The MAGA world is shaken. The traditional media is shaken. The right wing-o-sphere is shaken. After believing a “red tsunami” was coming to wash away the Democratic Party and usher in a red wave of fascists on Nov. 8, centrists and conservatives everywhere are shaken. We were less shaken.
It is usually bad form to gloat over another person’s loss.
As of Wednesday morning, there’s a lot we don’t know about specific election outcomes. But one thing we do know is that the confident predictions of a huge Republican wave were flatly wrong, and there should be a lot of soul-searching among the pundits and reporters and, frankly, Democratic politicians and operatives who made those predictions.
UPDATE: Thursday, Nov 10, 2022 · 12:58:59 AM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
NEW – Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine conflict, says “probably” the same on the Ukrainian side. Speaking now.
There were those of us insisting the dominant media narrative of a “red wave” was wrong. Kerry Eleveld, Simon Rosenberg, Tom Bonier, and I kept looking at the data and wondering where this fervent belief on the massive Republican wave came from. History, for sure. But it was clear as day that this wasn’t a typical midterm.
Looking at you, Third Way, and Bernie Sanders, and well everyone else Markos talks about here. This.
THIS:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky voters reject anti-abortion constitutional amendment in conservative state with near-total ban.— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) November 9, 2022
Kentucky. The voters of Kentucky, in a 53-47 vote, told their Republican leaders to stuff it, they won’t let them put an extreme abortion ban into the state constitution.
Each election cycle, the party puts big money and high hopes into some success in Texas only to have it end like Beto O’Rourke’s campaign — in defeat.
Ask anyone what Mehmet Oz said about reproductive rights during last month’s Pennsylvania Senate debate, and they’ll probably tell you that the TV doctor believes an abortion should be between “a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders.” The truth is, that dystopian Handmaid’s Tale–esque statement did not come verbatim from the Republican’s mouth. But it may have cost him the election anyway.
Ryan Walters told a local television station his first order of business would be auditing the state’s Education Department.
With crucial races still undecided, GOP candidates could pursue a legal fight over a printing error in Maricopa County.
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Some observers ridiculed Joe Biden for making a closing pitch for democracy, but as it turns out, Americans do care about more than the price of gas. Voters concerned about democracy and their rights defied predictions of a red wave and sharply limited Republican gains.
It was one of the stranger midterms of the past few decades. Democrats, facing down a rout as inflation ran stubbornly high and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings remained underwater, managed a string of decisive victories that may allow them to control the Senate and even halt a significant Republican takeover of the House.
Who will control Congress after yesterday’s midterm elections remains unclear, but two things are certain: Moderation can pay big electoral dividends, and Donald Trump has become a liability for the Republican Party.Yes, plenty of extremist candidates just won office. According to The New York Times, more than 200 Republican candidates who denied the results of the 2020 election or flirted with doing so secured victories on Tuesday.
Members of the state House refused to budge on their proposal to ban abortion starting at conception with exceptions for rape, incest and if the life of the pregnant person is in danger.
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekElections alter the balance of power in a democracy while affording us new information about what voters want.
A surge in turnout among people motivated by the erosion of abortion rights carried Democrats to victory in multiple races.
Pittsburgh community organizer Summer Lee was elected the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress after winning the state’s 12th Congressional District in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Lee, currently a state representative, faced off against Republican Mike Doyle — who happened to share the same name as the outgoing Democratic incumbent.
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says President Biden must “push back as hard as he can” if Republicans take control of even one chamber in Congress following Tuesday’s midterm elections. He says the administration needs to be clear there is no compromise on the debt ceiling, which he expects a Republican-controlled Congress would challenge, potentially triggering a repeat of the political crisis in 2011 under former President Obama.
Voters supported the right to abortion in at least four of the five states where reproductive rights were on the ballot in Tuesday’s midterm elections. “Abortion rights are deeply popular, and when you put the question before voters, they say yes,” said The Nation’s Amy Littlefield.
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his opponent Republican Herschel Walker will likely head to a runoff if neither candidate wins 50% of the vote needed to win the election outright. Warnock was able to capture more white and rural votes than Stacey Abrams, who lost to Georgia’s incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp, explains LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund.
The balance of power in Congress is still up in the air after Democratic candidates outperformed expectations in much of the country in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Control of the Senate now rests on four states: Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. We speak with The Nation’s John Nichols, who says Democratic Senate candidate Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes could still close the gap with Republican incumbent Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, who now has the advantage.
The Republican-controlled state, where lawmakers have long resisted Medicaid expansion, is the seventh in the last five years to do so at the ballot box — and likely the last to do so for some time.
Kentucky progressives are hoping for a repeat of Kansas’ upset vote on Tuesday.
The doctors argue in the lawsuit the subpoenas are effectively a “fishing expedition” against abortion providers that violate Indiana law.
The update comes amid anxieties about the administration’s effort to promote the newest vaccination as an upgrade over the original.
Inflation has cooled only slightly and job growth remains strong.
A new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll suggests voters’ views of the economy are baked in.
Housing investment, though, plunged at a 26 percent annual pace, hammered by surging mortgage rates.
According to an NBC News poll released Sunday, 70 percent of registered voters expressed interest in the upcoming election as a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale.
The party played with fire and avoided any burns with its midterm election strategy.
“I know more about him than anybody — other than, perhaps, his wife,” the former president claimed of his potential rival.