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The Good and the Bad News for Trump from Last Night
A Democrat-controlled House will prove to be a headache for the Trump administration, as David French explained last night on Twitter:
It’s looking like a very solid Democratic House majority.
The subpoenas shall rain down on the Trump administration like rain from the heavens.
Also, with a majority like that, impeachment is a live possibility depending on the content of the Mueller report.
— David French (@DavidAFrench) November 7, 2018
As returns were still coming in, House Democrats began leaking to reporters that their first plan of attack would be to subpoena President Trump’s tax returns. The House Democrats elected are of a more radical class, and these aren’t folks who will step easily into the fray; they’re jumping in with both feet. And that can work to President Trump’s advantage.
President Trump operates best when he’s on the defensive and playing victim. Under constant siege from House Democrats, especially if their investigations are overreach, President Trump will have ready-made talking points for 2020 about being the subject of a witchhunt by Democrats stymying his efforts to Make America Great Again.
In a strange twist of fate, the Democrats winning the House could seal President Trump’s reelection campaign if House Democrats overplay their hand, which, as we saw in the Senate with now Justice Kavanaugh, is standard in the Trump-era.
But Ben Shapiro has some bad news for the Trump reelection campaign:
All the talk about Republican victories tonight does obscure a problem: Dems won in WI, MI, and PA. If Trump loses those states, he loses re-election.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 7, 2018
If the reelection took place last night, the Rust Belt may not have delivered for Trump in the same way it did in 2016.
With the end of the 2018 midterms, the 2020 campaign has begun. A great deal depends on how extreme a candidate Democrats put forward, but the tea leaves regarding Trump’s reelection campaign are just as murky this morning as they were last night.
Published in General
Is this where they find the leverage that Russia has over Trump? Emoluments? What are they looking for? What is the rationale?
I suspect that the President will simply ignore the subpoena(s). What are they going to do? Eric Holder set the precedent for this.
Rationale is whatever hurts, whatever leak can produced a headline, a staff resignation, the perception of scandal. Teacher’s unions will provide the script to go after DeVos, disgruntled EPA staff will provide ammo to go after whoever Trump appoints. Zinke at Interior might as well resign now.
Adam Schiff has probably already drafted a report that says that while there may be no evidence of Russian collusion, Trump interfered with or did not expedite the gathering of evidence (which may or may not exist) and thus is guilty of obstruction. Look for Schiff to go after Trump family members using the Henry Waxman Perjury Trap strategy. Perfected by the odious California Congressman in the 1980s, the strategy is to ask the same question in different ways sprinkled throughout a long rambling interrogation. If the answers are not identical, pick the outlier and make a perjury referral. Look for Schiff to go after Trump’s sons and son-in-law.
DC lawyers who specialize in the gray area where congressional interest and federal enforcement overlap and who advise targets of congressional probes are in for a banner year.
Tax returns?? Tax returns???! That’s what they’ve got? They think Donald Trump is Al Capone? I’d laugh if it wasn’t so pathetic.
The man’s been audited for 15(?) years running? They’re just going to make shtuff up about this, right? Everyone knows that.
The difference between DJT and Democrats is he was rich before he took elective office. How about we subpoena their tax returns and find out where all the money came from? Oh, and, let’s start with the Clinton Foundation inputs/outputs.
Thanks for the great answer Old Bathos.
The purpose of our lives is to seize the government so we can steal from each other and push each other around. Discuss.
Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™
“Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.” – H. L. Mencken
The wavering of Mi, Wi and PA is tough to swallow. I still can’t fathom what is happening here in PA. Trump has been very good for this state while our Dem politicians have kept us from gaining as much traction in this economic upturn as other states. The result? Resounding wins for the Dems. Unbelievable.
Don’t forget Fla which has been on the razors edge and now has 1.4 million ex-cons lining up to register to vote.
Resigning ourselves to a 2-year stalemate while a biased media hammers away at us will not work.
That’s what I think. I just don’t get what smart, reasonable people like Gary see, that I don’t.
They will impeach him! And the national spectacle goes to… 24? (we blew past 11 long ago).
Trump can’t do everything for everyone. His endless energy stumping across the country was amazing to watch. Those that lost in the local races and Congressional seats will have to work harder on their own to regain those territories. I’m curious how much was turned by the Snowflakes and Millennials, i.e. the Bernie voters. I suspect more socialistic ideas will pour out over the next two years, and unless we better educate, the results could have a longer negative effect than last night produced.
I want them to impeach Kavanaugh.
Michigan voters love career Democratic politicians, so it was no surprise here that Debbie Stabenow won re-election. Remember, we are the state that has sent Dingell family members to congress for almost 100 years straight, re-elected both Carl and Sander Levin for decades, and who only got rid of John Conyers through his resignation. It’s almost as if the voters here are on mental autopilot and vote purely on name recognition.
Overall the Republican Party did poorly in Michigan, or at least in SE Michigan. I didn’t think the candidates were particularly impressive this year, and it showed. We also voted to legalize marijuana, establish an independent commission to determine congressional districts and end gerrymandering, and to enact automatic voter registration. Sigh.
I wonder how many seats flipped because incumbent Republicans decided to call it quits . . .
What is the final Democrat Count in the House? 220? They aren’t talking about how flexible this number is right now.
I’ve been wondering, too. Tight margin is good.
Supposedly the GOP survivors are more Trump-loyal and cohesive and Democrat progressives got killed. The change on the margin is going to be a big deal, I would think.
That’s it. Supposedly the “moderate” Democrats flipped the House seats. If they want to keep them, they better not be Pelosi/Waters/Schiff crazy.
And Donald Trump is not going down without a fight. We can say that for sure. He’s already threatening reciprocal investigations. Tit for tat. Good.
Too many, I’m sure. That’s what really pi… uh, ticked me off. When so many Republican reps decided to call it quits.
Yeah, weaklings and cowards. Not up for the fight. When we needed them, they ran away. Bastards.
I think I heard somewhere that they can make more money or get better gigs after their careers if they always play safe like this. I may be wrong.
How much did the Dems spend this go around…and all it got them was 220 seats?
Plus the media. Glenn Beck’s first hour analysis was very interesting.
There are so many ways to analyze this stuff to shade it one way or the other.
I wonder how many were Trump opponents. Rush also implied most of them were committee chairmen who were going to rotate off their chairs, so they didn’t want to become ordinary representatives again.
I heard that too.
Well, I’m going to make some comfort food tonight (chicken fajitas, cultural appropriation!), kick back, and do more DVD binge-watching. The Earth is still turning . . .
Bad news all around. Trump got 8% of the black vote in 2016, and Republicans only managed to add another couple of percent this time.
The Florida felon enfranchisement is only the beginning; similar initiatives are on the way nation wide.
With Democrats back in control of the House, look for tight integration between House committees and the Resistance in every Federal agency. Also look for massive non-citizen voting.
Project Veritas demonstrated that that was out in force in Texas:
Two years of caravans aided and abetted by House Democrats will make that worse. If blacks might be leaving the plantation, even a few of them, that will have to be offset by illegal voting.
Monica Showalter puts it in perspective:
Stacy McCain notes that in
Emphasis added.
Why?
Which makes it even more inexcusable and points to the House & Senate GOP Leadership needed new blood. I’ll give McConnel credit for the judicial appointments but really – and to both for getting the Tax Reform done but there was a whole lot of non-accomplishment in both bodies as well. They faced headwinds, faced the un-hinged Left but did they really ‘deserve’ re-election? Those Ryan Budgets have been embarrassing.
Bethany,
Charlie Cooke just gave me some good news. It’s local to Florida but I live there so I like it.
Florida, Man
Thank you, Charlie. I feel much better now.
Regards,
Jim
Elections have consequences….unless Democrats lose…then they go to the courts to get the result they want.
PA earned the right to redistrict, and the PA Supreme Court then made it more favorable the other way. That’s what happened.
Overall, people just don’t understand how government works and what it should do on the Federal level. On the message board I moderate, I had someone celebrating that now the House could pass higher taxes, campaign finance reform and LGBT rights. I said “yes, but it would be symbolic” and this went over their heads as to why they don’t get to make law now.
We have people putting out “Senate popular vote” and “Senate gerrymandering” as real things.
Because it’s all so damn retarded. The whole thing is sickening. I guess I’m half joking. Ford et. al. are all liars and the media doesn’t care because they exist to promote statism.