachment.
Get gas prices down, get food prices down, show real results for people right away.
If you impeach the GOPs can say it was all about Trump.
If you show you can run the country better then they have nothing but hate to sell their people.
This is why I’m telling folks not to rush into another impeachment.
Impeaching Kegsbreath and J Measlz Kennedy must be immediate and without hesitation.
Come back around to the Rapist in Chief after getting real work done. Seizing the ill-gotten gains from his family and friends must happen as well.
Ice gestapos must be held to account, charge and arrested for treason and murder.
There’s quite a lot of accountability that must happen in concert with repairing the economy.
This is the way.
Do whatever you can to immediately stop the war crimes, health crisis, and the gestapo and their concentration camps, then focus on policy to improve the lives of Americans.
Let Trump watch his power slip, his actions be undone, and his “allies” abandon him, all while he gets more and more afraid.
This may be a ridiculous comparison, but I just had the thought of Trump basically as Pennywise; you have to undo the fear that he feeds on to make him small and powerless before you can squash him 😅
Anyone focused on impeachment is a fucking idiot.
Democrats need to focus on one thing and one thing only, cost of living. It is basically the only thing people care about.
No. People care about accountability. Corruption was a big factor in this election. It shouldn’t be one or the other. They should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
To add to this, corruption can be linked to affordability. The Iran war and Tarriffs are driving inflation and Trump and co are profiting off that both by making corrupt stock trades before policy is announced.
How the fuck this isnt instant prison for life is baffling to me.
This is why there needs to be accountability and punishment and and not “moving on” or “sticking to norms”.
These people profited off death, suffering, and struggle of everyone but themselves. Fuck them.
So how do we actually get punishment ? An actual pedophile is in the whitehouse and has faced 0 repercussions. Actually he made billions.
Due process is in the constitution. Don’t be like them. Let them be properly tried and convicted.
The fact that there’s any question on whether they’ll be convicted is the travesty.
Lmfao, no they don’t.
They voted in Republicans after Citizens United and they voted in Trump after multiple impeachments.
The people should care about corruption, but they by and large don’t … unless they think that corruption is effecting the prices they’re paying.
The people care about cost of living. Thats it.
The people care about cost of living. Thats it.
Yup. It’s a sad fact, but it’s a fact.
$6 gas is the only reason we have an anti-war movement right now too, as evidenced by how unbothered Americans as a people were by the 20 years of War on Terror and torture, normalized by both ruling parties. Heck, our last president was the supposed progressive and earned the name ‘Genocide Joe’.
I’ve literally never heard anyone call him genocide Joe. Honestly if you’re hearing people call him that you might want to reconsider the people you talk to.
Well, your lived experience is clearly very insular.
You might consider crediting people with being genociders when they support a genocide.
So Trump won 2024 because he was accountable?
The reason impeachment is even in discussion is because we have a president who would rather burn the country down while blaming the Democrats, than compromise.
Hell, compromise is even the wrong word, they could pass the “Trans ban tax cut deregulation super bill” and he would still veto it out of spite.
Without presidential support or a super majority, Democrats main tools are investigations and impeachments. If anything, that gives them leverage or a shot at getting someone into the Oval Office not obsessed with retribution.
Republicans in both chambers could take a hint and help pass things without the president, but it’s more likely they’re doing the political calculus and coming to the decision that resisting Democrats passing popular bills is the best shot they have at the GE in 2 years ago they can say “See, the blue wave was useless and Democrats can’t govern.”
This isn’t me pre-appologizing for Democrat inaction, it’s the reality of how our political system works - having a simple majority in one of the three beaches of government isn’t free reign to do whatever you want.
Impeachment means fuck all. It’s a red herring for the position of president. He’s been impeached twice already. It means nothing.
Without presidential support or a super majority, Democrats main tools are investigations and impeachments.
No, their main tool and job, remains their main tool and job: passing legislation.
Make the president veto bill after bill after bill and they’ll have something to campaign on next time that people care about.
Democrats need to focus on one thing and one thing only, cost of living
100%
And they’re probably not going to because most don’t actually give a damn if people are starving.
In what world do you think congress has the ability to get gas prices, food prices, or cost of living down without removing the cheetoh? Congress passes laws, but the president signs them into law. Congress needs a supermajority to over-ride a president veto. And Lord knows the Republicans can now go back to what they’re good at - obstructing progress.
So by your own admission, impeachment is both impossible to do and utterly futile.
The problem you have is that you still think that Trump and the GOP are the same thing. Trump cares only about himself, and will throw the GOP under the bus in an instant if he thinks it’ll do him some good.
Dems should go to him with a deal like this. Sign Medicare For All and we’ll call it 'TrumpCare." Let him blame Pete H for the Iran War and sign a treaty. Let him be President for the next two years and then destroy him in state courts.
The main thing you’re overlooking is that the people who voted for Trump three times and then voted Blue last night have no loyalty to the Dems of the Left. They care about $6.00 gas. Give them what they want.
Gas costs an average of $5.87/gal in California vs $3.37 in North Carolina. Electricity costs 29.75c/kWh in California vs Nevada which is 12.72c. LNG in California costs $21.25 per Mcf vs Utah at $12.78.
It’s true that they can’t pass any national laws, but states have immense power within their borders to make the lives of their constituents better. They can and should demonstrate competence in their state if they want to convince voters to give them more national power. This is their chance.
I agree that impeachment shouldn’t be the first priority but I think it needs to be done and Trump might force it.
Trump is mentally unwell, he’s not planning on leaving office in 2028, and I think there’s a genuine chance he drops a nuke.
Get prices under control, make tangible changes people notice, then impeach that sack of shit.
See my comment further up the thread.
The tl, dr is that Trump will throw the GOP under the bus in a second if he thinks it will do him some good.
The main goal of the Dems right now is making the people who voted Blue for the first time last night vote Blue again and again and again.
Impeachment doesn’t mean removal from office.
He’s already been impeached. Twice.
Also, if you remove Trump, you’ve got JD in his place.
Not really a big win
I don’t think this opinion is unpopular. It’s unpleasant, but not unpopular imho.
Trump campaigned on low gas prices, low grocery prices, and no more forever wars. Then he launched the war on Iran and all three blew up in his face.
I’m downvoting this, not because I disagree (which I do), but because it’s apparently a popular opinion and you also broke rule #1
It’s not the only reason, it’s a major reason. Hispanic conservatives realized in large enough reasons that being religious and conservative wasn’t protecting them from bigotry, being murdered, deported, being impoverished. Not all of them realized, but enough. Those things combined with cost of living issues, exhaustion from the circus and war… it all worked together.
The other way of thinking about it was that it was the lie that broke through. They could have believed the other lies, naively or wilfully, but being told that gas was $2 and seeing $6 was the easiest way to pull back the curtain.
I’ve worked as a polling location clerk for the past several elections in TX. Yesterday I saw the most number of first time voters coming in, smiling shyly (and some not knowing how to sign lol) than ever. I also saw many elderly women coming in with their first time voter grandchildren, which stood out to me and made me wonder who brought whom. I suspect we had a record first time voter participation for a mid-term election cycle, and curious to know how much it effected the results.
It’s the economy, stupid.
It always has been and probably always will be. And $6 diesel is just one of the most visible places for people to see and be impacted by it. Republicans don’t care about corruption, they see government as always corrupt. Trump is just doing what they believe all politicians do. Republicans support what ICE is doing and are fine with ICE killing people, they will just blame the victim. But they cannot ignore the feeling of impending doom when they are getting to the end of their budget before the end of the pay period, and they are staring down a $200 bill to fill their gas tank. While that may not get them to vote Democrat, it does get them to not vote at all. And that is enough.I think there is also an angle to investigate about the major growth which has happened in the DFW area. Due to companies and people moving there, that whole areas has been shifting blue. At some point, enough people voting blue in the cities will overwhelm the red rural population for statewide races. And that is only helped by Republicans not showing up at the polls.
I think it’s one of the only reasons any part of the USA flipped.
It’s also why the flip was so dramatic two years ago.
Donald used the same playbook that Biden and Harris did, which was lie incessantly and gaslight the electorate, and just kind of ignore that we fill our own gas tanks, shop for our own groceries, pay our own bills, and go to our own medical appointments. It’s almost as if these stupid, rich bastards really don’t know that the poor and working class do all the shit for themselves that rich people pay their help to do.
You can’t gaslight people out of their learned experienced of poverty.
I’ll take it, It would be nice if there were things like care and compassion but this is texas we are talking about.
yeah and the majority of people are buying ev’s, solar panels and batteries to save money not to save the world
Uhh I’m not so sure. I can sure as hell save more driving my $1500 beater car than buying any electric which even used is going to be more than 6k for anything that still holds a charge.
since oil prices have gone up ev sales have exploded
This is an opportunity to try to pass things like a federal ban on partisan gerrymandering. That and cost of living items are the two most impactful things they can start with.
I’ll be shocked if Democrats actually do something smart and impactful with their control. They’ve been the useful idiots to the Republican’s evil for decades by now.
I think American voters have a part to play in this, falsely thinking everything’s hunkydory now, simply because there are fewer stooges in government. Time to transition from the harm reduction phase to the action phase. Advocate for continued progress towards full-throated change to the corrupt electoral system.
Back to Congress, prosecute all the evil fascist fucks around Trump, and what’s left in the President’s office is a doddering old man that, at this point just wants attention. If Democrats are smart, they could use that to their advantage.
If Democrats are smart, …
Let me stop you right there…
I don’t mean to be pessimistic, I mean to say we’re still well within the up hill battle phase, and all this unfettered celebration is going to fool a lot of less savvy people into thinking the hard part is over.
Just remember what happened to AoC vs Nancy Pelosi. The Dems already have a playbook for kowtowing progressives. I’ll be schocked if we make any progress even undoing Trump’s damage before we replace most establishment style Dems with actual, honest and unbribeable progressives.
We’ve got smarter progressives now, and every election we may get more. Since I don’t live in the USA I will wait and see, maybe protest in solidarity when I can.
But it remains to be seen whether the public at large and the Dem caucus understand that we’re at the starting line not the finish, and continued advocacy is necessary from the bottom and the top.
Skepticism is healthy but I’ll wait a week or so for the initial wave of relief to subside, to see the first signs of whether the party wants to be serious about getting to work come January. I am obviously worried about Schumer and Jeffries being tar traps to any momentum, but I am looking at two things:
- Will any Democrat(s) volunteer to unseat the Senate or House leader from the next term? If no Senator takes the initiative, it is a tacit endorsement of Schumer even from the ones who have publicly said they don’t support him.
- Should the two stay, will Democrats still be unimpeded from advancing an agenda despite the two leaders? Should the leaders serve as unpopular and uncharismatic fall guys, acting as cover for real work of the other Democrats simply by not getting in their way, then I accept that working arrangement if that gets results. If Trump blocks everything they do that’s one thing, but if it’s Schumer playing defence for the other team that will tank the Democrats.
If those senators who campaigned on getting money out of politics don’t get political bribe money out of their own leadership as well, Schumer, Jeffries or otherwise, they will have failed at their promise.
