Political parties and politicians just can’t help themselves.
Giving them total control of government is like giving a teenager the keys to the car while the parents are out of town ― chances are much higher that something bad is going to happen rather than good.
This is a bipartisan curse. Republicans overreach when they have total control of government just like far-left progressive liberal Democrats have since they took control of Washington lock, stock and barrel after the 2020 elections.
The first midterm congressional elections are the first time voters get a chance to slam on the brakes to stop whoever is in charge from going over the cliff again ― because the pain of the mistakes made by the majority party is too much to bear.
According to The American Presidency Project at UC-Santa Barbara, in the 22 midterm elections from 1934–2018, the President’s party averaged a loss of 28 House seats and four Senate seats. The president’s party gained seats in the House only three times, 9 for FDR in 1934; 8 for Clinton in 1998 and 5 for Bush 43 in 2002.
The president’s party gained seats in the Senate on six occasions ― FDR gained 9 seats in 1934; Kennedy gained 3 in 1962; Nixon gained 2 in 1962; Reagan gained 1 in 1982; Bush 43 gained 2 in 2002 and Trump gained 2 in 2018. The president’s party has gained seats in both houses only twice, 1934 and 2002.
President Biden and his band of far-left progressive liberal socialist Democrats are not only fighting the Republican Party and perhaps billions in independent expenditure campaign spending ― they are fighting historical tendencies in America.
There is something primal in the hearts and minds of partisan political types that screams “Get as much done as quickly as possible so we can save the world from (insert favorite demonic issue)!”
If either major political party gets a clear majority to run the legislative and executive branches knowing that the judicial branch will confirm their view of the Constitution, they should try to get as much done as possible in less than two years before the next election. That is why partisans spent billions to get them elected in the first place ― to get their agenda passed.
However, partisans always forget that 85% of Americans who vote regularly, meaning less than 50% of adults who are eligible to vote, are not extremely partisan one way or the other.
They hate extreme partisanship and all of the subsequent finger-pointing by both sides with a passion. These 85% of regular voters don’t pay much attention to politics between the last election and maybe three weeks ahead of the next one. They are too busy working; raising children; going to church; hiking or discovering new technologies to “save the world” that way instead of politics.
Between 500,000 and 750,000 people watch the liberal talk shows on MSNBC on any given night, usually the same people day-in and day-out. Over 2 million people watch the conservative talk shows on FOX every night, usually the same people day-in and day-out.
That means over 315 million people in America ― don’t give a damn about politics on a daily basis. They just want a good job; no inflation; low gas prices; safe streets; great schools and they don’t want people telling them what to do or how to do it on a daily basis.
Right now, they are being barraged by Republican ads telling them that every Democrat on the ballot will support the failed policies of the last two years under President Biden, which is 100% true. Democrats can’t walk back their “Defund the Police!” statements. They can’t walk back their passage of close to $5 trillion more spending which increased the national debt exponentially. They can’t lie about their support of open borders; release of criminals; restriction of domestic oil production; an impractical climate agenda and their support to cancel student debt to millions of wealthy lawyers and doctors.
Recent polling seems to indicate a jailbreak by independent voters who are flocking to vote for Republican candidates across-the-board primarily to say they have had enough of progressive socialist liberal hectoring and harping.
2022 sure doesn’t look like it will be another 1934 or 2002 for the incumbent President’s party. It is starting to feel more like 1994 when Bill Clinton lost 54 seats in Congress and 2010 when the Obama/Biden team lost 63.
