THE FINAL WORD
EMOTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVIDENCE IN 2018...
D epending on your news source, the upcoming midterm election is either the quasi-socialist Sandernista Left against the pro-growth Constitutionalist GOP... or it’s the monocle- and top-hat- wearing Republican plutocrats against the always-earnest, always-fighting-for-the-little- guy Democrats. Issues of real importance to Americans – taxes, health care, and the overall economy – are swamped by emotional appeals. It’s far easier to yell “socialist” or “white nationalist” during cable news shout fests than it is to talk about real governance issues. We will know soon enough whether Democrats or Republicans have carried the day. But why wait, when you can speculate? Right now, the conventional wisdom, history, and polling data is that the Democrats will gain control of the House of Representatives and the Republicans will keep a slim majority in the Senate. All the electoral truisms remain true, and the analytic clichés will make their inevitable rounds on the editorial pages. It’ll be about “base turnout” and “enthusiasm.” “Kitchen table issues” will win out in the end. All politics is local, and every House race is its own little media ecosystem.
This is why – despite Congressional approval ratings hovering somewhere near the public’s fondness for TSA pat-downs (Gallup has it at 19%), far more Americans think their Congressman is A-OK. That means national sentiment doesn’t translate to every individual contest. There are, however, some new national-level dynamics that could bring big surprises into the midterm mix. And despite a roaring economy, relative peace on the world stage, a president who is as captivating on TV as he is politically polarizing, the deciding factor in the upcoming election could be over the one branch of our government not directly determined by voters: the judiciary. Even in its aftermath, the Brett Kavanaugh fight is still raw... Judge Kavanaugh is now Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, but the victory hasn’t dissipated the right’s anger. To the GOP faithful, the ordeal was a ruthless character
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It’s far easier to yell “socialist” or “white nationalist” during cable news shout fests than it is to talk about real governance issues.
American Consequences 81
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