The mid-term elections are over. The damning results are in. The root cause of the political carnage, Donald Trump, is once again insulting the intelligence of his loyal supporters.
In order to understand the full depth of the political damage Donald Trump has inflicted upon his supporters and his party, we need to view the political landscape from 30,000 feet.
In the months leading up to the election, Donald Trump was presiding over a booming economy. All of the economic indicators were glowing in Trump’s favor. Jobs were up, wages were up and the stock market was posting record high’s. Unemployment numbers were the lowest in decades. Trump had a lot to brag about. Republicans were poised to bolster their majorities in the House and Senate.
Yet for some inexplicable reason the president decided to shift gears. Instead of doubling down on a unifying message focused on the country’s economic prosperity, the president decided that the more effective route to a mid-term victory would be to wade headlong into the divisive, highly charged subject of immigration.
In the week leading up to the election the president made eleven campaign stops in deep red Republican districts. There he whipped up his supporters in a frenzied racially charged rant over the evils of immigration. He focused on the caravan of some 5,000 asylum seeking refugees trudging toward our southern border. With no evidence to back his claim, he called the caravan an “invasion” and labeled marchers criminals, rapists and drug mules. He said they were infested with smallpox and leprosy. He said that among their ranks were “Middle Easterners” intent on doing us harm. He said he was calling up 15,000 active duty troops to reinforce the border and protect us from the dangerous hoards that were streaming toward our borders. Trump’s loyal hoards cheered his every word.
Concerned about the damage that Trump’s race baiting remarks were having on down ballot candidates; Paul Ryan called Trump in the middle of the road show and begged him to focus his rhetoric on the economy. Trump would have none of it The president’s final message on the eve of the election was a one of fear, hatred and division. Fox News added fuel to the president’s fearful message; airing endless remote reports from the border featuring military personnel constructing earthen bulwarks and raising concertina wire.
The 2018 mid-terms saw early voters pour into the polls at never before seem numbers. That wave continued on election day as both Democrats and Republicans flocked to the polls to cast their vote.
The election results spoke volumes. In spite of the booming economy, Americans voted to put a check in place against the sitting president. Voters wrested control of the House away from Republicans and handed it to the Democrats. The power of the subpoena and control of the country’s purse strings now rests in the hands of the Democrats.
But voters were not satisfied with flipping the House. Across the nation voters handed control of 333 state legislative seats and governor’s mansions to the Democrats. It was the largest shift in the balance of political power since Watergate.
To put this carnage in perspective…in eight years as president, Barak Obama lost 1,000 seats to his Republican opponents. Donald Trump managed to lose a third of that number in only two years.
The damage Trump single handedly inflicted upon the Republican agenda cannot be overstated.
Yet, not 36 hours after the disastrous totals were in, President Trump was bragging to a roomful of reporters about the historic electoral victory that he had personally orchestrated. As for the caravan of disease infested criminals and rapists…not a peep. When CNN reporter Jim Acosta persisted in questioning the president over veracity of the his border hysteria; Trump flew into a rage. Soon after the White House revoked Acosta’s press credentials. Fox News border reports went silent.
It is clear from the president’s post election silence on the matter that his farcical fear mongering border “invasion” was nothing more than a campaign hoax designed to whip up supporters that he believes are too stupid to think for themselves. His mindless proclamation of electoral triumph in the face of an ignominious defeat only manifests the manner in which he looks down upon the intellect of his supporters.
Donald Trump’s stupidity has inflicted a heavy price on his party and his supporters.
The question is are the they smart enough to realize it.
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