Mike’s Midterm Tsunami Truth #43
Even the Losers Get a Trophy.
Here are some headlines and pronouncements we’re seeing yesterday and today:
“Republicans in Ruins with House as Consolation Prize”
“Is It a Win When You Have a House with a Broken, Battered Party Inside?”
“Republicans Squeak by with House Thanks to DeSantis Drawing Gerrymandered Map”
“GOP Wins House with Razor-Thin Margin that May Cut Both Ways”
“Republicans scrape back control of US House”
Wow. How rare is it when the so-called winners (barely, of the House of Representatives) are actually considered a bunch of losers?! (Think Houston Astros, 2017 — won the World Series but forever known as a bunch of cheaters. Ouch.)
That’s where the Republicans are at today.
Hailed just weeks ago as the new conquerors on their way to victory —
“REPUBLICANS WILL TAKE CONTROL OF THE SENATE WITH FOUR NEW SEATS!”
“REPUBLICANS WILL WIN THE HOUSE BY 50 SEATS!!”
“BIDEN IS OVER! CRIME! INFLATION! TRUMP IN 2024!”
Whoops.
They couldn’t defeat a single sitting Democrat in the United States Senate! In fact, the Democrats took one of theirs, something that rarely happens in a first midterm.
Americans at the polls last week resoundingly rejected Trump-backed candidates and chose to vote for Democracy and abortion rights over the cost of a gallon of gas.
This is what I want to tell each of you today:
The Republicans now hold the House by the smallest of margins. They have what I call an anemic majority. Weak. Incontinent. Impotent.
Because they are haters, misogynists, bigots and Democracy-destroyers, they will not last, and their House will not hold.
They only got here today by the skin of their teeth thanks to Supreme Court-approved gerrymandering and voter suppression. They were so battered and beaten in this election, they had to crawl on bloodied hands and knees to barely make it across the finish line. They are in a state of shock over what has happened. They’ve already started fighting each other. A Republican-only civil war has broken out between the Trump wing and the DeSantis wing. I’ve already got my front row seat and am ready to pop the corn.
Let me give you four quick reasons why we may not hear the words “Republican-controlled House” for very long:
1. Republicans who barely won in a blue district can read the writing on the wall — if they want to stay in Congress, in order to win, they are going to have to switch parties. If just one or two do that, it could make all the difference in the Democrats being back in charge.
2. If the Democrats pass a bill in the Senate (which they control), they may only need 2 or 3 Republicans in the House to break ranks to get it passed. Only 3 out of 220 Republicans? C’mon! Time to try some old-fashioned horse trading. What happened to the fine art of haggling? There’s got to be one good persuader on our side! Tea with Barbara Lee? Coffee with AOC? Who would turn that down?
3. S**t happens. As I mentioned on Wednesday, there’s usually a dozen or so of the 435 members elected to the House that, for one reason or another, never make it through the 2 years of their term. Just since the 2020 election, there are 16 members of Congress who didn’t make it through til now. A few died. A few quit. Sometimes a few will be indicted. Or some will be caught in a scandal. One or two will say they forgot their phone chargers in their car, then leave the building and high-tail it out of D.C. And when that happens, because it will happen, we need to be ready for when they hold the special election to fill their seat. In each congressional district, we need to have replacement candidates on standby, ready to launch into action. Let’s not wait until it happens. Let’s think this out in advance. Because we will perhaps only need to win just two or three of these special elections to regain control of the House. So ask yourself now, today, who is that beloved person there in your town, that pillar of your community that is willing to receive the Bat Signal in our grave time of need — and fight to win. Figure it out now. Don’t wait. And don’t say “this can’t happen” because your district has been historically “red.” Remember, the people in Alaska in August just elected a woman of color, a Democrat, to replace the late Republican Don Young — who’d held the seat for nearly 50 years!
4. On last Saturday night, the Democrats officially won the Nevada Senate seat. By Wednesday afternoon, Chuck Schumer got 12 Republicans to vote to advance a new bill to codify same-sex marriage. And Clarence Thomas went to bed Wednesday night crying into his pillow. The Democrats accomplished in 4 days what they should have done with Roe at some point over the past 50 years. We only have 45 days left of our federal Democratic trifecta where we control both houses of Congress and the presidency. It’s time, during this lame duck session while we still hold all reins of power, for the Dems to strap in, show some guts right now and make Roe the law of the land. Democrats in Congress and the Senate — tell your families you may not make it home for Thanksgiving. You’ve got work to do. You have to work through the holidays. Reschedule your family Christmas for February. Yes, for the sake of our country, it’s that important. Well, it is, that is, if you’re a woman of childbearing age, or a DACA immigrant kid, or a single mom working for $7.25 an hour at a greasy spoon. Why should they have to wait another two years in misery?
Every waking moment between now and the installation of the 118th Congress on January 3rd, you have to get this legislation passed: DACA. Universal Pre-K. Paid family leave. A minimum wage increase. Ending gerrymandering. Did you forget abortion??!! Either some of these or all of them. Show some courage. Show some fight. Your actions today will inspire a massive turnout in 2024 because you will have shown the majority of Americans who support you on every single one of these issues that you had the fortitude to get it done when it mattered most.
You’ve got to make this happen!
And in the meantime, over at the White House, Biden, as a Catholic seeking redemption, can start making amends for something he did when he was back in the Senate. He and the Democratic Congress can repeal the 1994 Clinton Crime Bill — the “tough on crime” law that created the mass incarceration of Black and Brown Americans in the 1990s and 2000s. Both Clintons have since denounced their own actions in passing their Crime Bill, but Biden — who was instrumental in getting it through Congress — has not. In a time when the Republicans lost by running on a platform of white supremacy, crime, and a ‘fear of the other’, repealing a law that legalized a new Jim Crow would be the just, moral, and popular thing to do.
By winning the House, the Republicans may have won the battle, but they’ve lost the war. They know this. You can see it in their reactions over the past few days. Their party is imploding. It’s time for the few sane and moderate Republicans to jump ship and either become Democrats or declare as an independent and caucus with the Democrats.
Or, just head out the door saying you’re going out for a pack of smokes… and never come back.
ICYMI:
Mike’s Midterm Tsunami of Truths:
Truth #1: The Campaign
Truth #2: Even a kid from 4th hour Trig class can beat this crowd
Truth #3: The Haters, the Bigots and the Supremacists Always Lose in the End
Truth #4: Introducing The Whackadoodle 10
Truth #5: Trump is not the Big Bad Wolf. But he is very afraid of You.
Truth #6: The Easy-to-Digest Republican Party Platform
Truth #7: Biden, Don’t F**k with Me
Truth #8: If you’re not registered, you can’t Roe, Roe, Roe the Vote!
Truth #9: Why will we win? Because the American people hate fascism.
Truth #10: Meet Blake Masters, Whackadoodle No. 9
Truth #11: 147 Reasons We Will Win on November 8th
Truth #12: Biden just gave us a boost and a toke.
Truth #13: Women. That’s it.
Truth #14: If the Mainstream Media Thinks There’s a Chance We May Be Right about Roevember, Watch Out.
Truth #15: Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, Whackadoodle No. 8
Truth #16: As Alex Jones has now been fined a billion dollars for his lies, that is nothing compared to the punishment other Republicans are going to get on November 8th.
Truth #17: Early Voting, Mail-in Voting, Dropbox Voting — These Were Made for Libs, Hard Workers, Book Readers, Artists, Busy Parents, Slackers, and Progressives like us! In other words, The Majority!
Truth #18: The Good Queen vs. The Mad King
Truth #19: A Workers' Revolt Extends to the Voting Booth
Truth #20: We Are in Charge
Truth #21: Don’t believe it.
Truth #22: If the election is about inflation and the economy, THANK GOD — We Win
Truth #23: We Believe in Science. And that’s why we will win.
Truth #24: Vote Local, Win National
Truth #25: The side with the best nursery rhymes wins.
Truth #26: We Will Win Because Americans Don’t Want to See This Happen...
Truth #27: We are going to win because our side has millions of good souls like this…
Truth #28: Whackadoodle No More
Truth #29: They’ve Got Big Plans That We’ve Gotta Stop
Truth #30: Turn Off the News! Stop Reading the Paper! They’re Filling Your Head with Mush.
Truth #31: If I Had a Hammer
Truth #32: This Is All You Need to Know
Truth #33: Let Me Call Your Non-voting Brother-in-Law!
Truth #34: Deep Down, You Know You’re Being Played
Truth #35: The kids are all right.
Truth #36: Dem Insiders Quietly Confide to Me What We’ve Known All Along
Truth #37: It Can’t Happen Here
Truth #38: The Day After the Blue Tsunami
Truth #39: Roevember Election Day Mixtape
Truth #40: We Win Either Way
Truth #41: We Killed the Red Wave
Truth #42: Can you bring yourself to say we will win the House?
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Congrats Madame Speaker on a great legislative career. Please take Chuck Schumer with you. Young, energizing leaders needed in Senate STAT!
Michael Moore you said it all!!