15 votes

Despite losing House, Trump declares ‘big victory’

19 comments

  1. [2]
    spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    I suspect Trump's quite happy about the outcome, in fact. Holds the Senate so he can keep appointing judges, and conservatives have made clear they'll put up with just about anything if they get...

    I suspect Trump's quite happy about the outcome, in fact. Holds the Senate so he can keep appointing judges, and conservatives have made clear they'll put up with just about anything if they get Federalist Society-approved courts.

    Meanwhile Democratic control of the House means Season 2019 of The Trump Show will have exciting new villains like Nancy Pelosi, and an extended story arc where Trump is subjected to a yuuuuuge witch hunt by Angry Democrats. Won't even need a war to boost the ratings.

    21 votes
    1. EightRoundsRapid
      Link Parent
      Yep. The script writes itself, doesn't it.

      Yep. The script writes itself, doesn't it.

      3 votes
  2. [14]
    Eva
    Link
    It is a big victory to some extent for him. Everyone who was actually inspiring people on blueTeam was taken out. A literal neo-nazi kept IA-04 again. Morale is knocked out. The only way to make...

    It is a big victory to some extent for him. Everyone who was actually inspiring people on blueTeam was taken out. A literal neo-nazi kept IA-04 again. Morale is knocked out.

    The only way to make this go on the up, I'd imagine, would be running O'Rourke in 2020; people radicalised behind him, and he only lost Texas, one of the most conservative states in the Union by election-outcomes, by ~2.6%. That's huge. Imagine what he could do on a national level.

    14 votes
    1. [7]
      Pilgrim
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Morale is only low because democrats keep coming to the table with crazy expectations. and have a fetish for underdogs. What would a "true blue wave" have even looked like? Beto wins. Abrams wins....
      • Exemplary

      Morale is only low because democrats keep coming to the table with crazy expectations. and have a fetish for underdogs. What would a "true blue wave" have even looked like? Beto wins. Abrams wins. And the Dems take the Senate?

      That was always crazy talk.

      • The Senate map for democrats was historically terrible - nearly no chance there
      • Texas, TEXAS was somehow going to go blue
      • Abrams had every card in the deck stacked against here. the guy running against her was in CHARGE of the election

      If you're sad about the midterms, your expectations were out of whack with reality. I'm THRILLED by the results because:

      • Scott Walker lost and he was anti-worker to the max
      • Dana Rohrabacher lost, and he was "one of two people in the GOP taking $ form Putin" according to ~Paul Ryan~ former House majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R)
      • Kim Davis lost in KY - she was the lady who refused to recognize same-sex marriages
      • Sherrod Brown killed it in OH proving a populist Dem can win in the midwest big time
      • Texas TEXAS almost went blue - huge!
      • Abrams still isn't out of the race yet, and even if she is, goddamn did she put up a good fight. Hats off.
      • We WON THE HOUSE and are just TWO MONTHS from actual oversight of the executive branch

      I wanted to say something about "incremental progress" but dammit,

      it was a knock-out night for democrats.

      EDIT: Adjusted my comment about Kim Davis to be more factual and less emotional

      10 votes
      1. [2]
        arghdos
        Link Parent
        Minor correction: This was actually said by the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, not the Speaker Paul Ryan. Other than that, I think you're right on the money. My only real disappointment...

        Minor correction:

        "one of two people in the GOP taking $ form Putin" according to Paul Ryan

        This was actually said by the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, not the Speaker Paul Ryan.

        Other than that, I think you're right on the money. My only real disappointment was that Steve King won but we all knew that was likely in any case (and only by 4% to boot!)

        edit: another encouraging sign, this was the highest voter turnout since 1966!

        2 votes
        1. Pilgrim
          Link Parent
          Thank you for that correction. I'll edit my comment :)

          Thank you for that correction. I'll edit my comment :)

          1 vote
      2. [4]
        Eva
        Link Parent
        This comment isn't actually talking about anything in my comment.

        This comment isn't actually talking about anything in my comment.

        1. [3]
          Pilgrim
          Link Parent
          I thought you wrote this: Did I misunderstand?

          I thought you wrote this:

          Morale is knocked out.

          Did I misunderstand?

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            Eva
            Link Parent
            I wrote: yes. And yes, you misunderstood. I neither claimed that the lack of morale was either reasonable or unreasonable, said I was sad about the midterms or said that the "blue wave" nonsense...

            I wrote:

            Morale is knocked out.

            yes. And yes, you misunderstood.

            I neither claimed that the lack of morale was either reasonable or unreasonable, said I was sad about the midterms or said that the "blue wave" nonsense was reasonable. You were yelling at thin air, as I made none of those claims and what you argued against was claimed by no one.

            1. Pilgrim
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              Hmm. I may still not understand then. You said that "morale is knocked out" and my major point is that it shouldn't be knocked out, because Dems did pretty well. I'm also not seeing how my comment...

              Hmm. I may still not understand then. You said that "morale is knocked out" and my major point is that it shouldn't be knocked out, because Dems did pretty well.

              I'm also not seeing how my comment is really an argument (why does everything online have to be an argument?), I'm just offering my view point which runs counter to what I'm reading in numerous places.

              I'm definitely not yelling at anyone.

              4 votes
    2. [7]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [3]
        Archimedes
        Link Parent
        D+36 in the house seems like a pretty solid margin to me.

        On top of that, he only lost the House by a narrow margin.

        D+36 in the house seems like a pretty solid margin to me.

        6 votes
        1. [2]
          Algernon_Asimov
          Link Parent
          A swing is different to a margin. Sure, there was a swing towards the Democrats of 36 seats: they won 36 more seats than they had before. However, the total number of seats they hold in the House...

          A swing is different to a margin.

          Sure, there was a swing towards the Democrats of 36 seats: they won 36 more seats than they had before.

          However, the total number of seats they hold in the House of Representatives after that swing is 222 (so far) - which is only 4 more seats than half the house (218). Those 4 seats are a narrow margin.

          14 votes
          1. Archimedes
            Link Parent
            Oh wow, I completely misread that number. Thanks for the clarification.

            Oh wow, I completely misread that number. Thanks for the clarification.

            3 votes
      2. [3]
        teaearlgraycold
        Link Parent
        People aren't well informed. People don't care. At this point I don't think the country will turn around even if it's literally on fire from Trump's failures.

        The "Blue Wave" was barely ankle-high

        People aren't well informed. People don't care. At this point I don't think the country will turn around even if it's literally on fire from Trump's failures.

        4 votes
        1. Diet_Coke
          Link Parent
          Remember that before this election, the Koch brothers were a couple governorships away from being able to change the Constitution at will. Democrats retook seven governorships, multiple...

          Remember that before this election, the Koch brothers were a couple governorships away from being able to change the Constitution at will. Democrats retook seven governorships, multiple statehouses, and won hundreds of state and local seats. Ballot initiatives favoring criminal justice reform, medical/recreational marijuana, and election reform all passed.

          Gerrymandering and voter suppression are real and effective, but don't let that fool you into thinking the election wasn't a big victory for sanity.

          15 votes
        2. stephen
          Link Parent
          I think that people just think that people don't care. I can't think of a single conversation I have had about revolution or reform in the last several months that didn't include some version of...

          I think that people just think that people don't care. I can't think of a single conversation I have had about revolution or reform in the last several months that didn't include some version of "people just don't care" or "people are so ignorant."

          That's so wrong. People aren't stupid. Maybe a lot of them don't have all the facts, but I think people generally accept that the system is and has been fucked for a long time. It's not that they don't care, it just that people lack vision.

          Knowing there is a problem and not knowing what do about it looks an awful lot like not knowing there is a problem.

          The left just simple lacks vision. Just look at Pelosi's speech the other day. "Let's hear it for pre-existing conditions" ?! Are you fucking kidding me? We need to dismantle the massive corporations, disenfranchise the oligrachs, and start building a socialist movement, not squabble about the particulars of what was essentially a giant payday for the healthcare industrial complex.

          4 votes
  3. Supernova
    Link
    This guy has made a point of existing and governing in his own reality. Expecting him to change that two years on is really too much to ask for. Yeah, Beto in Texas, Gillum in Florida, Abrams in...

    This guy has made a point of existing and governing in his own reality. Expecting him to change that two years on is really too much to ask for. Yeah, Beto in Texas, Gillum in Florida, Abrams in Georgia*, "Ironstache" Bryce in Wisconsin, the ones we threw the most behind and elevated on a national level lost. And that may be Trump's idea of victory. However they were all (maybe not Bryce) damn near close. Too close to ignore. They've made space for the next person.

    7 votes
  4. [2]
    TheJorro
    Link
    Did anyone really expect him to pay attention to reality?

    Did anyone really expect him to pay attention to reality?

    5 votes
    1. stephen
      Link Parent
      Reality is something to be constructed and managed in fascist systems of power. Trump's supporters don't look to him to evaluate and strategically respond to reality. They ask him to tell them...

      Reality is something to be constructed and managed in fascist systems of power. Trump's supporters don't look to him to evaluate and strategically respond to reality. They ask him to tell them what reality is and who to hate so they can feel great about themselves again.

      2 votes