Like so many people, I am shocked at the election results from yesterday’s election on both the state and national level. Last night at 7:00 PM I sent this message to a close friend:
I think all three women will be re-elected in Michigan and all statewide proposals will pass. On a national level, I think the Democrats lose the house and the senate. The House Select Committee will be discontinued so they have until January 1 to release every piece of evidence they have.
On a state level, the thought of the Democrats taking either of the legislative chambers never crossed my mind. Now it looks like the Democrats are going to control both chambers which has not happened in over 40 years.
The chair of the Oakland County Republican party, Rocky Raczkowski, said it best on the Paul W. Smith show this morning.
“It was tough as a Republican. We have a lot of soul searching to do. We really need to focus on bringing the donor base, the business class, and the grass roots together. When we are separated on different candidates and we are not supporting our candidates across the board, we end up losing….The three takeaways I want to make is ninety-four percent of elections are won by the candidate who spends the most money. The Dems did a great job of defining their candidates and the proposals before we did….Every single Republican who won last night won using Republican talking points. They talked about less government, more freedom, supporting the police…. We allowed ourself to get defined early (by the Democrats) and we lost the advantage…..The Democrats banked those votes (the absentee votes) and then they went after the rest of the votes….. The next election is going to be a money game and we need to fight the battle early and we have to prepare for that.”
The state Republican party paid a big price for all of the infighting that went on before and during the primary elections. The party itself was split at the top between old time conservative Republicans, like Co-chair Ron Weiser and Rocky Raczkowski, and election deniers who punished anyone who did support their point of view. As a result, they did not unite behind their candidates until it was too late.
On a national level, I could not imagine the Republicans not taking over both chambers of congress. History was on their side. Harry Truman lost 55 House seats in his first midterms; Bill Clinton lost 53; Barack Obama lost 63.
As of this moment, control of both chambers is still up in the air and results will probably not be known for days for the House and for weeks for the Senate because of the runoff in Georgia.
As an independent, who is a fiscally responsive liberal, I want the Republican party to act on the message they received yesterday. I want a Republican party that is true to their conservative roots. I want a Republican party that welcomes centrist conservatives and will work with Democrats for the betterment of our country. I want a party who welcomes and embraces conservatives like Peter Meijer, Fred Upton, Liz Chaney, and John Kasich. I want a Republican party that values integrity and character in their candidates. I want a Republican party that can disagree but is not disagreeable. I want a Republican party that speaks to the issues and presents solutions. I want a Republican party that knows the value of compromise. I want a Republican party that offers independents and centrists an alternative to Democrat candidates.
Our country is better off when there are reasonable and realistic choices between candidates. Our country works best when we vote for candidates rather than against candidates.
A message was sent. Will it be received?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Governor DeSantis had a remarkable night in Florida. He now becomes the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2024. As a result, I expect that DeSantis will be on the top of Trump’s “hit list”. Trump didn’t take long to get DeSantis in his sights. Here is what Trump posted today.
“Now that the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well, shouldn’t it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million? Just asking?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I heard multiple sources quote that Donald Trump has over $100 million in his PAC after the mid-term elections. If he really cared about the Republican party, shouldn’t he have spent a large portion of that money on candidates who were in close elections. As Rocky Roczkowski said “ninety-four percent of the elections are won by the candidate who spent the most money.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If the Democrats obtain majorities in both Michigan’s legislative chambers, Governor Whitmer needs to deliver on her campaign promise of “fix the damn roads” and to create a government that is transparent in how politician’s funds are received and how they are spent. Anything less will be a major disappointment.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now that the election is over, I hope AG Nessel drops the political prosecution of Nick Lyons, former governor Snyder and others in the Flint Water Crisis. She can no longer gain votes for her political prosecution and we don’t need her to spend another $50 million on a case that the Supreme Court has instructed her to dismiss.
Please feel free to share my blog.
Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence
Quote of the Day: “Control of the U.S. Senate, and even, improbably, the House of Representatives, is unknown the day after Election Day and will likely remain so for days and possibly weeks to come. It is a stunning turn of events that should force a reckoning across both parties about old assumptions around voting patterns, the choice of candidates, and messaging. Perhaps the political press and the pundit class should engage in some introspection about why so many could have gotten so much so wrong.” Dan Rather
Orchid of the Day: The voters who turned out in record numbers for a mid-term election
Onion of the Day: The Republican Party, who got what they deserved.
Question of the Day: A message was sent. Will it be received?
Video/Image of the Day: