In the run-up to the 2022 midterms, right wing media outlets like Fox News predicted a “red wave” and a “red tsunami.” None of that happened, and the wave was more like a puddle.
Democrats look like they may hold onto the Senate. They gained in governorships. In the House of Representatives, it looks like even if the GOP wins control, it will be by the narrowest of margins, leaving likely new House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy in a tough spot.
McCarthy will most likely be the GOP dog that caught the car. His caucus might be ungovernable with some on the far right, like the “Freedom Caucus” members refusing to do anything that might have a tinge of bipartisanship or give the appearance of President Joe Biden getting a legislative win. We will probably see which way that will go when the debt ceiling debate comes up. GOP leadership and some members have vowed to block any debt ceiling increase unless they can gut or eliminate programs like Social Security and Medicare.
That would shut the government down. If recent history is any guide, that won’t bode well for the GOP.
If anyone was to declare the biggest loser in the midterms, it might be Donald Trump. Candidates he endorsed and/or praised got beat in the vast majority of races nationwide. It was so bad that other Republicans are not mincing words when it comes to the former and twice impeached President.
Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership Political Action Committee, said Trump’s role in party politics must be reevaluated, with or without the cooperation of the former president.
“It’s time to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with him,” Chamberlain told the Washington Examiner. “That was not a good Tuesday night. He and his colleagues, staff — they must recognize that. They need to reassess.”
“We need to have different candidates. They can’t be candidates that just love Donald Trump,” Chamberlain said. “If you really want to be the president again and be the leader of the party — Mitch McConnell was right, candidates matter.”
McConnell sounded alarm bells earlier in the year saying essentially that if the GOP wants to have a bright future, that they need candidates who have something to offer other than loyalty to Donald Trump.
“A true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage. And the voters have given us that very clear message,” Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears said on “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” Thursday. “I could not support him. We have a clear mission and it is time to move on.”
Former conservative GOP congressman Paul Ryan joined the growing chorus of Republicans who want to “move on” from Trump.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of Republicans wanting to leave Trump in the rearview mirror is that Georgia Republicans are telling Trump to “stay out of Georgia” as they gear up for a run off Senate election that could decide the majority in the Senate.
That message is being echoed throughout the GOP and among conservatives. Although some are still clinging to his leadership saying others are being “too quick” to blame Trump for the disappointing performance. But those voices seem to be fading and becoming fewer and farther between as the reality of how bad the midterms were for the GOP.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
