My favorite cartoon after the 2022 midterm elections was Barry Blitt’s New Yorker cover of November 21st.  It depicts a dejected elephant standing on a surf board aground on a beach.  The predicted “red wave” of a Republican victory never happened.  Instead, the Democrats lost a few seats in the House and retained control of the Senate – a feat not duplicated since FDR was president in 1934.

     After such a defeat, you might expect a party to rethink its strategy.  The Republicans did so in 2013, following Mitt Romney’s loss to President Obama, writing an “Autopsy Report.”  However, it was largely ignored and President Trump’s 2016 signaled its death – Trump despised the report.

     What about this time?  Since most candidates who backed Trump’s “big lie” that he really won the 2022 presidential election lost, one might expect them to have lost ground.  On the contrary.  Ultra right-wing Republicans now sit on vital House committees, following Kevin McCarthy’s pyrrhic victory to become Speaker of the House.  After 15 separate votes, McCarthy finally succeeded, but the price was very steep.  He had to agree that a single member could ask for a vote to unseat him.  He had to put hardline right wingers on important committees, like Intelligence and Judiciary.  And he has had to support George Santos, a proven congenital liar, who faked his degrees, jobs, and expertise on his resume, including the “fact” that he was “Jew-ish” (he wasn’t).  At the same time Santos omitted important facts, like his performances as a drag queen in Brazil.  But McCarthy needs to back him, because his margin in the House is so low.

     Meanwhile, what have the House Republicans done?  They have asserted that they want to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and the income tax, replacing it with a 30% sales tax.  This would fall largely on the middle and lower classes.  None of these policies is at all popular, except perhaps with the right-wing ultra-rich.  Finally, they are now threatening to withhold raising the deficit.  This involves not paying for monies already spent by the government.  To do so would greatly affect the faith and credit of the United States of America and end payments like social security, Medicare, and the salaries of U.S. representatives. 

     Does all this constitute a winning strategy?  I don’t think so and for the first and probably only time in my life, I find myself agreeing with Donald Trump, who urged his party not to cut social security, Medicare, or use the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip against the Democrats.  President Biden has already declared he will not bargain over the deficit.

     If the Republicans keep this up, and there’s no indication that they won’t, I predict it will be a major losing strategy for what once was the “Grand Old Party.”  May it be so.

I was thinking about writing a blog this month and realized that I was too busy working for the election.  So I’m writing about that.  It’s less than five weeks to the mid-term elections on November 8th.  These elections are crucially important.  If the Democrats win, laws affecting all of our lives can be passed.  If not, we return to Trump and his Republicans’ failed policies.

     Some of the most important laws are, first, reversing the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.  The Republican fiction that this “just gave power to the states” has been negated by two events.  First, a number of states have denied abortion in all cases, including rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother.  Other states prevent doctors from intervening unless the mother is near death, even if the fetus has died.  Second, Lindsey Graham and the Republicans have proclaimed that they will pass a nation-wide abortion ban.  Regardless of your personal feelings about abortion, do you believe you really have the right to determine this policy for all Americans?  The Supreme Court does.  Judge Alito’s opinion included the theories of Sir Matthew Hale, considered a misogynist even in his own time, the 17th century.  In addition to outlawing abortion, Hale argued that women could be burnt as witches and that husbands could rape their wives.  Judge Clarence Thomas went even further.  He argued that the court should rule against same-sex marriage and outlaw contraception.  (I’m not making this up.)  He did not rule against inter-racial marriage, however, since he is a black man married to a white woman.  What hypocrisy!

     It is not only abortion that is on the ballot this year.  A number of Republicans, and even their amazingly vague platform, have argued that states have the right to overturn federal elections (one of Trump’s main tactics in 2020) and against renewing both Social Security and Medicare.

     So what have I been doing to counter this – and what can we all do?  First, I have been donating money to Democratic candidates.  First, for the Senate, second for the House, and third, for Governors.  I think we have a good chance to take the Senate, in part because of the caliber of many Republican candidates, like Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.  We have a more difficult time taking the House, largely because of Republican gerrymandering, but it is still possible.  We won the House in 2020 and the same gerrymandering was in effect.  Finally, there are some tight and important governor’s races: in Florida, Texas, and Georgia.  Christ vs. Desantis in Florida, O’Rourke vs. Abbot in Texas, and Abrams vs. Kemp in Georgia.

     So what can we do?  First and most important, DONATE MONEY!  Now is the time!  Second, write postcards to people in swing states, urging them to vote.  Both Indivisible and MoveOn will send them to you.  Personally, I’m writing to folks in Pennsylvania.  It’s not too late to do this and it makes a big difference.

         Finally, we can canvas, especially if we live in swing states.  I did this in previous elections, but can’t right now.  But you all can – or convince those you know in those states to do so.  This election is vitally important to all of us.