US Midterm winners and losers and how it impacts NZ

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
83
2031

What an incredible election! Unlike any midterm before it, it suggests that democracy actually won and that the lesser angles of our nature and the extremism of Trump’s orange fascism failed abysmally.

It’s the most optimistic I have been about America for a very long time.

There are of course winners and losers.

WINNERS:

Democracy – Good people will rise up against total madness and strike it down! This was American Democracy working, throwing out election deniers and turning away from Trump’s extremism. Good on you America!

Reason – You can’t have people pretending the election was stolen from Trump and claim to believe in reason. Throwing these Qanon lunatics out is the first task of all honest and courageous citizens.

Democrats – They feared they would lose big, as every midterm does against the incumbent president, but the Red Tsunami turned into trickle and despite the tough economic conditions, Democrats have ended up far stronger than they initially thought.

Biden – Despite turning 80, he has passed more major legislation than anyone else has in over half a century. He’s America’s emotional support Labrador and that’s just fine.

Women’s Rights – Fuck the crazy religious freaks who made Abortion illegal, women and good men of conscience rose up and voted against this madness. Good!

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

US Military Industrial Complex – The ever increasing amount of weaponry being sent to prolong Russia’s pain is the real winner as the US Industrial Complex gets back to doing what America does best, war profiteering.

LOSERS:

Ron DeSantis – I think he’s a paper tiger and if Republicans think he’s the next great hope, they are misreading his strength. He could barely beat a Democratic unknown when he first ran for Florida and has only managed the numbers he has this time due to harsh voter suppression laws he launched on Fox News Breakfast. I’m not kidding, he did. Ron took Flordia because he gerrymandered the rules to make it difficult to vote. He is a weak politician with a glass jaw who has gained the win in Florida by gerrymandering it, he won’t win like that anywhere else because they don’t have the same restrictive voting policies elsewhere.

Republicans – They lost and were pushed back despite Midterms always working well for the Party not in power. The economy should hav sealed this for Republicans but the can of whip arse crazy Trump unleashed has turned independents  away in disgust.

Trump – His plan to infiltrate the machinery of the elections so that they would vote for him in a disputed count failed, his nutter election denier candidates didn’t win and his great come back is now in question. I despise Trump so much.

Fox News – Watching them meltdown on election night was glorious.

PREDICTIONS:

For NZ, the Midterms are an important reminder that the crazies didn’t win. We have been fearing feral antivaxers sneaking into our democracy and sabotaging it. The Stuff middle class docudrama Fire & Fury  highlighted 200 candidates standing for the feral antivax Qanon fantasists in recent local elections, yet barely 11 got elected.

We have allowed the extremists to spook us and scare us with their refusal of logic and reason, but we have allowed the fringes to dictate the discussion when the truth is they are the minority and a tiny minority at that.

Good people will stand and vote against antivax nonsense. We should trust our reason above their fanaticism.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice going into this pandemic and 2020 election – please donate here.

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83 COMMENTS

  1. You have misread the room on DeSantis. The difference between DeSantis and Trump is Trump says and Desantis does. He won Miami-Dade which is New York blue. Prior to this year Florida has been a bellwether and purple state. Whether he runs in 2024 is anyone’s guess though as he might want to keep the powder dry for 2028 as he is young.

    It is clear now that the path in 2024 runs through the rust belt. Trump can’t repeat 2016 in that area and GOP need a candidate that can. Map wise 2022 did infact favour the democrats on the Senate 2024 they have to defend Montana, Ohio and West Virginia – good luck with that. You will also likely have the country in recession – this won’t favour a sitting President.

    The big winner on the night was DeSantis the big loser Trump. All sides have acknowledged this in the States. In legislative terms the GOP will have the house and the Scotus whereas the Dems will have the Presidency and likely the Senate. Sure not a great night for the GOP but remember less than 6 months ago and after the Dobbs decision this was the expectation.

    Long term inroads were made into hispanics and black voters. The later a bonus, the former the big prize. Purely from an electoral point of view it protects the Texas firewall. TBH most in the GOP will be treating this as a blessing as the grip of Trump has been weakened to the point there will be significant second thoughts of running in 2024.

    • I think Trump is stuffed now. All the feral Republican types like Ann Coulter are ripping into him ( and actually they are also ripping into Mitch Mc as well) I think Trump will drown in litigation eventually. Yes stranger things have happened but the god squad have De Santis now

  2. Oh my God. It’s just dawned on me.
    I just read, voting is a ‘right’ in the USA. Not, a ‘requirement’. The difference between a ‘right’ and a ‘requirement’ is the very definition of freedom then. The oxymoron is that if people don’t vote they run the risk of getting what they didn’t ask for, which, it could be argued, is what they’d deserve.
    Imagine though if the entire legal system in the USA was stood down, so to speak, because compelling people to abide by laws was suddenly considered to be unconstitutional. Laws, and the enforcement of them, became rights as opposed to requirements. You have the right to shoot that person for no particular reason but it’s not a requirement not to. So… the USA can declare war on a country/s which they’ve done a number of times because they perceive that as their constitutional right regardless of whether it was a requirement. No wonder they got trump then. You seen this? ‘Idiocracy’. Meet Joe Bowers. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
    I’m going back to bed.

    • countryboy
      Have a glass of water, I think your brain is overheating. It’s important that you keep thinking and passing on your thoughts. But don’t let the radiator boil, or you and we all might fizzle out before the fires and heat strokes kill us off leaving noisome puddles.

  3. Isn’t Fox just classic. All these tossers clutching their pearls at the turn out of young voters and turning incandescent over the single female voters. They were talking about raising the voting age and the need for these females to marry. Most Fox presenters are just shameless dog turds. The world would be a better place if Rupert Murdoch had played Aussie rules for a living.

  4. GOP won — check the facts! They, GOP – Republicans, won the House, and Senate …stop pretending Biden won…

    • It’s pretty clear Nathan the likes of Fox were predicting a “red wave” and that didn’t happen. The fact that young voters bothered to turn up has them shitting themselves. Your man Trump is a gone burger.

        • I don’t think we know the actual results yet do we? It seems not unusual that the party of the president gets it’s pants pulled down in the mid terms. The team at Fox clearly thought, like many, that a ‘red wave’ was going to sweep away the democrats. They look visibly concerned that this didn’t happen and more importantly who turned out to vote.

          If Trump is not your msn then I offer my apology. I can see how that might be taken as an insult if that is what you mean?

        • I don’t think we know the actual results yet do we? It seems not unusual that the party of the president gets it’s pants pulled down in the mid terms. The team at Fox clearly thought, like many, that a ‘red wave’ was going to sweep away the democrats. They look visibly concerned that this didn’t happen and more importantly who turned out to vote.

          If Trump is not your msn then I offer my apology. I can see how that might be taken as an insult if that is what you mean?

          • Wheel – Correct, but it looks like the House and Senate are going to the Republicans…might take a few days to a few weeks confirm

            • Well, two days later and the Democrats have the Senate. It has once again been made clear that Nathan is the man that talks the drivel.

    • In the dog eat dog world we all live in it seems there have to winners and losers, especially losers for the purposes of neo liberal capitalism.

      The context here involves nuance–think about it…–because even if the Republicans gain small majorities in the House and Senate, some significant things have occurred which has left Fox News pundits looking rather queasy. Technically a win but…

      –immense community organising mobilised the youth vote and the female vote to reduce the media and ruling class pumped red wave to a red ripple.
      –the American demographic is changing, this Mid Term was essentially the last gasp of the Tea Party and MAGA version of the GOP

    • And you would like that wouldnt you. More blacks getting gunned down by racist cops, LGBTQ people being percecuted by right wing Christians, the works.

    • Spoke too soon. Dem are projected to hold the Senate. GOP probably will have slender House majority, but the pogroms you desire are on hold at the moment.

    • So the “facts” as you announced Nathan were more “wishful thinking” on your behalf. This is the trouble when people pretend they know things without evidence based facts. In other words, they lie.

  5. And another thing…
    You have to watch this. This is fucking great. Russell Brand talks with Professor Jeffery Sachs.
    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Sachs
    599,290 views Nov 7, 2022
    ” Here is my conversation with Professor Jeffery Sachs, we discussed many controversial topics like Ukraine war, Media Lies & Wuhan Lab Leak. If you want to see more click the link below…”
    https://youtu.be/wfXIJd5J_VA
    Now bare/bear (?) that in mind while reading this in The Guardian.
    “World leaders to forgo G20 ‘family photo’ over Russia’s presence
    Despite Vladimir Putin saying he will not be at summit, attendees do not want to pose alongside deputy Sergei Lavrov”
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/11/leaders-forgo-g20-russia-family-photo
    In short: What the fuck’s going on? Perhaps David Icke’s right? Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke ( Only sort of joking…! )

  6. The commentary has been more interesting for me – beforehand, left and right predicted the GOP would take the house and the senate would be too close to call.
    Sure enough it’s pretty much what happened, but there has been a massive spin from the CNN crowd we get our American news from, that somehow this is a win for the democrats.
    Summed up by some news hub dipstick reporter telling us that everyone had been predicting the GOP to take the senate- I saw no one predicting anything except a tight race there, even Fox.
    Then we got the usual reporter with Trump derangement syndrome splashing a story all across the media that someone knew someone who knew the groundskeepers son from school that heard Trump was shouting because his picks didn’t get in.
    The horror.
    So much bullshit.

    • Stick to Fox news, with all their “alternative facts” whose reporters idolise Trump with “grab em by the pussy” headlines.
      KKCO, good luck with your love for Trump and the other moron supporters. Bashing a news media representative with your usual right wing crap and own derangement might sound normal but your no better than gutter level bullshit.
      Trump is a maggot and has been found out on multiple occasions, the worst of all, the insurrection.

      • Sounds like he’s been living rent free in your head.
        I’m not a Trump fan by the way, I don’t consider myself politically partisan by nature, but over some issues (eg: co governance, free speech) I’ll argue strongly against the authoritarian left.

        Trump did good and bad during his tenure IMO. He faced up to China after Obama allowed China to militarize the South China Sea, he confronted Europe on their over dependence on Russian gas. The economy boomed.
        He was also extremely divisive and bad for American democracy.

        Just as I don’t take anything on Fox at face value, the same applies to CNN and the “insurrection” show trial.
        I’ve yet to see the trials for the BLM riots with the torching of property and many people killed where are the Democrats on the stand for fanning the flames?

        So yeah I’m more interested in peoples reaction and spin over this election than the usual Pavlov’s dog reaction from tribalists at either end.
        Look at you.

        • And I argue against the dictatorship right. Seems like Trump is living rent free in your head and why is it you highlighted his ” good” so called deeds.
          Obama didn’t have anarchists and terrorists storm the Capitol. But when you are a dictator and you have fanatics that will follow you to the bitter end( although Trump is losing numbers by the thousands) eventually it all comes crashing down.
          Look at you.

          • No argument from me on him being not a nice person, Bert.
            And probably the right personality to anoint himself el presidente if he sniffed the chance.
            Dems might have to start a new hate campaign on De Santis tho eh..

        • The BLM protests were about civil rights, and ensuring that police in the US abide by the US constitution, which they seem to be terrible. The rioters were sending a message, to people like you, that if you start burning crosses and stringing blacks from lamp posts, they will start setting cities alight.

          Also, I see you want homosexuality, abortion and transgenderism criminalized.

    • Reading your post you do in fact Carryon and your last sentence sums up your hard rightwing post, “so much bullshit”.
      And yes this was a massive win for the Dems given the red wave failed to eventuate.
      Trump is history.

  7. No, the only thing that won was Abortion. People with birthing bodies voted for Abortion rights which are not legal on the federal level.

  11. A delicious sense of schadenfreude as the Orange Buffoon* took a tumble, as did at least some of his endorsed GOP candidates (his “kiss of death”).

    But what also needs mentioning is (1) the greater than expected voting from younger people, and (2) the Republican push to deprive access to abortion — they forgot to note that half of voters are female.

    Now we need to see the execrable Herschel Walker in Georgia fail. Keep watching.

    *Or these names suggested by viewers of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show: Mar-a-Lardo; Tangerine Ball Bag; The Floridian Fondler; Scooby Coup; Dolt 45; Tangerine Palpatine; The Slob Father; Voldemoron; Commander-in-Cheese; Girth Vader; Y-M-C-A-hole; Clownigula; Hair Farce One; Oaf of Office; Jabba the Gut; SCROTUS; Jackass-o-Lantern

  12. Trumpet win would be a disaster for those in need.
    And for the rest of the world.
    America is a power house
    And you can’t afford to have a known deluded, power mad person in charge.

  13. Democraps/Labours equivalent will lose. Theyve lost the Congress already and only another rerun away from losing the Senate.

    And then mayhem will ensue! Like Hilary did when she lost to that black man Obama. The Russians did it! Russian interference in the US’s political system!

    I cant wait for the implosion of their economy and them politically.

    Lil ole NZ will follow.

    • Well Tane looks like the Democrats might actually be taking the senate. They just won Nevada thanks to younger voters again. At this rate they won’t even need that wanker Joe Manchin.

    • Bugga. Lets see if they carry on funding that war in europe. $55b so far for the black market arms sellers of europe.

    • Republicans, Nact equivalent. Denny the Trump lover.By the way the Russians admitted interference you retard.

  14. Can I just say it’s quite bemusing that they could get the results of US elections sorted out in the 1860s quicker than they do now?

  15. it does have to be said that not only is the US system not democratic(electoral college for one) but so fuckin cumbersome, it’s almost designed to bore people to death

  16. I think it’s on a knife edge with fair potential for the Orange Man Bad party to make it across the line.

    I am just a little hoping the Dems win because if so, it confirms the importance of Free Speech in NZ. According to a poll, 70% of registered? republicans say they believe the election was stolen. Scary. It’s a statistic being used to promote hate speech and censorship here in NZ.

    The counter argument is to leave it to the people to decide and eventually good people will win out. So I am kind of hoping the Dems squeak in for that reason alone because the hate speech and censorship laws we are facing are pretty frightening.

    From various Free Speech sources:

    “As an aside, I was astonished to learn recently that according to the New Zealand Police website, a hate crime is an offence perceived by the victim to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age. So it’s down to victims to decide whether they’ve been the subject of a hate crime. This goes far beyond what the law says and shows that the police have already been well and truly politicised”.

    The above in context:

    “The proposed adoption of so-called hate speech laws arose following the Christchurch mosque massacres and the subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry. Recommendations for revised hate speech laws formed a small and relatively insignificant part of the commission’s recommendations. Deficiencies in existing laws were not identified as a cause of the massacres and there’s no evidence to suggest that tougher so-called hate speech laws would have prevented the atrocity.

    And

    “Not just hate speech laws- Govt plans to extend ‘terrorist’ designation”
    “Not only is the Justice Minister pushing through hate speech laws … but she’s also changing the legal designation of what it means to be a ‘terrorist’. Right now, ‘terrorist’ is one of the most severe, offensive things you can call someone. Soon, just viewing or possessing certain ‘objectionable material’ will make you a ‘terrorist’- including all the security oversight that comes with that designation”

    Ergo, if you have downloaded Tarrant’s Manifesto on the basis of curiosity or Know your enemy. Not only will you get in trouble as some people have, but you too will also be labelled a terrorist.

    But even worse, the Bill would include objectionable material that simply depicts extreme violence so you could face persecution under terrorism-legislation without having actually engaged in any sort of terrorism-related activities. At the moment, the banned weirdo movie Human Centipede 2 falls in this category.

    I’m envisaging mass book burnings at this stage.

  17. It’s more like a red puddle than a red wave, Republicans won just not by much like most were predicting before everything got hyped up. Trump is also well and truly done for.

  18. Sure, the talking point of the Democrats and many Republicans is that ‘Democracy won’. But did it really?
    > There are still massive issues within individual counties over counting procedures. Brazil can count its entire vote in 24 hours, but Maricopa County still hasn’t produced a result. What’s going on in there?
    > The postal ballot system is vastly open to fraud. The secrecy of the ballot is lost. Ballots can and are bought in their thousands by ‘ballot harvesters’. Ballots are stolen from post boxes. Ballots are dumped in ditches by postal workers.
    > Voter rolls are often not clean and include people that have moved out of the area or are deceased. Democrats have strenuously fought against cleaning up voter rolls, which tells us a lot about their true intentions.
    > Old age homes and dementia hospitals often have the administrators fill in the ballots for the patients, with or without their knowledge and input.
    > Early voting in some states was opened 2 months before the actual election day and millions cast votes before the televised election debates. I guess their minds were made up!
    > Several times in previous elections there have been incidents of people voting out of county to swing a nearby seat. The Democrats previously admitted on camera to setting up shelf companies and paying people to commit electoral fraud. All they need to do on voting day is produce a pay slip from a local business and they can vote.
    > New York and some other areas gave illegal immigrants IDs and that’s all that’s needed to vote in many places, if that. Nobody knows how many illegals voted but that number certainly isn’t zero.
    > The Dominion voting machines continue to present a problem. Their operation is not transparent their counts cannot be audited. The mere fact that their code is compiled, and they have an internet connection is a source of distrust.

    After the trauma of the presidential election, nobody wants to go there this time around. But it is still a highly corrosive factor.

    • So the corrupt voting system got Trump over the line the first time right?
      I think sadly you are just another brainwashed by the Trump reality T.V. sideshow. Trump is a liar.

  19. Florida comes up in USA political news quite a lot – had Bush’s son Governor at one stage and seems a wheeling dealing sort of place. If you would like something lively and ironic and sardonic and humorous to read about politics and society and clued up citizens living and occasionally winning in the general Florida brouhaha I suggest Carl Hiaasen’s books.
    This about his ‘Squeeze Me’ –
    By setting Squeeze Me in Palm Beach, Hiaasen focuses squarely on the president’s wealthiest supporters – the true heart of his base. There’s a tendency to treat Trump mania as a distinctly low-class affair, but for Hiaasen it’s an outgrowth of an out-of-touch gerontocracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_Me_(novel)

    About Hiaasen’s works –
    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/letters/os-op-letters-florida-politics-hiaasen-20220826-l7tvmvox7fdszny5gtlrqocw7q-story.html

    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382437/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm (2 movies)

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/oct/05/carl-hiaasen-adaptations

    We all need some light relief from trying to be Atlases.

  20. The other thing as well is this is an example of an incumbent Government out performing all expectations at an Election. Ardern and Labour can be heartened by the result as I think it shows most people are actually pretty smart, realise our economic issues are largely global and don’t blame Labour for the issues. And that’s despite the 24/7 “Labour Sucks” narrative that dominates our entire New Zealand media.

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