Not a win for Trump
From election day, 2018. This is what President Trump says happened last night:
But, a close look shows that last night was not a win for President Trump or for the Republican party.
First, Republicans kept the Senate. That is not really a victory. Of the 35 seats up for re-election last night, 26 of them were already Republican and many of them were in areas where Republicans always win. Many super Republican strongholds were closer to flipping than every before. That should be a message about how fragile Republicans’ position in Senate is. If they only see this as a victory, they may not learn the lessons they need to win again later…
Second, Republicans lost the House of Representatives. They had nearly 50 more representatives than the Democrat party, and the Democrats will likely have a 25- or 30-seat lead when all is said and done.
Third, the governorship of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are now Democrat. If you remember Donald Trump’s win in 2016, he was projected to not really have a chance, for two reasons: (1) he was going to lose badly in the popular vote and (2) he had to win not one, not two, but three states that were close but normally go Democrat for president. Well, he pulled it off and won Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania — three states that normally go Democrat for president. He won them by barely any votes and got crushed in the popular vote. That was within the realm of possibility, but it was unlikely. (Personally, I remember getting home at about 10:00 PM after a long day and almost fell over I was so surprised.)
What is the correct takeaway for President Trump and the Republican Party? Probably this: despite a some records in the economy, setting a record for the lowest unemployment rate ever, and a popular bill in the tax cuts from last year, they still did really poorly in this election. They should probably ease up on the verbal hatred of immigrants, the general lying, and the bad tariff plans. With a record economy, this could have been a really easy election for the Republican party — but it wasn’t.
