Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 9 2022 06:34am)
This. I can rationalize why weak candidates like Oz or Walker didn't get the job done, or that Democrats might eke out a narrow win in races like AZ and NV senate which always tilted their way. Or that underfunded candidates like Tudor Dixon (MI Gov) or Bolduc (NH Sen) couldn't win. What is a lot more eerie, however, is the apparent lack of an enthusiasm gap or turnout edge in favor of Republicans.
Given the political environment (historic midterm trends, Biden's approvals deeply under water, inflation skyhigh, the economy teetering on the brink of recession, crime and the border out of control), this performance is a massive massive disappointment for the GOP, even if they eventually get to 225 seats in the House or so.
A lot of races are still to be called, but I think we can already draw some conclusions:
The big winners of the night: DeSantis and the polling industry
The big losers of the night: Trump and the candidates closely associated with his post-2020 antics; McConnell who threw multiple races by refusing to fund GOP candidates
The house map is gerrymandered so hard that there just aren't a lot of competitive seats. That being said, it looks like red states went red and blue states went blue, with a few exceptions. The notion that places like NH were swinging hard red didn't hold up, whereas Dems were wiped out in places like Florida and Ohio.
Republicans need better candidates. DeSantis and Vance had compelling narratives. DeSantis, Abbot, and Kemp were running on strong records. Herschel Walker, Masters, and Oz aren't going to cut it.
This post was edited by bogie160 on Nov 9 2022 08:44am