So... Who won?

[Yank2133]

Trump won. A Democratic House, led by Nancy Pelosi, is the perfect foil for him, and a legitimate target for intense criticism which doesn't undermine norms, unlike attacking the press. The Democrats will inevitably overreach in their oversight capacity-- I can almost guarantee they'll try to shut down the government at some point-- and they certainly won't play ball on anything meaningful legislatively. Obstructionism will play well with the Dem base, but not the Midwestern voters they need to win.

At the same time, Collins and Murkowski have been neutralized in the Senate, and Flake is gone. The Republican Party can force through an Amy Coney Barrett now or any other judge/justice they want.

This all assumes that Dems don't uncover massive corruption, which seems very likely.

Republicans want this to be like Clinton in the late 90s. But the overreach charges worked because they actually overreached. That won't be the case with Trump starting in 2019.

[HisGrace]

I really don't know how anyone can spin a political party losing control of a chamber of Congress as "winning" but here we are.

[Mechavada]

I really don't know how anyone can spin a political party losing control of a chamber of Congress as "winning" but here we are.

In my defense I was thinking along the lines of expectations.  I feel kind of silly now.  Rest of the post still stands.

[pbrower2a]

Trump won. A Democratic House, led by Nancy Pelosi, is the perfect foil for him, and a legitimate target for intense criticism which doesn't undermine norms, unlike attacking the press. The Democrats will inevitably overreach in their oversight capacity-- I can almost guarantee they'll try to shut down the government at some point-- and they certainly won't play ball on anything meaningful legislatively. Obstructionism will play well with the Dem base, but not the Midwestern voters they need to win.

At the same time, Collins and Murkowski have been neutralized in the Senate, and Flake is gone. The Republican Party can force through an Amy Coney Barrett now or any other judge/justice they want.

We shall see, but it could be that the Koch syndicate chose to allow Trump to lose something so that people don't start rioting in the streets and insisting upon getting out the guillotine to dispose of the elites. Our democracy is already a farce, and the partisan divide is as intense as it has ever been. Welcome to Spain in the 1930s or Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Donald Trump has always had Nancy Pelosi as a bogey, and people who forget her need a reminder -- at least as the economic elites believe.

If the economy should tank (which it has a high likelihood of happening), then expect Trump to cast blame on disobedient Congressional Democrats who refuse to give in to privatization schemes that turn the public sector to profiteering monopolists or fail to offer tax shifts that give delight to elites and intensify poverty for everyone else.

Donald Trump acts like a dictator, and anyone who gets in his way will feel his rage. So far he has been unable to attack Democrats directly. Now he gets the chance.   

 

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

SCOTUS is gone as long as Clarence Thomas is there anyways.

But, Dems do have 2020 and 2022 senate map, but projecting a net 5 seat Democratic gain would be falling into the same trap as we fell into this time.

[pbrower2a]

SCOTUS is gone as long as Clarence Thomas is there anyways.

But, Dems do have 2020 and 2022 senate map, but projecting a net 5 seat Democratic gain would be falling into the same trap as we fell into this time.

The right-wing front groups of the GOP were quiet where I was. Maybe they chose to target those places in which they had a chance and succeeded. They won largely what they could.

[SNJ1985]

Ultimately, due to the House takeover, Democrats. There were some bright spots for the Republicans, though; and the fact that we actually added to our Senate majority is very unusual for a president's party during a midterm.

[Mr. Smith]

everybody because the ads will FINALLY STOP!  WOOOO WHOO!


Kavenaugh because the 4 Dem Senators in tight races that voted against lost (Donnely, McCaskill,Heitikamp and Neslson) and the one that voted for (Manchin) won.

Tester won and he voted against.

[CookieDamage]

People saying the GOP won are... a bit... um... wrong. Us being disappointed that it wasn't the megatsunami we wanted doesn't mean we lost. The house was won. We won that. We flipped 7 governor's mansions. We won felons the right to be enfranchised again in FL. Redistricting won in many states. The suburbs chose us.

I AM disappointed in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, and other races, but the Senate was always a terrible map but we also gained Nevada and held onto West Virginia and Montana. We could also flip Arizona although idk.

We won.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The Republicans. They always win, even when they lose.

[CookieDamage]

everybody because the ads will FINALLY STOP!  WOOOO WHOO!


Kavenaugh because the 4 Dem Senators in tight races that voted against lost (Donnely, McCaskill,Heitikamp and Neslson) and the one that voted for (Manchin) won.

Tester won and he voted against.

Tester won, and there's a slim chance a FL recount puts Nelson ahead. Brown also voted against Kavanaugh and won, even if it wasn't the tight race it initially seemed. Meanwhile, Bredesen supported Kavanaugh and was blown out of the water.

[Pericles]

If you flip a chamber in a midterm it means you win. The Democrats won.

[TPIG]

I think pre-election expectations matter a great deal in determining who won. The fact that we even have to debate who won in a year when Democrats were supposed to have a massive victory at all levels lets you know that Republicans definitely had the better night. There were big wins and losses on both sides, but Republicans definitely left the night feeling better than they expected to and Democrats the opposite.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

THe Dems had a good night in South Carolina, but not great. We picked up a US House seat thanks to Trump. (If Sanford hadn't been primaried, he would have held SC-1). Picked up a State Senate seat in a special election and 4 State House seats. The amendment to no longer elect the Superintendent of Education went down to considerable defeat. (There are some good reasons to support making it an appointed position, but the fact is that it was only on the ballot because it's the Statewide office most likely to be won by a Democrat.)

[CookieDamage]

I think pre-election expectations matter a great deal in determining who won. The fact that we even have to debate who won in a year when Democrats were supposed to have a massive victory at all levels lets you know that Republicans definitely had the better night. There were big wins and losses on both sides, but Republicans definitely left the night feeling better than they expected to and Democrats the opposite.

You're delusional. It's okay.

[TPIG]

I think pre-election expectations matter a great deal in determining who won. The fact that we even have to debate who won in a year when Democrats were supposed to have a massive victory at all levels lets you know that Republicans definitely had the better night. There were big wins and losses on both sides, but Republicans definitely left the night feeling better than they expected to and Democrats the opposite.

You're delusional. It's okay.

Perhaps that bolded statement was a bit too far, but the idea that Democrats massively underperformed last night still holds true.

[Virginiá]

Can I just say that it realllllly doesn't matter who thinks they won? If Republicans want to rationalize this as a win, that's fine. They still lost the US House of Representatives (freeing Democrats to stymie their agenda and investigate Trump non-stop), 7 Governors (more than they lost in 2006), hundreds of legislative seats and the bulk of their redistricting schemes for the 2020s are ruined, with possibly more set backs to come in 2019 + 2020.

These are objectively serious losses for them, especially given the ramifications for redistricting.

[CookieDamage]

Can I just say that it realllllly doesn't matter who thinks they won? If Republicans want to rationalize this as a win, that's fine. They still lost the US House of Representatives (freeing Democrats to stymie their agenda and investigate Trump non-stop), 7 Governors (more than they lost in 2006), hundreds of legislative seats and the bulk of their redistricting schemes for the 2020s are ruined, with possibly more set backs to come in 2019 + 2020.

These are objectively serious losses for them, especially given the ramifications for redistricting.

[I Can Now Die Happy]

There isn't much the Democrats can do with their slight majority. Trump and his family are obviously innocent of everything, so any investigation will just blow up in their face.

House will be won back in 2020. It won't be that hard.

Tick tock.

[The Undefeatable Debbie Stabenow]

Democrats (sane).

I really cannot fathom how Democrats netting 40 House seats, 6 governorships, several state legislative chambers, and dozens of statewide offices can possibly constitute a loss for them. Too many people are focusing too heavily on a few disappointments in high profile races (GA-GOV, TX-SEN, FL-SEN, FL-GOV), despite the fact that none of which (except the FL races) were ever expected to be anything better than tossup or tilt R races. That also isn't to mention that liberal ballot proposals were largely successful: marijuana legalization in MI, felon enfranchisement in FL, the creation of redistricting committees and expanded voting in MI, medicinal marijuana legalization in MO and UT, increases of the minimum wage in AR and MO, and Medicaid expansion in UT/NE/ID.

I think Democrats need to realize that just because Tuesday didn't go perfectly doesn't mean it still wasn't a wave.

[IceSpear]

Democrats (sane).

I really cannot fathom how Democrats netting 40 House seats, 6 governorships, several state legislative chambers, and dozens of statewide offices can possibly constitute a loss for them. Too many people are focusing too heavily on a few disappointments in high profile races (GA-GOV, TX-SEN, FL-SEN, FL-GOV), despite the fact that none of which (except the FL races) were ever expected to be anything better than tossup or tilt R races. That also isn't to mention that liberal ballot proposals were largely successful: marijuana legalization in MI, felon enfranchisement in FL, the creation of redistricting committees and expanded voting in MI, medicinal marijuana legalization in MO and UT, increases of the minimum wage in AR and MO, and Medicaid expansion in UT/NE/ID.

I think Democrats need to realize that just because Tuesday didn't go perfectly doesn't mean it still wasn't a wave.

People had their expectations too high. Had they accepted the obvious fact that people like Heitkamp and Bredesen were DOA and that MO/IN were toss ups at best there wouldn't even be a discussion right now.

Yes, the Florida races were big disappointments, but aside from that the night went about as expected if you were being realistic. It was a wave. Just not the megagigatsunami so many people here irrationally thought they could wish into existence.

[DINGO Joe]

Neither, it's a brawl with the Dems consolidating the Populated areas and the Rs rural America, but since rural America is in endless decline, they ultimately break.  Of course, the R party is also the party of bigotry and corruption, so it'll ultimately destroy their rural religion too.