Republicans routed as Democrats gain powerful new leverage over Trump for remainder of his presidency
Democrats have regained control of the US Senate, routing Republicans nationwide with historic victories that will give them powerful new leverage over Donald Trump for the remainder of his presidency.
Democrats will soon have the ability to hold up not just Trump’s legislative agenda, but also any appointments he makes to his cabinet or the federal judiciary – including the supreme court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority.
Kansas is sending a D to Washington for the first time in over 100 years.
Kansas.
If you’re not really familiar with American politics, you might not realize what that signals. It means that large swaths of the country - the types of places which were taken utterly for granted as ruby red for generations, and treated as a foregone conclusion in every single election - have been hurt so badly by their own party that they were willing do anything to cast off the GOP. Including voting for a Democrat.
If you know what American conservatives are actually like, then you can understand the magnitude of this. It’s Earth-shattering. These are people who, just two years ago, would have told you quite earnestly that they’d rather eat a shit sandwiches every day for 10 years, then die of syphilis and go directly to Hell than ever pull the lever for D. Many of them have espoused the view that the GOP is the party of God (the Christian one) and they mean that quite literally.
I don’t think anyone can say what the ultimate result of that will be, or if it will even be good. But that doesn’t mean we can’t look at what transpired last night and appreciate for a moment just how huge, weird and crazy it actually is!