We’re not out of this yet
Red wave it was not on Tuesday. Congress still hangs in the balance even as it appears Republicans will gain control in the House. The Senate is still a grab ball.
Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat looks increasingly secure for incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly even if Cook Political’s Dave Wasserman hasn’t “seen enough” to call it. Kelly leads Republican Blake Masters by nearly 100,000 votes with 30 percent not reported. A win in Arizona would tie Republicans and Democrats at 49 seats each.
Fewer than 20,000 votes separate Republican Adam Laxalt and trailing incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada with 20 percent of the vote left to count. Too close to call.
Should Democrats win Arizona and lose Nevada, the count will be 49 seats for Democrats and 50 for Republicans. Control of the Senate could come down once again to a runoff in Georgia. In this corner, incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock. And in the far-right corner, Donald Trump’s own draft pick, Herschel Walker.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tweeted what we’re all thinking about that: “Trump should absolutely hit the trail HARD in Georgia for that Senate runoff. Basically camp out down there, try to really drive every news cycle.”
Trump could not resist the wall-to-wall attention, as Hayes winked. At least, he’s never displayed that level of self-control. Oh, the places you’ll go! Donald.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.from “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss
So. How does Trump top himself? By screwing Republicans all over, by striking again in the same place he did on Jan. 5, 2021. Republicans lost a pair of runoff elections for Senate and handed control of a 50-50 Senate to Democrats (with Vice President Kamala Harris presiding).
As Politico called it the next day:
With control of the Senate at stake in the state’s two races, the president chose to spend weeks peddling baseless claims that Georgia’s electoral system was rigged, fueling an online movement to boycott Tuesday’s election. He demonized the state’s Republican leaders and fractured the local GOP.
If Republicans have not reached max-Trumpism yet, it’s close. Roger Stone complained to Alex Jones that many MAGAs are convinced that the election system is so broken that they see no point in voting. Now where would they have gotten that idea?
With a little extra Trump TLC, with a little more of the magic touch Dear Leader displayed during the last Georgia runoff, Trump’s MAGA fan club may not vote in the December 2022 runoff any more than they did in January 2021. Should Warnock win reelection, Democrats may not have the additional leverage they’d dreamed of for eliminating the filibuster and going all the places they’d like to go. But they will have held off what might have been an epic, midterm loss of power.
Conventional wisdom upended again. Damn you, Dark Brandon!
Trump may be your MAGA Deadhead’s idea of a manly man, a made-up TV celebrity backed by The Village People. But the insurrectionist far-right dreams of a real fascist strongman. They are still out there threatening to upend the republic.
Red-hatted MAGAs want Nuremberg-style Trump rallies. Fascists want power. To see their enemies crushed under heels. (That would be you, readers.)
We’re not out of this yet. Stay sharp.