November 7, 2018

It’s Wednesday Morning, and the Election Was Still a Blowout for Democrats

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I  want to repeat what I said last night. The midterm results probably seem disappointing to Democrats because they lost so many high-profile races: Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum in Florida, possibly Stacey Abrams in Georgia, Beto O’Rourke in Texas, and Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Plus a bunch of shaky House members won: Devin Nunes, Steve King, Duncan Hunter, and here in my own district, Mimi Walters. What’s more, it looks like Dems are going to lose all three of the razor-close Senate races: Montana, Arizona, and Florida.

But! Dave Brat lost. Scott Walker lost. Kris Kobach lost. Barbara Comstock lost. Dana Rohrabacher finally lost. And Dems picked up seven governorships.

But most important, Democrats flipped dozens of congressional seats and took control of the House despite running against a terrific economy. The last time we had an economy this good during a midterm was in 1998, when the party in power actually picked up seats in the House. The fact that Democrats did so well in face of such huge headwinds is a rebuke to Donald Trump and no one else. Suburban voters simply got tired of his racist and xenophobic schtick and turned on him en masse. The result was a historic victory for progressives.

So celebrate! The odds of doing this well when the economy was in great shape were tiny. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Progressives kicked ass this year, and no amount of spin from the White House can change that. Donald Trump will try, but he’s got nothing:

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. The deadline’s almost here. Please help us reach our $150k membership goal by May 31.

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