The Democrats have seemed positively ecstatic since November 8th, and I can’t figure out why. The best answer I can come up with is that they didn’t take the shellacking that so many people predicted they would. That might be a cause for a sigh of relief, but they seem like they’re gloating. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives were up for grabs. The Democrats lost control of the House. They maintained the slimmest of majorities in the Senate. The 35 governor races were split 18 Democrat to 17 Republican. But the only incumbent who lost was a Democrat.
That just doesn’t seem worth celebrating to me. Sure, it could have been worse, but they are still in a weaker position than they were before the election. I don’t care that it’s traditional for the president’s party to lose the midterms. And I don’t care that a lot of candidates backed by Trump lost their races. That just puts DeSantis in line to take over the Republican party, and he’s, at best, a lateral move.
I would be happier if the Democrats weren’t so happy. They ought to be angry. They should be vowing to do better next year and the year after. They have been too content with not-as-bad-as-we-expected for far too long. Not-as-bad-as-we-expected is still bad. The Democrats really need to stop settling.
