What happened in Pennsylvania? What happened in America? How did a president with a record approval rating get through an election smiling?
These mid-term elections go against the trend. On Tuesday, the American people challenged a historical precedent that the incumbent president’s party was hit midterm.
To be clear, Joe BidenThe Democrats have lost the House of Representatives and, as I write this, the Senate is too close to call it. But the margins were so narrow. It was not the Republican wave that the polls and precedent had predicted.
It will take some time to get a clear understanding of what happened. In states across the country, county electoral councils will upload lists of voters who voted (a system separate from the one that loads vote totals). Once this is done, we will know a lot more about turnout by age, race, gender and location.
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“I would like to welcome fake news media”
But one thing is clear, even before all those statistics: in most cases, voters rejected inexperienced candidates, rejected extreme candidates, rejected dishonest candidates, rejected candidates who denied elections. In short, they rejected the Trump candidates.
Donald Trump was the big loser on Tuesday night. Democratic values were tested (just witness any of its manifestations), but in the end, this time, the security system worked: more people were motivated to go out and vote. The process saved the principle.
Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza Park, where three days ago I saw hundreds of people gather to see former President Barack Obama speak, is back to normal. The stage is gone. The students have returned to this university district of the city.
“So it’s like, if they didn’t show up and vote, I feel like it would all be red. I don’t know. I feel like we’ve had a really strong impact on it,” 20-year-old old Sydney told me.
It is his second election. He had voted in the last presidential election, in 2020. But this is his first mid-term election.
“Abortion and weapons,” she said when I asked her what attracted her in particular.
Her friend Shruti interrupted: “I think the inflation theme is also very important right now. And I think with Obama coming here, even in Philadelphia, I think it was really important. He’s so charismatic. And I think it has been a lot for all the voters here.
“And I know that the Oakland voter turnout here was much higher than expected. I think it was surprising, like underestimating the voter turnout of young people, because it was actually very high here in Oakland.”
“So I think it was really impactful and interesting: the youngest and most educated [voting]; how she influenced, because she opened the vote [gap] really good here, ”added Shruti.
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Trump’s “red wave” is not seen
Biden’s ‘Getting Younger’
Did they think this was the end for Trump? Yes, Sydney said. Probably not, Shruti said.
And Mr. Biden, I asked. His popularity rating is so low. He is 80 this month. These midterms encouraged him to race in 2024. Good idea?
“I think getting younger could have a big impact,” Shruti said. “It depends on how much support that candidate would get. I think we should look elsewhere.”
At a nearby table, I met Trevor McCutcheon, a 19-year-old voter, who is somewhat of a rarity in liberal Pittsburgh.
“I would say that I am definitely like a moderate conservative; someone who would normally vote for the Republican Party,” he told me.
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I wanted to talk more about what went wrong for Republicans. After all, with an unpopular, gaffe-prone president and skyrocketing inflation, it was an open target that Republicans missed, right?
Trevor thinks it was all about Trump-approved local candidates. They weren’t up to par. He cites Pennsylvania Republican candidate, TV personality and doctor, Mehmed Oz.
“I think Mehmet Oz was a weak candidate to start with for Republicans – someone from a state, someone who, politically, I believe was a Democrat not long ago, sparked a lot of his ideas, someone who is a TV personality, who is been quoted as saying things that aren’t necessarily true related to medicine, it diminishes his credibility, ”Trevor said.
The Republican primary election here in Pennsylvania, during which the party chose its candidate, came close. Mr. Oz, approved and funded by Trump, won it over from establishment politician David McCormick.
“I think the primary election definitely played a role,” Trevor said.
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Mehmet Oz
“He was Trump’s candidate back in that election, and it was decided by 1,000 votes, between him and David McCormick, and then when it comes to the midterm, look what happened. I don’t think all moderates are in love with Trump like we have. seen from the 2020 elections “.
Trump lost both the popular vote and the arcane constituency process in the 2020 election. But he has since hijacked the Republican Party with a combination of money, the false claim that he won, and his ability to somehow persuade the Republican Party. people that he is one of them.
His base was enthusiastic. Trump’s rallies are a stunning spectacle of his cult following: the branding, the messages, the show-like production. But behind it all is a scam: his lie that he was robbed in 2020.
This week Trump discovered that the depth of his appeal was an illusion, just like the fraud claims in 2020. But is it the end for him? And the huge following of him that trusts him and that trusts him?
“I absolutely don’t think it’s the end of Trumpism in any way,” says Trevor.
“I know a lot of people who still love Trump, but I think going forward, the Republican Party, at least by 2024, should perhaps think about appointing someone else just as unpopular as it is among large groups of people.”
All eyes are now on Tuesday and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Will he announce that he will run for president in 2024? If he does, will the Republican Party keep up with him?
