Hope with a dose of caution: My thoughts on the Midterms
The 2026 Midterms were far better than I imagined and yet I am still anxious about where we go from here. Granted, it was a successful night for the Democrats, perhaps astonishingly so. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the midterms were "close to an extinction-level event for Republicans" and noted that, in losing Texas as an anchor, the party won't be "viable nationally going forward." On an episode of Left, Right & Center, Conservative commentator Sarah Isgur was bold enough to claim that we have witnessed the beginning of the end of the Republican Party, much like the Whigs before them. I don't mention this to imply I would delight in the eradication of all right-wing opposition, just to highlight the degree to which the party is reeling from these results.
Still, I can't help but feel apprehensive after a decade of Trumpism. An Independent friend expressed it best as we approached Election Day, commenting how disappointing it is that all this was seemingly coming down to gas prices, not the blatant lies, staggering corruption, xenophobia and racism, misogyny, or obvious Authoritarianism. Why did it take this long for people to get this pissed off? Sure, Liberals have been screaming about him for a decade, and Never Trump Republicans saw through it from the beginning, but are reformed Trump voters and the amorphous middle really so disengaged that they only got offended once they couldn't stand it anymore financially? Even now, Trump's approval rating is about 37%, and while that is objectively bad, I'm not sure I can feel confident in my fellow Americans' capacity for discernment until that number is in the tens or lower.
Admitting that will probably get me dismissed as a crazy, hyper-partisan Democrat, but consider who Trump is and the culture he has cultivated. There is nothing virtuous about the man. He is narcissistic, petty, and cruel, and yet somehow has convinced large swaths of our citizenry that he is the hand of God. He actively stokes the divisions within our society rather than seeking to unite us. If nothing else, his continued insistence that the 2020 Election was stolen from him, despite the claim being repeatedly debunked, is dangerous and un-American. It absolutely boggles my mind that the events of January 6th, 2021 were so quickly shrugged off by enough of the public that he still won the popular vote in 2024. I could go on, but there are far too many examples, even from just his first term, that showcase why the man is not only unfit for office, but also clearly a bad person. For me, this is what Trump Derangement Syndrome really is and it is wholly justified: any time you start trying to list the reasons you disapprove of him, you are overwhelmed as ten more come to mind in the same instant.
Perhaps I am being too harsh on voters. These midterms were, nonetheless, a repudiation of Trump, his administration, and his Republican allies in Congress. Americans ultimately saw through it all and showed up to express their anger. That's not to say that they are especially enthusiastic about Democrats though, and hopefully the new Congress remembers this once they are sworn into office. The only way for us to relegate Trumpism to the past is for Democrats to make voters' lives better. Period. That's far easier said than done, but it should be a maxim they carry to work with them every day. In response, the Republican party will be forced to acknowledge their errors and atone for them. Again, it's not that I want to forever squash right-wing opposition, it's that I want a right-wing party that can be taken seriously again. A viable opposition party is good for an incumbent party because the competition forces them both to become better for everyone. I would love to go back to a politics where the difference between parties comes down to policy, not their allegiance to a demagogue.
According to Aristotle, in under to fully understand something, you must identify its "telos," that is to say, its ultimate purpose or goal. He went on to enumerate the telos of various disciplines; for example, the telos of medicine is health. Regarding the telos of politics, Aristotle claimed it is the happiness of the people. This a notion that, on one hand, might sound astoundingly naïve, but it is true: we elect our representatives to represent our interests. In the modern world, "politics" is a dirty word, but it need not be if we choose to hold our politicians to this standard. I hope these Midterms are a sign that more Americans are choosing to do exactly that.