Op-Ed: After a bad showing in the midterms, what story are Republicans telling themselves now?
The recent midterm elections produced a number of major surprises. Democrats did not win the Senate even though they gained six seats. Republicans did not win the House even though they did win ten seats. This meant that it was a blow to Barack Obama and Democrats, but a major boon to Republicans. It also meant that there would be a new Congress in January, and that things are likely to get a lot worse as a result of some really bad decisions on the part of President Trump.
One of these stories is how Republicans are telling themselves after the midterms, and it’s a story that is just as bizarre as it is surprising.
Republicans are telling themselves that they will try to stick with the Trump agenda, which is to say that they won’t be able to govern without Trump.
Democrats are telling themselves that they won their midterm elections in part because they didn’t put up any Democrats, which means that Trump will get a Republican House, Senate and Supreme Court. They are not telling themselves that they won their midterms because of their agenda, but because of how they played into the hands of Trump. They are telling themselves that Trump’s agenda was not their primary motivation in taking on Democrats, but rather that they should have played it better to get votes from Republicans.
It is truly amazing how bizarre a story this is.
In this story Republicans are telling themselves it means that Trump and his agenda will be in charge. Trump will win the 2016 election. Trump will get a Republican Senate, House and Supreme Court, all with Trump’s agenda. Democrats will lose the House and Senate. They would have lost their chance to stop Trump if they did not run against Trump in 2016.
It’s not true, and it’s really not a story that the Republicans who are telling themselves this story believe in, which is why they say it over and over again.
However, it is true. It’s also true that they believe that this story is true, and it’s true that if they just continue playing their game with the same rules they will be on their way to winning and being in
