You can’t make this up. You simply cannot The Republican party was beaten to a bloody pulp by the electorate tonight. The political battlefield is strewn with bodies. The Democrats dropped three nuclear bombs tonight, not just two like in WWII, but three, in New York, Virginia and New Jersey. The GOP is glowing in the dark right now. And where was their standard bearer? Incognito. Gone. Unreachable. And this went on until all the dust settled around eleven o’clock ET. Then Trump showed up, finally, on Truth Social and what does he think is the most important thing to talk about to America? And to his party?
I’m sure that this is extremely comforting to the members of Congress in both chambers who are worried shitless that they’re going to lose their seats in November of 2026. Tonight changed everything. The anti-Trump backlash is palpable, pervasive (going down even to smaller state races) and it is profound. Trump is where he is because of the Obama backlash, which also utilized those descriptors back in the day. That’s how we got here nine years ago. Trump is fate’s fool in so many ways. He’s an utter buffoon, a Chauncy Gardiner kind of a character, yet he had the one characteristic which will overcome all obstacles if you can manage it: he was at the right place at the right time. Just like Chauncey Gardiner.
If Trump had descended the escalator four years earlier or four years later, he would have been a laughing stock and dismissed. But his timing was impeccable. There was a raw need for someone just like him. Deplorable America was sick of Obama. The racists and the misogynists had seen too much civility and progress and hope for eight long years. And along came somebody who represented the worst angels of our nature, as a culture, and that was Donald Trump.
The man was a complete idiot and a fool but his vitriol and his white supremacist soul struck a chord and voila — the anti-Obama backlash began. And Obama saw it for what it was. He opined right after the 2016 election that what had happened had something to do with him to a considerable degree. And he was right.
And now we see the anti-Trump backlash and its fury is a great and wonderful thing to behold.
AOC: I have to tell you, in my traveling across the country, I am hearing and have been seeing consistent things from everyday people. And it is that they are terrified, they are frustrated, they are angry, and they are shocked by a president violating the values that we hold dear
The Trump era ended tonight. History will record this fact but I’m going on record with it now because I can sense the sea change. We felt the cleansing rage when the No Kings protests were taking place. Then, just a few short weeks later America turned out at the polls. And look at what we hath wrought.
And what is numb nuts Trump doing about it? Besides talking about his ratings?
The erudite and insightful commentary that you would expect from this abject moron. It’s all about him, naturally. “He” wasn’t on the ballot and the only other thing he can talk about is “his” ratings. Oh he did interject that the filibuster should go, because I guess he figured he needed to dispense some elder statesmanlike advice.
And you can bet that Republicans are giving each other some statesmanlike advice tonight and let me tell you what that is: Hang onto your ass. Because the message of tonight’s bloodbath is that no seat is safe. Not one. In either chamber.
Which leads us to the Senate. As we speak the Senate has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats (including two independents). There are 35 seats up in 2026 – including special elections in Florida and Ohio – of which 22 are held by Republicans. Twenty-two seats. Twenty-two Republican ducks at the shooting gallery. Democrats can retake control with a net gain of four seats. Four seats is not beyond doing with the anti-Trump backlash going like it is and like it did tonight.
This is not rocket science. We need four seats and we could pick up Susan Collins’ seat in Maine. We also could pick up Thom Tillis’ old seat in North Carolina. We could pick up the seat in Ohio because Sherrod Brown is making a comeback. John Cornyn’s vulnerability in Texas may be achieved by other Republicans. It’s conceivable, in this political climate and with the heavy Hispanic population of Texas, that Cornyn could end up being a sacrificial lamb. (Although I’m weighing his as a long shot as opposed to the other three seats named.)
But even if Cornyn is safe, we could pick up a seat in Virginia, especially after tonight. That would be four right there. Those are all doable. And we also could conceivably pick up seats in New Hampshire, Iowa, New Mexico and Minnesota. Do the arithmetic. We only need four. We can make four and more with these odds.
And make no mistake: as soon as the recession hits and the holidays are difficult for so many people and the partial SNAP benefits go into effect, and layoffs continue and nobody knows what the hell the actual jobs numbers are because Trump fired the woman who did that job and so on and so forth, a pissed off electorate will NOT forget. And what we saw tonight will snowball.
The GOP is trapped with this senile, stupid fuck, as a lame duck president. They’re sure to lose the House now and I believe the Senate is now in play and we’ll get into more detail on that in days to come.
Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham’s prophecy is about to come true: “If we nominate Trump, he will destroy us. And we will deserve it.” Yes he will, Linseed and yes you do. And soon. Very soon. The game is over and the tide has turned. It always does in politics. And don’t think that every GOP House member or senator isn’t trembling tonight. They are. They are shitting bricks. There has never been an off year election to rival what we have witnessed tonight.
Oh and did I mention that Prop 50 passed in California? I rest my case.
Way to go, Ursula!! Best column you have written in awhile. The dumb fuck is too stupid to know he’s a dumb fuck. His only concern is his ratings!
Thank you. I honestly believe that in this particular Senate map we can bop off four senators. Two are basically pretty easy, Ohio and North Carolina. Maine might well be doable and that leaves one more state and I believe we have options to get one more state. Or, the looneys in Texas might make life hell enough for Cornyn and break their own political system. Wouldn’t that be a fucking hoot?
“Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.”
W. Churchill.
I do remember that quote. There’s another one similar to it that I can’t remember. Something to the effect of America is better to have as an enemy than a friend because we don’t know how to treat our friends. Lot of truth there, with Trump trashing our Canadian best buddies like he is. Maybe Canada will forgive and forget. I don’t know. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t because God alone knows what the next GOP president is going to look like.