2018 Midterm Elections Were Driven By Oppositional Voters Dissatisfied With Political Extremes11/7/2018 A “thumping” is what then-President George W. Bush called it when Democrats retook the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 2006 Midterm Elections. Then-President Barack Obama called it a "shellacking" when voters returned control of the House to Republicans. President Donald Trump attempted to frame the 2018 Midterms Elections as a victory against all odds, choosing to focus on the seats Republicans picked up in the Senate and other favorable statistics. Due to which Senators were up for reelection and insufficient support in the right districts, Democrats lost ground in the Senate, but triumphed in the House. The odds of Democrats regaining control of the Senate were low and Democratic turnout failed to exceed expectations, so the fact that Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate is not a particularly significant achievement for Republicans. The fact that Democrats failed to inspire a massive “Blue Wave” diminishes the significance of the Democrats’ victory. The results show 2018 was as much a referendum on Democrats as it was on Republicans and the President.
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The 2018 Midterms have been billed as a referendum on President Donald Trump. Most midterms elections are considered a referendum on the US President. Not only do they reflect the amount of support the President has gained or lost over the two years since his campaign victory, midterms are an opportunity for voters to cement or transform the ideological composition of government. They are also a chance for the American People to register their support or disapproval for the President’s policy agenda. This is particularly true when it comes to congressional and gubernatorial contests. Although there are local elections occurring within the umbrella of the midterms and all candidates run on issues tailored to local concerns, elections have been “nationalized” to the point local issues and concerns have taken a backseat. To boot, the focus of midterms is no longer national issues. The 2018 midterms are largely “no Issues” elections geared toward power politics, which is why they serve as a referendum on President Trump to a large degree.
US President Donald Trump has launched an attack on the Fourteenth Amendment. It is the latest move in an attempt to blunt illegal immigration. The Fourteenth Amendment has become a target, because the first section of it automatically grants citizenship to anyone who is born on US soil, even if that person’s parents are not US citizens. Donald Trump, who once thoroughly bashed former President Obama for executive overreach and his use of Executive Orders, has suggested he has the authority to issue an Executive Order that would strip newborns of their citizenship. Not only is Donald Trump unwittingly attempting to establish a dangerous precedent that would allow a President to override a Constitutional Amendment and strip away rights guaranteed to all people entitled to US citizenship, he is undermining the most important Constitutional Amendment in terms of guaranteeing Americans their freedoms and constraining government power.
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April 2020
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