Trump Is Beginning to Lose His Grip.
'It isnt just white suburban women who switched to Democrats. Parts of rural and white working class America peeled off too.
Americas polarized citizenry took a break from intense partisan bickering to produce the highest off-year turnout in a midterm election in 50 years on Nov. 6. Is it possible that all that effort actually nudged us forward a bit?
Because the votes were counted so slowly across the country, we were also slow to realize that Democrats had won the national congressional vote by a margin greater than that of the Tea Party Republicans in 2010. In fact, Democrats overcame huge structural hurdles to win nearly 40 seats.
At first, the results looked like something of a stalemate. The Republican Party retained and even strengthened its hold on the Senate. President Trumps approval rating was at 45 percent, one percentage point below his percentage of the popular vote in the 2016 election. Analysts said that Mr. Trump still knew how to get Republicans excited, interested and turn them out and that he had deepened his hold on rural areas.
In the days that followed, though, it became clear that Democrats had made substantial gains. Analysts I trusted concluded that this was because suburban and college-educated women issued a sharp rebuke to President Trump that set off a blue wave through the urban and suburban House districts. At first, I also believed that was the main story line.
But the 2018 election was much bigger than that. It was transformative, knocking down what we assumed were Electoral College certainties. We didnt immediately see this transformation because we assumed that Mr. Trump and the polarization in his wake still governed as before.
First of all, Democrats did not win simply because white women with college degrees rebelled against Mr. Trumps misogyny, sexism and disrespect for women. Nearly every category of women rebelled. . .
There is a long way to go, but 10 percent of 2016 Trump voters supported Democrats this year, and 40 percent of moderate Republicans either voted Democratic or stayed home. For Mr. Trump, this setback will be corrosive, unless he decides to acknowledge the shellacking and starts to actually drain the swamp. Dont hold your breath. . .
In the senate races, Mr. Trump looked like a giant killer because he took out at least three incumbent Democrats. But he mainly campaigned in states that he won by large margins in 2016.
The Democratic wave exposed Mr. Trumps vulnerability and suggests a less polarized country. In the face of his divisive campaign, parts of rural and working class America peeled off.
I thought it would take Mr. Trumps defeat in 2020 for America to be liberated from this suffocating polarization, but it may have already begun.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/opinion/sunday/trump-is-beginning-to-lose-his-grip.html?
Cal Tek
(41 posts)When??
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)John Fante
(3,479 posts)and that's without California (+8.4 million with)!!
The Pukes won the House in 2010 by +5.9 million in the popular vote.
When both sides are comparably motivated - as was the case in this election - the Democrats win. They're the larger of the two parties period.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)oldlibdem
(330 posts)Kath2
(3,074 posts)Resist.