Last Night’s Split Win For President Trump And His Agenda Is Exactly How It’s Supposed To Work In Our Unique Constitutional RepublicGeoffrey Grider ~ November 7, 2018For those of you who understand how our Constitutional Republic was created to function, and who are also students of American history, you understand quite well the magnitude and scope of the win last night for President Trump and his agenda
The year was 1994, and Midterm Elections were being held in America back then just as they were held again last night. William Jefferson Clinton, still some years away from his intern sex scandal, was riding high. He had won a hard fought election two years earlier, nearly lost, and his victory was so stunning they called him the 'comeback kid'.
“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy? A Republic, if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787After 8 years of victories with Ronald Reagan beginning in 1980, and another 4 with George Bush Sr., Republicans suddenly found themselves out of power. Winning the Midterms didn't bode well as Democrats had controlled Congress for nearly 40 years prior to 1994. Yet as implausible as it seemed, along came Newt Gingrich and his 'Contract With America', and shocker of all shockers, Republicans won both the House and the Senate, effectively nullifying Bill Clinton's presidency and forcing him to become partners with the Republicans if he wanted to get anything done at all.
History refers to this watershed moment as the 'Republican Revolution' and it was a stunning reversal of fortune for President Clinton and his agenda. That is not what took place last night, not by a country mile. Though Republicans lost the House, which nearly everyone had already conceded would happen well before election night, Republicans were able to defeat Democrats at nearly every place Dems were desperately needing to win.
Despite some losses, Republicans held the line where it counted
DEMOCRATS LOSE FLORIDA: Andrew Gillum was touted as both a savior of the Democrat Party, and more important, he was the face of the new direction Socialist Democrats were attempting to take the party. A win in a huge state like Florida would resound across the country in terms of pushing forward Democrat policies and agenda, and they didn't get it.
"Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida on Tuesday, handing President Trump an important victory and extending the Republican Party’s dominance in the nation’s third-largest state.
Mr. DeSantis, a 40-year-old former congressman, fended off his opponent, Andrew Gillum, one of the strongest candidates Florida Democrats had fielded in years. Republicans have now won every election for governor since 1998.
“Every two years there’s one day in November where elites don’t call the shots, don’t craft the narrative or set the agenda,” Mr. DeSantis told jubilant supporters festooned in confetti in an Orlando hotel ballroom late on Tuesday night. “On Election Day, it’s the voice of the people that rules.” - The New York Times
DEMOCRATS LOSE TEXAS: Beto O'Rourke raised so much money during his campaign he outpaced Ted Cruz nearly 2-to-1 in fundraising. He had the 'Kennedy mojo', he had the youth vote, he had the 'cool factor', in short he had everything but enough votes to win. Like Gillum, his win would have been instrumental in pushing forward the 'new Socialism' of the Democratic Party and this was another win the Democrats so desperately needed.
"A visibly exhausted Beto O’Rourke conceded the Texas Senate race Tuesday night, saying he was “grateful” for his millions of supporters in the race against Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz.
“I’m as inspired, I’m as hopeful as I’ve ever been in my life,” the Democrat told supporters gathered at Southwest University Park stadium in his hometown of El Paso. “Tonight’s loss does nothing to diminish how I feel about Texas or this country.” – The Huffington PostREPUBLICANS MAINTAIN THE ALL-IMPORTANT SENATE: In the 1994 Midterms, Democrats lost both the Congress and the Senate to Republicans, effectively hamstringing President Clinton's effectiveness. Last night they needed to win them both back, and were denied. Yes they have the Congress now, but without the Senate and with the veto power of President Trump, Democrats won't be able to do much more than a lot of showboating.
"Republicans may have lost the House on Tuesday night, but they secured a valuable consolation prize: a larger Senate majority. With help from Donald Trump, the GOP advantage in the upper chamber will grow by at least two seats and by as many as five, giving the party a crucial buffer as it tries to extend a conservative imprint on the federal judiciary over the next two years.
Republicans captured Democratic seats in Missouri, Indiana, and North Dakota, as conservative challengers seized on Trump’s enduring popularity with the party base to easily oust incumbents whose tilt to the center was no match for their state’s GOP lean. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri fell to state Attorney General Josh Hawley in her bid for a third term, while Senators Joe Donnelly and Heidi Heitkamp could not repeat their surprising victories from six years ago. The businessman Mike Braun defeated Donnelly in Indiana, while Representative Kevin Cramer ousted Heitkamp in North Dakota. Republicans won a fourth seat in Florida, where the two-term governor, Rick Scott, defeated the three-term incumbent, Senator Bill Nelson, by a narrow margin.
On Tuesday night, the president ignored the GOP’s defeat in the House entirely.
“Tremendous success tonight,” he tweeted. “Thank you to all!” – The AtlanticOur Constitutional Republic was designed to work this wayWe do not live in a democracy. America is a Constitutional Republic set up with a system of 'checks and balances' designed to force the different branches of government to work with each other. The system of checks and balances in government was developed to ensure that no one branch of government would become too powerful. The framers of the U.S. Constitution built a system that divides power between the three branches of the U.S. government—legislative, executive and judicial—and includes various limits and controls on the powers of each branch.
The Democrats now have the House, and if they so choose, they can do nothing but attempt to stymie President Trump, but as previously noted, they lost the Senate, so the best they can do is battle to a draw in many areas. Do they really want to take last night's limited victory and blow it all on revenge?
It is very tempting for the enemies of Trump, like Schumer, Pelosi and Waters, to spend the next two years getting their revenge for their stunning loss in 2016. But Democrats should take note. The American people will be voting again in 2020, and if Democrats do nothing play games and get nothing done for the American people, they could easily be looking at another 4 years of President Trump.
After the 1994 Midterms, both the Republican and Democratic parties were forced to work with each other, and guess what? They did! What followed was a Reaganesque time of prosperity for America that included, among other things, the creation of the public Internet which revolutionized the entire world.
While not getting close to what they wanted and even needed to get last night, Democrats were able to obtain a limited victory. But make no mistake about it, President Trump and his policies are still very much alive and well. The American people did not vote last night to refute the Trump agenda, but they did vote exactly how our Founding Fathers intended, with checks and balances. Now it's time for our leaders in Washington to get busy about doing the business of the American people in Washington.