Columns

ECLECTIC RANT: On the Midterms

Ralph E. Stone
Saturday October 20, 2018 - 01:32:00 PM

Are the Democrats too smug about the midterms, relying too much on favorable polls? Some Democrats are acting like they have already won control of the House. Personally, I don’t trust polls so much these days since the 2016 presidential election where too many showed Hillary Clinton winning comfortably. Democrats shouldn’t rely on them either. 

Consider, the races for control of the House and Senate. At present, Republicans control 67 of the 99 state legislatures, and control both chambers in 32 states. Democrats control 32 chambers, and both chambers in 14 states. Only four states have divided control of their legislatures. As a result, Republicans have been able to gerrymander Congressional districts in many states to favor them, as well as pass laws to suppress voters likely to vote Democratic.  

Also, some state voting systems are susceptible to outside interference. 

While Democrats are still favored to win the House, many races remain so close with many candidates not polling above 50% that the races could go either way in the final weeks.  

The Democrats are highly unlikely to take back the Senate, which was always going to be hard for them, given the conservatism of the states holding Senate elections this year. 

Thus, Republicans could keep control of both the Senate and House if the Democrats falter down the stretch. Why, because many Democratic voters and independents may not turn out and cast votes for Democratic candidates, and many Republican-leaning voters may remain loyal to the party. And you can be sure Trump will continue to rally his base. 

Nearly half of eligible voters (46.9% of approximately 231,556,622 people) did not vote in the 2016 presidential election. That’s why get-out-the-vote efforts must continue. Otherwise, the Democrats may again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

Remember the Republican party and the members thereof, are Trump enablers and don't deserve to be your representatives in Congress, or any state house, or any state legislature.