It is US Mid Term elections today

[Suff]

Expect a circus.

Looks like the Democrats are going to reap the pain of the FED raising rates and inflation running rife and the black hole in the budget from Covid.

Republicans look set to take the House and, possibly, the Senate. That will cripple Biden's presidency and leave him open to the Orange Man Bad to come back and bite him in the gonads.

We are hoping Biden will wake up in time for the announcements but if he's still snoozing I'm sure some competent underling will be available for comments.

[cromwell]

So much suspicion in the US these days. Nobody will accept a result that goes against them; a very divided country.

We are going the same way too.

There is genuine hate in politics now, I think.
I wonder, because one side hates the other so much and thinks them so bad; would they commit electoral fraud in order to keep their opponents - whom they genuinely think aren't fit for office - out of office?

[Suff]

I wonder, because one side hates the other so much and thinks them so bad; would they commit electoral fraud in order to keep their opponents - whom they genuinely think aren't fit for office - out of office?

It is a thought.

[Workingman]

Incumbent parties in governments the world over nearly always suffer losses during mid-term or local elections - it's become a universal law.

So, it's no wonder Biden did not have a bad night's sleep when the far-right's gleefully predicted wipe-out of the Democrats did not happen. Sure, they might have lost Congress (Senate and House), but it was a lot closer than even they were fearing. It is also noticeable that candidates endorsed by the Orange man-child did not do as well as those not endorsed by him.

A couple of tough years for the Dems, yes, but not as bad as they might have been.

Dry your eyes, red-necks.

[cromwell]

One thing that I didn't realise is that the rules for voting in Fedral elections differ at state level.
So Florida has a different set of rules for postal voting than say Georgia might have.

This seems odd. Surely for a nationwide election they should operate under one set of rules?

[Suff]

Each state is electing the State representative to Washington. As these representatives belong to the state and not the federal government, they are a state competency.

Federal has oversight and audit but the laws which govern the selection come from the state.

A true Federal government.

[Workingman]

Well, it will certainly be no landslide.

The Senate is still too close to call. The three remaining states are all Democratic and the Republicans need two to take control. The House looks to be going Republican, but nowhere near the 40+ seat majority that was expected.

With a bit of luck it will be the end of Trump. The candidates he sponsored fared badly compared to those he did not sponsor. The opposite is true for his potential presidential challenger in 2024, Ron DeSantis, who spanked the Democrats in Florida.

[Suff]

Perhaps. Certainly MAGA didn't get very far. But Trump still has the largest approval rating amongst Republicans and can still get the republican vote out. The problem, it appears, is that he is even more effective at mobilising the Democrat vote in resistance to him.

I think the Democrats finally woke up when a Republican president actually started doing what he said and they realised that if they didn't go out and vote they would continue to get him.

It is never as cut and dried as the media try to make it look.

[Suff]

The Senate will probably return 50 seats for the republicans regardless. But this doesn't help them as the vice president has the deciding vote. It is looking like the Arizona seat is going Democrat, although it's still only 70% voting done.

The Georgia seat is more interesting. They didn't get 50% because an independent candidate took 2.9% of the vote and that vote is enough to tip the race. The thing is that independent candidate is a Liberal. Which, in America, is closer to Democrat than Republican. Especially Trumpian Republican.

That being said, now the Republicans know how close it was, they may rally and really pull out the stops. I think Democrats were already there in opposition to Trump. So the likely movement is going to be towards Republican. But in post Trump US politics it is hard to guess. He has been more polarising than just about any events weaker than Independence or the civil war.

Whichever way it goes, the parties are now so partisan that even 1 seat in each chamber is enough to completely derail a presidency.

[Workingman]

The thing about Georgia is that voters there will know the state of play as the outstanding Arizona and Nevada results will then be in. They can have a bit of fun and make it a draw or gift it to one side or the other.

Essentially one State decides the fate of the Union.