MANY THINGS CONSIDERED: Well, Wasn’t That Something

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Politicians “never change unless the voters change them.” – William Jefferson Clinton

 

 

By Marc C. Johnson

I wrote a book back in 2021 about the 1980 wipeout of Senate Democrats. For the title, I appropriated a line about that historic election from the Canadian news magazine MacLeans.

It was, MacLean’s wrote, a Tuesday Night Massacre. ¹

We had another last night.

“Well, look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. There’s a political science term for what’s happening. It’s called a country ass-whooping.”   – conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings

The Trump closing message – green algae (see above photo.)

You know the basics:

  • Democrats captured majorities in the House and Senate with many races, including two Senate races – Alaska and Mississippi – yet to be settled. Democratic numbers could go higher. I suspect they will.
  • The Democratic breakthroughs in Texas, North and South Carolina, and maybe Mississippi are, well, stunning. The Texas map looks like Lyndon Johnson was on the ballot.
  • Democratic victories in the Ohio Senate and gubernatorial elections are equally stunning. Like most political junkies I had all but written off Ohio as “no win” territory for Democrats. The new reality could be a really big deal in presidential politics.
  • Kansas. A Democratic senator from Kansas. For your next trivia contest. Before yesterday the last Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas was: George McGill … he was elected in 1932.


“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Of course he was on the ballot.

Trump told Americans to vote as though he was.

You might be able to say that November 3, 2026 was the day Donald J. Trump finally became president. And the day the essential rules of politics applied to him.

A basic rule of politics is that a midterm election is always a referendum on the party in power and particularly a referendum on the incumbent president. And in most of America the verdict was harsh and decisive.

Trump is truly a lame duck. Of course he will continue to bluster and threaten, he’ll do any number of stupid and extremely harmful things, but a majority of Americans used a ballot to tell him to go pound sand.

My flabbers are gasted.

Voters gave America another chance last night.

Historian Garrett Graff

Now, what do we do?

Two most interesting questions in American politics will now become:

  1. Will the Trump Republican Party transition to something more useful and electable in the looming post-Trump era?
  2. And what lessons will Democrats take from the Trump thumping they deserve to (briefly) enjoy?

With all the wisdom available on the morning after the night before, I would guess:

  1. No, to the first question. The Republican Party is very likely to remain in the firm and fatal grasp of Donald Trump until the old man goes to his just rewards. This is, after all, the party that has never really gotten over Barry Goldwater. Republicans controlled Congress and got Trump to the White House twice, with a 21st Century version of Goldwater’s “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” approach to politics. The party is a white nationalist grievance movement and has been, with brief moments of sanity, since at least since Joe McCarthy in the 1950’s. There is no “governing” involved with today’s GOP, and the party is most likely to double down on “know nothing” nationalism to become an even more Americanized version of Reform UK, the pro-Brexit, anti-immigrant party in the United Kingdom, or Marine Le Pen’s hard right National Rally Party in France. Certainly some Republicans will try to put distance between themselves and Trump, but elected Republicans, as University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said today in NPR, face a cruel reality: leave Trumpism and risk losing a primary election or stick with him and risk becoming a Greg Abbott, the defenestrated pro-Trump governor of Texas who is this morning looking to spend more time with his family.

“As we head into 2027, Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done. Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we’ll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism. We cannot let their fringe positions become the mainstream.”

John Thune, soon to be the Senate minority leader.

  1. If Republicans aren’t likely to accept the Bill Clinton truism I quote at the top of this piece, then what will Democrats do? First, they should not assume this smashing victory was a triumph for the still largely despised Democratic Party. Trump and his cultish members of Congress lost this election more than Democrats won it. Sure, Democrats have a stable of increasingly attractive potential national figures – Jon Ossoff, Chris Murphy (wishing him a speedy recovery), Josh Shapiro, Raphael Warnock, JB Pritzker, (the dubious) Gavin Newsom, etc. – but they lack a coherent political message other than “we aren’t Trump,” and there is no consistent spokesperson to communicate a message if they find one. ² The internal Democratic debate about the direction of the party will almost certainly become a distraction – Democrats in disarray, etc., etc. Democrats simply must put the party distractions and 2028 speculation on the political back burner. 1) They need to immediately focus on an affordability agenda – end Trump’s costly tariffs and use congressional power, including the appropriations power to end the war with Iran. Action is critical – and fast action is best of all. 2) Showcase Trump’s corruption. Enough said. 3) Showcase the amazing diversity (yes, diversity) of the new Congress – women, a Methodist minister, a Muslim doctor for example. 4) Act at all times as the grown ups who came to town to govern and address serious issues.

“We’re looking at maybe 240 seats in the House. The Democrats appear to be headed to a majority in the Senate, and I think you’re going to wind up with near-27 Democratic governors. The Trump era is over, and when Greg Abbott, who was extraordinarily popular as a three-term governor, loses tonight in a state like Texas, I don’t care what the president says on Truth Social. The Trump era is over.”

former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

It ain’t over exactly, but as a famous politician once said:

It is a mandate for unity, for a Government that serves no special interest—no business government, no labor government, no farm government, no one faction, no one group — but a Government that is the servant of all the people. It will be a Government that provides equal opportunity for all and special privileges for none. ³

1) My book – Tuesday Night Massacre: Four Senate Elections and the Radicalization of the Republican Party – seems newly relevant. If you’re interested you can find it here.
2) Democrats must immediately stop acting as though Donald Trump has legitimate political authority. He’s a nasty bully. A guy running to be chair of the HOA landscaping committee. Voters get it. He’s not serious, not competent and not smart. He’s loud and a bully. Treat him like the kid we all hated in high school – with contempt and dismissal. The more he treated that way the more his insecurities and weakness will be exposed.

3) Lyndon Johnson, November 4, 1964. Here’s the video.

About me: I am a Nebraska native, grew up in South Dakota and migrated in Idaho after college to work in broadcast journalism. In 1986, I joined the “comeback” campaign of a legendary Idaho political figure – Cecil D. Andrus – who eventually served four terms as governor and four years as Secretary of the Interior, not bad for a Democrat in a very conservative state. I had a small role in helping Cece Andrus win his last two gubernatorial terms. I did communication and crisis consulting work, and since “retiring” to the beautiful north coast of Oregon have written three books on U.S. Senate history. I’m working on a new book on another legend – this one a legend in journalism.

You can find my books here:

I write this Substack to scratch my itch to connect history with current politics. I hope, in some small way, to contribute to understanding of this perilous moment for our democracy, for free speech and facts.

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