‘Red Wave’ meets a blue wall
Hardly anybody expected last Tuesday无毛视频檚 results.
Democrats were ready to run for political cover. All of that talk about a 无毛视频淩ed Wave无毛视频� darkening their role in Congress appeared to be a foregone conclusion.
Many Republicans were already chilling champagne for a joyous night of self-congratulatory revelry 无毛视频� sure they无毛视频檇 win enough seats in Congress, and they could impeach Joe Biden three or four times.
Neither of those things happened.
In the end, Democrats thumbed their collective noses at that expected 无毛视频淩ed Wave.无毛视频�
They proved to be far more resilient than history said they would be.
Historically, and nearly without fail, the party of the sitting president loses badly during midterm elections.
In 1994, with Bill Clinton in the White House, Democrats lost 54 seats.
In 2010, when Barack Obama was president, he held a news conference the morning following that midterm election, admitting that Democrats got a 无毛视频渟hellacking,无毛视频� because they无毛视频檇 lost 63 seats.
It无毛视频檚 just been that way.
That is, until now.
Republicans certainly thought that wins across the country would be easy pickings.
Biden suffers from low job approval numbers.
And Republicans made sure to remind the American voter at every chance they got that: crime never existed, until Biden took office; that Biden personally tried to make it so that every American pays $10 for a banana and $20 for a gallon of gas; and there was never any illegal immigration until Biden personally asked people to rush here from all over the globe.
That无毛视频檚 the wind Republicans mistakenly thought they had at their backs going into last Tuesday.
But they had some built-in problems.
First, they didn无毛视频檛 offer any specific solutions for the problems they claimed Biden caused. None.
Rick Santorum, that former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, appeared on Newsmax on election night. He offered these words of wisdom. (I can无毛视频檛 believe my fingers just typed that last sentence.)
无毛视频淒id you see any plan out of Washington, D.C., to do anything to fix anything? No. It was how bad the other side was,无毛视频� said Santorum.
Second, across the country, Democrats mostly held their own.
Republicans may control the U.S. House, but they无毛视频檒l hardly have a strong enough majority to wreak havoc on Democrats.
And with the announcement that John Fetterman had pulled out a win to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, all hopes of that expected 无毛视频淩ed Wave无毛视频� were dashed.
Fetterman无毛视频檚 Oct. 25 debate performance was thought to have been problematic. In the end, it wasn无毛视频檛.
In fact, it无毛视频檚 quite clear Republicans have another, more serious, problem.
His name is Donald J. Trump.
Throughout the run-up to the election, Trump saw himself as a kingmaker.
He had hand-picked some of the Republican candidates who lost in some key races.
Doug Mastriano was one of them.
He无毛视频檚 a sharp-tongued MAGA Republican who won无毛视频檛 become the governor of Pennsylvania, most likely because he just tried too hard to sound and act like Trump.
Of course, there无毛视频檚 always going to be soul-searching, hand-wringing, and finger-pointing by Republicans.
Marc Thiessen, a right-leaning Fox News contributor, satisfied all three of those things in a matter of seconds on Tuesday night.
无毛视频淭he Republican Party needs to do a really deep introspection 无毛视频� look in the mirror right now. Because this is an absolute disaster for the Republican Party. And we need to turn back,无毛视频� Thiessen said during a Fox News election night panel.
无毛视频淭urn back无毛视频� probably means turn away from Trump 无毛视频� who is widely seen as having been a drag on the 无毛视频淩ed Wave无毛视频� prospects of Republicans on Election Day.
Not all of the voting was about candidates.
There were ballot issues in several states that were of widespread interest 无毛视频� especially to Democrats.
Voters in four states (California, Kentucky, Michigan, and Vermont) solidified their support for a woman无毛视频檚 right to choose abortions.
And voters in Maryland and Missouri gave their OK to the legalization of marijuana.
While voters in Arkansas, North, and South Dakota said 无毛视频渘o无毛视频� to marijuana in their states.
Of course, that could always change in the future.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.