To call Tuesday’s results a mere blue wave doesn’t do justice to the force and size of the impact.
asserted
call → call → impact
That was a blue tsunami that delivered a near-total destruction of the Republican power structure.
asserted
that → deliver → structure
Any fair reading of the polls in recent weeks clearly revealed the depths of public unhappiness with President Trump and the GOP Congress.
asserted
reading → reveal → Trump
It turns out that Fate has a sense of humor.
asserted
Fate → turn → humor
Thinking he would pump up their turnout, Trump told Republican voters to pretend his name was on the ballot.
asserted
name → think → ballot
They may or may not have heard him, but Democrats and most independents heard him loud and clear and soundly rejected him.
uncertain
Democrats → hear → him
Anyone who is surprised that they turned out in such force hasn’t been paying attention.
asserted
they → turn → attention
One indication of how the vote would go has been flashing red for months.
asserted
vote → go → months
The president’s job approval rating has been stuck at under 40%, with voters across the spectrum unhappy with the impact of the Iran war on energy prices and inflation in general.
asserted
voters → stick → general
But the president didn’t heed the warnings, and helped bring upon political disaster by treating polls and public complaints as so much “fake news” and media noise.
asserted
president → heed → news
In fact, an AP poll last month found that 65% of adults directly blamed Trump and his policies for high prices, while just 17% liked his handling of cost of living issues.
asserted
% → find → issues
That proved to be an insurmountable mountain, and the heavy anti-GOP turnout indicated a big majority of voters had seen and heard more than enough of him.
asserted
majority → prove → him
It is not uncommon for presidents to suffer losses midway through their terms.
asserted
presidents → suffer → terms
In 2014, halfway through Barack Obama’s second term, Republicans picked up a whopping nine Senate seats.
asserted
Republicans → pick → seats
In the House, combined with the results of 2010, Republicans had gained a net total of 77 House seats during his presidency.
asserted
Republicans → combine → presidency
Obama appeared chastened after the 2010 results came in, good-naturedly calling them a “shellacking.”
But he didn’t understand the full meaning of the message, and change his ways accordingly.
asserted
he → appear → ways
And so his second midterm beat-down effectively ended his presidency and paved the way for Trump’s Oval Office upset in 2016.
asserted
down → end → 2016
Depending on Tuesday’s final results, Trump has so far fared much better.
asserted
Trump → depend → results
In his first term, he lost his majority in the House, with Dems picking up 41 seats in 2018.
asserted
Dems → lose → 2018
That paved the way for Nancy Pelosi’s “trumped up” impeachment, which had no lasting impact because of what happened in the Senate.
asserted
what → pave → Senate
But Republicans actually picked up two Senate seats in 2018, for a total of 53.
asserted
Republicans → pick → 53
That may not sound like much, but those seats turned out to be crucial when it came to the narrow confirmation votes of Trump’s final two Supreme Court justice nominees, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
uncertain
it → sound → nominees
It would certainly help if he ate some crow in public and took full responsibility for the outcome.
asserted
he → help → outcome
He could do worse than quote the Bob Dylan lyrics, “I threw it all away.”
uncertain
I → do → it
Not that he will because he specializes in excess, and deems it a badge of manly pride to thumb his nose at tradition.
asserted
it → specialize → tradition
But even he has to signal to the American public that he still intends to serve their interest.
asserted
he → have → interest
To do so, he will need to curb his tendency toward excess and in going too far in testing what is acceptable and defensible.
asserted
what → do → excess
Whether the topic is the effect of tariffs on domestic prices, his seemingly insatiable desire to put his name on everything, even currency, and permit his family to gorge itself on self-dealing
asserted
topic → put → self
all make him vulnerable.
asserted
him → make → ?
All these must be dialed way back if the president is going to have any positive effect on the country in his final two years.
asserted
president → dial → years
His legacy certainly has some high points in that he has twice won the White House and dominated not just American politics, but also the world stage during his terms.
asserted
he → have → terms
He is the most famous man in the world, and yet his own country is now showing weariness of his leadership.
asserted
country → show → leadership
As for Democrats, the smell of blood will likely prove to be irresistible again.
asserted
smell → prove → blood
Rep. Robert Garcia is clearly in the mood for a war, as he wasted little time in sending his message to the president and his team: “LAWYER UP,” Garcia posted on X.
That’s not a mere back bencher spewing hot air.
asserted
That → waste → air
Garcia is almost certain to be the head of the House Oversight Committee in a Dem-controlled Congress, which effectively does the most important investigations.
asserted
which → control → investigations
So the president and his aides would be smart to take his warning to heart.
asserted
president → take → heart
New Yorkers, of course, could not escape the blue sweep, with the dominant re-election of Gov. Hochul attesting to how deep and wide the Dems’ base is.
uncertain
base → escape → Hochul
He targeted high taxes, and utility rates that are 70% higher than the national average.
asserted
that → target → average
But with early results giving Hochul a 3-1 edge, the landslide raises not only her power, but also that of Gotham Mayor Mamdani.
asserted
landslide → give → Mamdani
He babysat Hochul across the finish line, and she is now behold to the socialist antisemite for the next four years.
asserted
she → babysat → years
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
