If you are anything like us, you’re probably tired of the midterm election post-mortems. Everyone has a take as well as all the right evidence to show their take is the true one – what the Dems did right, what the GOP did wrong, how the voters are stupid and the US is doomed, no matter who wins. Prognosticating is above our pay grade, but thought we’d include a few links we found helpful.
“Candidate quality” is a term being thrown about liberally. Reporting everywhere agreed that Ron De Santis’ landslide victory in Florida shows that people want statesmanship, clear goals, and no malarkey. Yet voters also made some puzzling choices. Former town Mayor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman won his Senate race for the Democrats despite a clear cognitive decline after suffering a stroke in February.
Kyle Mann of the Babylon Bee summed up the quandary a lot of conservatives found themselves in: “Do I vote for the party that nominates candidates with brain damage or the party that loses against candidates with brain damage?” Spiked put it slightly differently: “The midterm results showed two things simultaneously: the electorate don’t like where the Democrats have taken the country, but they also don’t fully trust the Republicans to fix the problems they experience.”
Batya Ungar-Sargon had an interesting take at The Spectator. She argues that this was a “normie election” with voters throwing off “divisive” candidates and pitching at some kind of middle. They don’t want a Trump-adjacent MAGA guy nor do they want a rabid socialist.
The “normie election” theory could well account for some of the unexpected results, especially when it comes to unborn life. While most Americans say they believe there should be some restrictions on abortion, total bans are still perceived as too extreme. Bills to protect unborn humans failed, and bills to secure abortion access succeeded. It would seem folks assume there can be a “moderate” position when it comes to killing unborn humans. While they may not support it, they are unwilling to hinder anyone else from doing so. On that front, it is clear that there is more work to be done, to educate people about what abortion actually is.
It is difficult to believe, even after all that has been revealed through the pandemic, that folks are thinking straight. How could we all have traveled through the last three years where freedoms have been taken away and yet arrived at such different conclusions? While government policies have lead to rising costs, rising crime and rising divisions, the administration was not meaningfully punished.
Perhaps Americans are too comfortable, too ensconced in their information bubbles, too cordial to believe that evil people with evil intent do exist and that they will not rest. Whether this is a case of short memories or Stockholm Syndrome, our task as Christians is unchanged – those who are sober-minded must keep sounding the warning and calling our nation to repentance.
A number of pundits have written that the likely gridlock in the House and Senate is a good thing, since it curbs the excesses of both parties. David Harsanyi at The Federalist wrote: “The inability of one party to monopolize power will either compel both to compromise, or, in times of deep division, shut down Washington and incentivize governors to take care of their own business – which is how our federalist system was meant to work.” While Washington types butt heads trying to push agendas through, we on the ground can go about our business unhindered. Well, at least until 2024!
The Federalist: Republicans won some significant ground in elections of judiciary
Blaze: A number of NY counties voted for Republican candidates
WTAE Pittsburgh: Pennsylvania forgot to take a deceased candidate off the ballot
The Federalist: Almost half of the Democratic members of the January 6th Select committee lost their Congressional seats
The Federalist: Taking strong stances on “culture war” issues, especially life, is the exact defense that conservatives should adopt