The midterm elections are finally here. After months of polls, predictions and promises, we, the People, finally get to give our verdict on the almost 22 months of Democratic control of the U. S. House, the U. S. Senate and the U. S. Presidency. We have read dozens of columnists, pundits and politicians placing their best ‘educated’ assessment of what the political landscape will look like on Wednesday.
And, since your favorite blogger on political issues (myself, of course) has been studying such events since his first vote in 1964, here are my predictions for the 2022 midterm elections.
First, I agree with the general consensus that the Democrats will be the victims of at least a red wave, if not a red tsunami. Since Joe Biden assumed the Presidency, the party in power has pumped money into the economy which has fueled the worst inflation in 40 years. In addition, our military took a major hit with the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a nonpartisan assessment, our military was described as ‘weak’. We may still have a strong military, but not like it has been in the past.
In addition, the Democrats have pushed some issues that most Americans have not listed as a top priority for our solons. When Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, the party in power pushed this as a solution to their electoral woes. But most citizens were concerned with the economic situation. Unpopular ideas like the transition of young people were championed by the party in power. Our border on the south has been porous, with about 5.5 million illegal immigrants crossing into the U. S. in the first 21 months of Biden’s tenure.
Making American dependent on foreign oil, after former President Donald Trump had achieved energy self-sufficiency for the U. S., is also not a winning issue. By pushing the so-called Green New Deal, the administration has alienated a wide swath of hard working Americans. Even in the waning days of the campaign for the midterms, Biden declared in a speech in California that he would close down the coal industry and destroy the jobs that industry has created and sustained.
Other issues have risen to the top, also. One which plagues Democrats is the increase in crime across the land. An example is that of the 30 cities with the highest incidences of murder. Of these, 27 are ruled by Democrats!
With all of the above on the minds of the voters, following are my predictions as to the outcome when all the votes tomorrow are counted.
U. S. House of Representatives: My crystal ball (cloudy in some cases!) sees a gain of at least 40 over the present number. I believe that the Republicans will have around 240 of the 435 Representatives. If wrong, I will admit my failure, but the wave has been building toward the end of the campaign season.
U. S. Senate: This body is a little tougher to figure out. At this time, the Democrats and Republicans both have 50 out of the 100 Senators. This has led the Democrats to have functional control of that chamber, because the Vice-President, Kamala Harris, as President of the Senate, can and has cast tie-breaking votes. Only one-third of the Senate is elected each two years, and the Republicans are defending more seats that are in danger than the Dems are. However, in a mid-term, the party in control usually suffers large losses, and it seems that several of the Democrats are in electoral trouble. So, with the Senate’s crystal ball before me, I posit that the Republicans will successfully defend all of their member’s seats up for election, while taking three of the Democrats’ seats from them. My number for the Senate will be 53 for the Republicans, 46 for the Democrats, with the one independent staying in the body.
Governors: This is a tricky one to suss out, for Governors usually are not too involved in national politics. An old saying is that all politics are local, and this applies to those who run their respective states4 — 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I willmake a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the houseof Judah— 32not according to the covenant that I made with theirfathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out ofthe land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, ◙ though I wasa husband to them, says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that Iwill make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and Iwill be their God, and they shall be My people. 34No more shallevery man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least ofthem to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will
. But, in a year where one party expects to win large number of legislative seats, many times a Governor is elected on the coattails of the federal candidates. As I view the Governorship’s crystal ball, my sense is that the Republicans will keep the ones they have and add another 3 taken from their opponents. That means that the 50 states will have 31 Republican leaders, and the Democrats 19.
Watch this space on Wednesday, and find out whether I will have to eat crow for being so far wrong, or I will be patting myself on the back for having read some crystal balls correctly. If I am anywhere near close in my predictions, it will be a good outcome for our republic.