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| (Dr. Ahmad Rehan Kahn, X) |
America's democracy is in dire need of repair, as the result of probably the most damaging administration in U.S. history, certainly the worst in our lifetimes. The process of recovery begins today as Americans head to the polls for the 2026 midterm elections. Donald Trump, contrary to his efforts to convince MAGA cultists of his ubiquity, is not on the ballot. Getting rid of him will have to come later. But the process of ridding Congress of his GOP enablers begins today. And make no mistake, Trump is a miserable failure as president -- ignorant, incompetent, short-sighted, uncaring, and an embarrassment on the world stage. But congressional Republicans have abdicated their oversight authority over the executive branch, allowing Trump to do whatever he wants; it's like letting a toddler loose in china shop with a baseball bat. The problem is not just Trump; it's also the GOPers who have sat on their hands while Trump engages in one flawed, shortsighted effort at another. In other words, Republicans created this mess, so they are not likely to be part of the solution. In what has become a common theme in American politics over the past 30 years or so, GOPers are wallowing in a mess of their own making, and it's imperative that voters put Democrats in charge of both houses of Congress so they can clean up after the GOP and start America on the road to recover from our horribly failed experiment in Trumpisim.
Ana Novarro, a Nicaraguan-American political strategist and commentator who once was an ardent Republican but has been highly critical of Donald Turmp, addressed this issue the other day. Speaking on The View's Behind the Table podcast, Navarro lambasted Republicans for abandoning their responsibility to hold the president accountable:
“They have completely ceded their duty to be a check and balance on the executive,” she declared. “They're just rubber stamps.”
Navarro pointed to Trump's tariffs, the cost of living and what she called “the absolute cruelty” of his attacks on diversity programs, including those affecting Black and brown Americans, women and gay service members.
She was particularly scathing about Trump's expensive architectural ambitions.
His fixation with “the Kennedy Center and the reflecting pool and the arch and the ballroom” has continued, she said, “while people can't make ends meet.”
The New York Times/Siena College just released its final poll of the cycle, and for Republicans, “cataclysmic” is the word I’d use. Democrats lead in all seven key Senate races:
Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed +11 (53–42)
Texas: James Talarico +7 (50–43)
Maine: Troy Jackson +6 (51–45)
Ohio: Sherrod Brown +5 (49–44)
Kansas: Adam Hamilton +5 (49–44)
Alaska: Mary Peltola +2 (48–46)
Iowa: Josh Turek +1 (48–47)
To summarize, Democrats have leads of 5 points or more in Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio, and Kansas -- with leads of 2 points or less in Alaska and Iowa. The good news does not end there, as Cohen writes:
As for North Carolina, per the NYT: “The surveys did not include North Carolina, where polls have long found the Democrat leading and Republicans have pared back their campaign spending.”
If this holds, Democrats flip seven Republican seats and take the Senate by a margin of 54–46. (And not to put the cart about 10,000 yards before the horse, but in 2028, Republicans will be defending North Carolina and Wisconsin. Win both, and there is a universe where Democrats head toward 2030 with 55 seats).
But wishcasting aside, let’s get through the 2026 midterm cycle first.
Cohen provides some important warnings, starting with this one: The Democrats are fighting an adversary that is rundamentally dishonest -- and has been on the wrong side of history for roughly 65 years. To find a Republican president who was a big enough person for the job, you have to go back to Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61), who was thoughtful (he donated his farm to the National Park Service), intelligent (he was president of Columbia University), tough (he was chief of staff of the U.S. Army), and forward-thinking (he gave us the U.S. Interstate Highway System). Will Eisenhower be the last admirable Republican president we ever have?
Let's consider what the GOP has given us since "Ike's" second term ended: In 1960, Barry Goldwater openly fought against civil rights; In 1969-70, Richard Nixon picked up where Goldwater left off by playing the race card with development of his "Southern Strategy," famously championed by aide Pat Buchanan, who said, "Nixon should cut the Democratic Party and the country in half. In my view, we would have the far larger half." Nixon's term ended with Watergate, which was the very embodiment of presidential corruption until Trump came along.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan began the destruction of the American middle class by instituting "trickle-down economics," which lessened the tax burden on the wealthy, while dumping more on the shoulders of those who could least afford it -- exacerbating income inequality, which has continued to this day. To top it off, Reagam embraced the notion of an all-powerful executive (which Trump has taken to new levels) by openly defying Congress (and a law that Reagan himself had signed) and launching the Iran-Contra scandal.
George H.W. Bush took over in 1989 and violated his "no new taxes" campaign pledge, raising taxes and leading to the economic recession of 1990-91. In 2000, George W. Bush lost the popular vote, but the U.S. Supreme Court gifted him an electoral-college win over Democrat Al Gore. Officials with the Bill Clinton administration warned Bush that Al-Qaeda would be the No. 1 national-security threat they would face. But the Bush team seemed unprepared for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Although terrorists from Saudi Arabia planned and launched the 9/11 attacks, Bush was proceeded to start a war with Iraq, largely due to flawed intelligence and pressure from his own cabinet and Congress. The war proved to be a massive drain on U.S. resources and caused our international goodwill to take a hit.
Today's elections can be viewed, not as a showdown about individuals, but parties -- and that reminds us of a Feb. 2024 survey of historians and experts that found the worst president in U.S. history is Donald Trump (No. 45) and George W. Bush is a lowly No. 32. Meanwhile, our most recent Democratic president, Joe Biden, is ranked No. 14. Perhaps voters should keep that survey in mind as they approach polling places today. Let's return to the piece by Brian Tyler Cohen, who offers intriguing advice for progressive voters:
These poll numbers are not self-executing. Vote, and then get your friends and family to vote. Remember— we are entitled to nothing. And also remember— Republicans will lie, cheat, and steal to hold on to power, so we don’t just need to win, we need to run up the margins. That’s how this poll becomes reality.
Running up the margins serves another purpose, though. The difference between a Biden win and a Trump win in 2020 was about 42,000 votes across three states. Trump had no legitimate basis to cry fraud— but the razor thin margins certainly didn’t make things less ambiguous. But if we can deliver a blue tsunami on Election Day, then Trump’s inevitable post-election lawsuit hurricane will likely be reduced to a puddle. It’s one thing to litigate 42,000 ballots. It’s another thing entirely to sustain losses in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan, Maine, and so on— and yet still pretend that you were robbed.
There is merit to the idea that the election results can be “too big to rig.” Let’s aim for that.
While I stated up top that Trump is not on the ballot, Cohen does not buy that idea -- and he makes some strong points in the process:
You’ll hear “Trump isn’t on the ballot.” But he is. His party has handed him every ounce of its autonomy. They have said nothing as the tariffs sent costs surging, as the Iran war sent gas prices to record highs, and as the Epstein files have been buried. Republicans in Congress are supposed to be in a co-equal branch of government, a check on the executive, and yet they’re too chickenshit to lift a finger in opposition to the president.
Not only will Ken Paxton, Darline Graham, John James, Susan Collins, and Michael Whatley, among others, be rubber stamps for Trump, they are there expressly because they won’t stand up to him. The price of admission into today’s Republican Party is slavish devotion to one man.
Cohen describes an unhealthy and dysfunctional form of governance, especially when you consider Trump already has proven to be a dismal failure as president -- and he's getting worse with time. Progressives, Independents, and conservatives who have come to their senses have the power to change that -- and it starts today. Cohen writes:
If you like how expensive everything is, if you like footing the bill for a war with Iran, if you like that the president is growing his fortune by billions in office while you choose between food and medicine, if you like that he was friends with Jeffrey Epstein and his DOJ is still sitting on the files, then the Republican Party will happily preserve the status quo.
But if you want a party that holds the powerful to account and focuses on working Americans instead of the billionaires who exploit them, vote. In every state, in every district. For those who think that politics doesn’t affect them, I should remind you: If you drive, eat, shop, heat or cool your home, need healthcare, or pay taxes, politics affects you. And you should ensure that your voice is heard.
We deserve so much better. Let’s make sure we get it.
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