The walls came crumbling down for an administration we (didn’t) love

Trump is officially a lame duck. How lame, you ask? Arguably (one) of the lamest Presidents of all time. Trump has manufactured a politics of authentic division and anger, and now suffers the wrath of an electorate united in fury against one thing: his administration.  

Staying up for the midterm results was a wild ride; it’s easy to assume tiredness dulls your faculties, but when you see the Democrats flipping Senate seats in South Carolina and Texas, you can’t help but disbelieve your eyes. The Democrats also won a Kansas Senate seat for the first time since 1932, with the last Democrat to hold the position having been born in early 1879. Senate Republicans in Kansas outlived the Second World War, the Cold War, and the War on Terror, but couldn’t survive MAGA. As a result of these wins, and countless more across the country, the Democrats have successfully retaken both chambers of Congress, and I’m sure the likes of Rubio and Vance will be thrilled to fight over this smouldering heap. 

We shouldn’t be surprised, as there weren't really any conceivable reasons to vote Republican in this election bar vague ideological lines/blind loyalty. It was a crystallised GOP nightmare, with a deeply unpopular President, a bad economy, and scandals here, there, and everywhere, from Epstein to Iran. Given the prevalence of Madman Theory linked to Trump, these results could further liberate the President to focus on foreign affairs. It’s hard to see, even with the resounding nature of these midterm results, the Iran war going anywhere anytime soon. Yet, historical precedent suggests this may also mark the end of Congressional gridlock, with bipartisan cooperation often spiking after the executive takes a midterm pounding, meaning there is not just an opportunity to hinder the White House, but to achieve something genuine for Americans. But then again, has Trump ever followed such sensible, grounded predictions?

When Trump burst onto the scene in the lead-up to the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, one of his main sparring partners was Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, and son and brother of Presidents George H.W. and George W., respectively. Trump successfully framed Jeb as a pre-eminent example of the establishment – coming from a noteworthy political lineage – and frequently cited his brother’s invasion of Iraq as an example of why America should be put first and made great again. It therefore would have been sensible to assume his terms would be everything the Bush presidencies weren’t, and yet, Trump seems to have followed Jeb’s brother’s political trajectory fairly closely. Both captivated the Bible Belt base, got dragged into unpopular wars, and now face the wrath of a midterm electorate that isn’t best pleased. The ending for both seems similar, too, as lame ducks without either chamber of Congress, and a place at the bottom of presidential rankings. Trump came into politics baying for the Bush family’s blood, but hasn’t exactly learnt from what he has long preached, and for him and his party, failure to heed these lessons has sown their own destruction.

While it is refreshing to bask in a moment of unadulterated political success, politics waits for no one, and there are still issues for the blue tsunami to contend with. The Democrats won, but in most seats, particularly in the House, it’s a more accurate tale to say the Republicans lost. Stories like James Talarico’s Senate win in Texas are amiss not to mention his strong campaign, centred on economic and religious hardship, but this is reflected in the national election story. So what troubles lie ahead for the new kids on the Hill?

Chuck Schumer is still a poor leader in the Senate, unwilling to roll in the mud of congressional politics the way Mitch McConnell once did. It’s doubtful he will manage divisions between the Democratic establishment and the likes of the new Michigan-electee and progressive Abdul Al-Sayed. Hakeem Jeffries hasn’t proven much better at managing rowdy Democrats in the House, either. Democratic unity around depowering Trump will soon fade, and the Democratic Socialists of America will no doubt ramp up their campaign for policies most Americans probably aren’t ready for (even with their impressive, but contextually laden, victories). They have nudged the Overton window, but this is still America. ‘Socialist’ remains a pejorative. 

The path ahead for Democrats is not easy, but remains rife with opportunity. Both in and outside of America, there has been growing agreement that the US has been ill for a while. Plagued with internal division and largely inadequate responses to 21st-century threats, it is a nation in need of healing. These midterm results will not be healing, but they might mean America finally starts getting some of the right medicine. 

Illustration: Will Allen/Europinion