Well, the Democrats regained the House and will effectively put an end to Trump’s program to drain the swamp. I expect nothing of consequence will get done in the next two years. I think vengeful Democrats will keep Trump busy with one investigation after another and may even seek impeachment. The Mueller report is sure to include enough bullshit and spin as to encourage Democrats to go after impeachment, even though they are sure they will never get a conviction in the Senate. It will, however, generate much breathless news coverage by their allies in the media.
The Democrats are experts at the combat of politics, you have to give them credit for that. The last two years has been an exercise in resistance and attack. The Professional Left has been more than willing participants in this campaign. The media, Hollywood, pro- abortion groups and environmentalists have joined in attacking Trump. Of course, Trump plays right into their hands with his outrageous tweets and bombastic statements. His instincts are that of a Brooklyn street brawler and it doesn’t play well with many Republicans who, while enjoying some of his achievements, find his behavior distasteful.
In the mid-terms the Democrats were smart in selecting people to run who had a military background and professed more conservative views. Among many moderate or conservative positions, most notable was that, if elected, they would not vote for Pelosi for Speaker. The first test of their truthfulness will be the Pelosi vote for Speaker.
The other factor was the energy on the Democrat side. The motivation to get out the vote and take back the House was strong, and women in particular are turned off by Trump, and they voted for the Democrats in strong numbers. Hatred is a strong motivator. Witness the Woman’s March held the weekend after Trump’s inauguration. The hatred was palpable. More recently, angry groups harassed cabinet members and Senators while they were out dining with their wives. The left thinks it perfectly fine to shout down conservative speakers at speeches at universities.
The GOP candidates and Trump failed to communicate their achievements in their messaging, particularly by the national party. Yes, they got the tax cuts through and cutting regulations and taxes spurred the economy to record highs. But that was only the beginning. Trump put the brakes on the out-of-control EPA. Trump’s EPA ended the war on coal, axed the Obama Administration over-the-top car emissions rules, and reversed the Waters of the US rule that essentially gave the EPA control of every damp spot in the US. The Interior Department proposed major changes to the Endangered Species Act that gave relief to tens of thousands of landowners. The western states should have been especially happy with both of those, but the GOP did little to tout them.
With tax cuts and a booming economy, two new Supremes and dozens of judges, plus the regulatory relief above, you would think that the message would have been clear. But the GOP did not have a unified message and it was insufficient against the tide of anger and hate from the left.
Just think about how effective the Democrat strategy was on the eve of Trump’s election victory. High-ranking Justice Department and FBI officials in the Obama administration, who were big supporters of Hillary, decided to promote the narrative that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election. Democrats were quick to pile on to this excuse. They managed to get a Special Prosecutor appointed who was a dedicated swamp dweller and he appointed almost all highly aggressive Democrat prosecutors to his staff.
This would have two purposes: First, it would slow down Trump and keep up the narrative that he had somehow succeeded in stealing the election. Also, and more importantly, it would insure that nothing would be done on the real culprit in election skullduggery committed by the Democrats and Hillary campaign. It would also delay looking into the obvious issues with Hillary’s illegal server and the massive pay-for-play scheme of the Clinton Foundation. Exposing all that shit would dog the Democrats for a generation.
The Democrats hoped to stall that exposure until the mid-terms when they hoped to regain Congress and then they could bury it. It worked.