Midterm Beatdown
Votes are not all in, but there’s no question, the US midterms were a butt whipping for the elephant people. Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan got her wish: it wasn’t just a blue wave, it was a red rout. Trump, interviewed by the Times and the Journal said he would “accept” the results of the election, as if he had a choice. He tried to say that it might have been different if he had been on the ballot, but listening to the news and reading the papers, he’s the only one saying that. This was a wall-to-wall rejection of Trump, reflecting his 38 percent approval rating nationally. Trump even admitted that “Iran has something to do with it” in a masterpiece of understatement.
Votes reported so far tell the tale dramatically. The Democrats have won control of the US Senate flipping 7 seats, including Texas, South Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Maine with uncertain outcomes still in Mississippi – of all places -- where there is a statistical tie, and Alaska where votes are still being counted. Democrats are at 54 and Republicans at 44. Michigan elected the first Muslim ever to be in the US Senate. Democrats have also taken the US House of Representatives. With 218 needed for a majority, Democrats thus far have 228 seats and the Republicans have 139.
The state level was also punishing. In contested governor’s races, returns are uneven, but Democrats have flipped seats in Texas, Georgia, Iowa, and Kansas for example. A Black woman, Keisha Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, was elected governor of Georgia to become the first black woman governor elected as a US governor. A Black woman was also elected to the US Senate from Illinois. A Hispanic woman was elected governor in Texas, soundly beating Greg Abbot trying for his fourth term. An Indian woman was elected governor of New Mexico and another was elected Senator from Minnesota.
There’s no question, a hard wind has come. Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina in the blue column also change every calculation of what it would take for Republicans to take the White House in 2028. The change in Texas is so dramatic with Democrat now splitting the Senate delegation, in the governor’s chair, and have recovered Latinos in South Texas. It’s time for some of my comrades to leave Jersey, New York, and other places they had taken sanctuary and come back home. This trickles down even to our own organizational decisions. We need to staff up BRAVO-ACORN work and beef up our Local 100 team in Houston and Dallas.
There’s a lot more to say about all of this as more votes come in. Mi companera turned to me last night as we turned off the TV and spoke the plain truth: “We haven’t had a night like this since 2008.” True that! For a minute, it’s time to dance to the music!