One of the biggest failures of the U.S. Constitution is the two-year term of Congressmen.
What this ensures is 24/7/365 politicking year-round, so that the incumbents spend most of their time looking over their shoulders and constantly sucking up to monied interests to fund their next election. These Congressmen, who are elected to legislate (i.e. craft laws to solve societal problems), instead devote the bulk of their energies to making the “other” political party look silly and digging up dirt, real and imagined, on potential opponents in the next election.
Incumbent and aspiring Senators, facing a six-year term, don’t have to debase themselves as often.
Candidates of both political parties play the same games every election cycle, blaming opponents for things they have nothing to do with, exaggerating trends, painting a dystopian future if the “other guy” wins, lying shamelessly, and promising to do things, once elected, that they will have no power to do. And, of course, now we have the phenomena of losing candidates claiming that the election results are tainted by illegal voting or ballot counting.
It’s a pretty slimy profession, ranking right up there with prostitution and organized crime.
This year’s midterm elections, instead of focusing on the economy, the war in Ukraine, global warming, mass murderers on America’s streets, and the Nation’s crumbling infrastructure, seem to be referenda on such things as abortion, G.O.P. fealty to ex-President Trump, and current President Joe Biden’s mental acuity.
Abortion is a hot-button issue this time around. There seems to be a crusade on the part of Republicans to force a “pro-life” agenda on all American women, even in the case of rape. The Democrats, who would have an uphill battle retaining their House majority because they are the “in power” party, look at the abortion issue as a gift… because most Americans are “pro-choice” on abortion. So, the Democrats are using this tactical mistake on the part of the Republicans to hammer their candidates on the abortion issue.
It’s a self-inflicted wound that is annoying G.O.P. strategists, particularly when you have prominent Republican candidates (like Herschel Walker in Georgia) who have apparently paid multiple women to abort unborn children. Walker, by the way, has toed the G.O.P. line on abortion… he’s staunchly opposed to it unless he gets one of his girlfriends pregnant.
In addition to the abortion kerfuffle, the Democrats are trying to make hay out of the recent aggressiveness of the conservative majority of the Supreme Court. It appears that this Court is intent on reversing many decisions of previous Courts and providing cover for ex-President Trump in his many legal battles.
There is some confusion within the Republican ranks, as about half of registered G.O.P. voters are somewhat fed-up with hardline Trump cult antics, including hate speech, the “stolen election” fable, the January 6th Capitol Riot, the demonizing of the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, and the endless kowtowing to the ex-President by their elected officials.
Crime is always on topic at election time. The other candidate and his political party are always “soft” on crime and statistics are always revealed (massaged) that show society going to Hell. The Republican Party has jumped on the “defund the police” slogan to show just how liberal the Democrats are when it comes to crime. Actually, one would be hard pressed to find virtually any Democratic Congressional or Senatorial candidates who support that idea… it actually arose during the BLM unrest, when most of the Nation was appalled by overly aggressive and sometimes illegal police behavior.
As everyone knows, the police will be funded no matter which candidates are elected.
I don’t know that crime is any worse than in previous years, but I do know that mass shootings are endemic in American society and I have yet to hear any Republican candidate (who, of course, abhors crime) offer up any viable solution to that problem. They don’t dare, as the National Rifle Association and the U.S. armaments industry generously fund their campaigns.
The economy is obviously an important issue in 2022. The inflation-fighting efforts of the Federal Reserve, which bewilder most Americans, seem to be adding fuel to the fire, but that is what needs to happen to bring supply and demand back into synch. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who was elevated to that position by President Donald Trump, is sticking to his guns by raising the Federal Funds rate up and up. This confuses the Average Joe and there is the widespread feeling among most Americans that the government doesn’t know what it is doing.
Many voters will instinctively vote against incumbents for this reason and it will be surprising if the Republicans don’t win back control of Congress.
Mid-term success by the “out of power” party is normal, as is the business cycle, which results in periodic bursting housing “bubbles”, stock market declines, and inflationary periods. No political party has ever found the recipe to successfully avoiding such things. It is just a downside of the capitalistic business model that the world has embraced.
It will be interesting to see what happens within the Republican Party once the mid-term dust has settled. The G.O.P will then start positioning itself for the 2024 elections which may or may not include another run for President by Donald Trump. At the very least, it would seem, a Trump-supported candidate would have to embrace a lot of the Trump nonsense in order to garner support from the Trump cult, which is estimated to comprise 40 percent of all registered Republican voters.
In the meanwhile, we can pretty much assume that there will be a lot of punitive behavior by G.O.P.-led Congressional and Senatorial committees beginning in January, 2023, where many legislators will be trying to bolster their M.A.G.A. bonafides. It will be silly season, for sure, a time for a lot of political theater, with ambitious egotists fighting each other for headlines.
Narcissist Donald Trump is going to relish this two-year period of craziness, while the Biden Administration will have a difficult time getting anything done.
It will be déjà vu all over again