What happened in Pennsylvania? What happened to America? How did a president with record low approval pass the election with a smile on his face?
This midterm election bucked the trend.On Tuesday, the American people ignored the incumbent’s party midterm.
To be clear, Joe BidenDemocrats did lose the House, and as I wrote, the Senate was too close. But the profit is too small. This is not the Republican wave expected by polls and precedent.
It takes time to get a clear picture of what’s going on. In states across the country, county boards of elections will upload lists of voters who cast ballots (a different system than uploading total votes). Once complete, we’ll learn more about turnout by age, race, gender, and location.
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But one thing is clear, even before all these statistics: voters reject inexperienced candidates in most cases, they reject extreme candidates, they reject dishonest candidates, they reject electoral candidate. In short, they rejected the Trump candidate.
Donald Trump Was the big loser on Tuesday night. Democratic values were put to the test (just attend any of his rallies), but in the end, this time, the system’s failsafe worked: more people were motivated to get out and vote. The process preserves the principles.
Pittsburgh’s Schenley Square Park, where I watched hundreds of people gathered to watch former President Barack Obama’s speech three days ago, has returned to normal. The stage has passed. Students are back in the city’s university district.
“So like, if they don’t come out and vote, I feel like it’s going to be all red. I don’t know. I feel like we just had a very strong influence on it,” the 20-year-old Sydney told me.
This is her second election. She voted in the last presidential election of 2020. But this is her first midterm election.
“Abortion and guns,” she said when I asked her what particularly attracted her.
Her friend Shruti interrupted her: “I think the topic of inflation is important right now. And I think with Obama coming here, and coming to Philadelphia, I think it’s really important. He’s charming. I Thinking it does mean a lot to all voters here.
“And I know that voter turnout in Auckland was much higher than expected. I think it’s surprising, like an underestimation of young voter turnout, because it’s actually very high in Auckland.”
“So I think it’s really impactful and interesting – young and educated people [voting]; how it affects because it turns on polling [gap] It’s really good here,” Shruti added.
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Do they think this is the end for Mr Trump? Yes, Sydney said. Probably not, Shruti said.
I asked what about Mr. Biden. His popularity is too low. He turns 80 this month. Those midterm elections motivate him to run in 2024. good idea?
“I think rejuvenation can have a big impact,” Shruti said. “It depends on how much support that candidate will have. I think we should look elsewhere.”
At a nearby table, I met Trevor McCutcheon, a 19-year-old voter who is a bit of a rarity in liberal Pittsburgh.
“I would say I’m absolutely like a moderate conservative; someone who would normally vote Republican,” he told me.
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I want to talk more about what went wrong with the Republicans. After all, with a gaffe-prone, unpopular president and soaring inflation, Republicans did miss a public goal, right?
Trevor believes it all has to do with local candidates backed by Mr Trump. They didn’t do it. He cited Pennsylvania Republican candidate, TV personality and doctor Mehmed Oz.
“I think Mehmet Oz started out as a weak candidate for the Republicans — one from out of state, one in politics, I believe he was a Democrat not long ago, and kind of opened up a lot of his ideas, one by one. A TV personality being quoted saying that things related to medicine are not necessarily true would reduce his credibility,” Trevor said.
In the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, the party chose their candidate and it was a close affair. Mr Oz, backed and funded by Mr Trump, took it from establishment politician David McCormick.
“I think the primaries definitely played a role,” Trevor said.
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“He was the pro-Trump candidate in that election, and it was decided by 1,000 votes between him and David McCormick, and then when you go into the midterms, look what happened. I don’t Think all moderates are in love with Trump as we saw in the 2020 election.”
Mr Trump also lost the popular vote and a mysterious Electoral College process in the 2020 election. But since then, he has hijacked the Republican Party with money, false claims of his victory, and his ability to somehow convince people that he was a part of it.
His boss is excited. Trump’s rallies are a remarkable sight for his ardent followers — branding, messaging, show-like production. But underpinning it all was a hoax – his lie was that he was robbed in 2020.
This week, Mr. Trump found the depth of his appeal to be an illusion, like the 2020 fraud charges. But is this the end for him? What about the huge following who trust him and depend on him?
“I definitely don’t think this is the end of Trumpism,” Trevor said.
“I know a lot of people still like Trump, but I think going forward, the Republican Party, at least in 2024, should consider nominating someone else because of how unpopular he is with a large crowd.”
All eyes are now on Tuesday and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Will he announce that he will run for president in 2024? If he does, will the GOP support him?