This election delivered the knockdown punch that will end the MAGA movement whether or not Trump and the MAGAs know it yet.
The American people stood up to Trump and the MAGA movement all across the country- even in ruby red states like Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, Mississippi and South Carolina. Thousands of people canvassed across the country, knocking on doors, talking with voters to convince them their vote did matter. Thousands of prodemocracy legal groups quietly pulled together using tabletop war gaming to predict and fend off Trump’s assault on the election- taking him to court in over 400 cases and winning those cases time and again- to stop the real steal before the election even took place.
There were TROs at the ready (temporary restraining orders) if the feds tried to send military or ICE to disrupt the polls. There were lots of poll watchers sent by the DOJ, but they were matched and then some by poll watchers sent by prodemocracy groups to be sure there was no hanky panky. There were DJs at the polls and vets outside the polls to encourage people to show up, feel safe, have fun and vote. There were effective mobilization efforts to help students and minorities get to the polls even though Republicans had shut down many accessible polling places and drop boxes. There was no one leader for Trump to attack. The American people pulled together in a massive rebuke of Trump and Trumpism.
Fed up with this administration, Americans voted for anything without an R next to its name.
As reported in Courier:
Voters were so done with Republicans that they elected literally anyone else.
In Arizona, a 19-year-old Democrat is set to become the next Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court. In Iowa, a Democrat who quit his race won his seat anyway. And in Fort Worth, a Democrat won a Texas House seat even after dropping out.
In this midterm election, voters tried to reject this president and his undemocratic political party as fully as possible. They say a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. But grand juries, stocked with average Americans, began to deliver “no” bills when Trump’s justice department tried to indict his “enemies”. Americans understood what Trump was doing and they rejected it.
Instead, in this midterm election, a ham sandwich on the ballot with a D next to its name would have beaten any Republican on the ballot.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Trump came roaring into power in his second term- barking orders and asserting for himself the power of a dictator. He set this country and world on fire. He delegitimized our global leadership role, empowered Musk to wreck our government, encouraged Stephen Miller, Kristy Noem and others to terrorize Hispanic people and peaceful protesters on the streets of America- people were killed by ICE (so far, there is no accountability for those murders), ordered the DOJ to undermine our constitution and rule of law to pursue his “enemies”, and allowed Pete Hegseth to decimate our military.
Too many law firms failed to stand up. Too many companies bent the knee. Too many Republicans cowered in silence. Six Supreme Court justices fed kindling to the bonfire Trump had set. Even our past presidents were too silent. Institutions failed to stand up against this authoritarian coup led by Trump, the MAGAs, Project 2025 mastermind, Russell Vought and his gang of juvenile delinquents.
Bad guys grabbed power and trampled on norms: Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, the tech bros, the ultra-wealthy fossil fuel industrialists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, and many other nasty, greedy people who led Trump’s retribution campaigns by twisting our laws to satisfy the whims of this vindictive, corrupt, power-hungry mob boss.
Free to be himself without guardrails, Trump took charge and did as he pleased. It was totally predictable that he would go too far. In the end, Trump was his own worst enemy.
The voters finally did what others failed to do. They delivered a knockout punch to this would-be dictator and his cult in this astounding midterm election.
Unfortunately, given the way our founders wrote the constitution, toxic Trump is still president for two more years.
THE GOP IS ALSO TOXIC
Not only is the Trump brand toxic, but the Republican brand is as well. Possibly for decades.
Younger voters and Hispanic voters who comprise major voting blocs of the future, tested out the GOP, voting for Trump in 2024 in large numbers, only to feel deeply betrayed by him. That led to their decision to do an about face and vote for Democrats in 2026. Trump is the face of, the standard bearer of, and the leader of a MAGA infested party they now reject and do not trust. Republicans went along with everything he did. So, the stink is on them too.
It will take a long time to win back that trust. The GOP will need to “evolve” because Trump has made their brand so “ick”.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT 2 YEARS
This evolution for the GOP will not happen right away, because Trump is not the least bit interested in changing course. Instead, he is doubling down on his extremist agenda — blaming and ousting Susie Wiles and putting vile Stephen Miller in to replace her as his chief of staff.
For that reason, Americans will have to keep fighting this regime for the next two years. We are entering a very dangerous time.
Trump is not educable. He is old and getting grumpier every day. Stephen Miller is a fascist- the mastermind behind the ICE terror raids who WANTS family separations; a guy who believes government and the rule of law is for sissies. Raw power is all that matters. As Trump’s mental capacity and energy wanes, Miller will likely become de facto president. He will try to do a lot of terrible things and Trump will green light it to satisfy his lust for revenge and retribution. Trump will be at war with congress. He will assert his power while congress acts to limit his power. That will enrage this man who could care less about the good of anyone but himself.
If Americans could have done it, they would have voted Trump off the island in this midterm election, but given our system of government, they couldn’t do it. Americans and the world are stuck with Trump –or more accurately, Stephen Miller, as our even more detestable de facto president- for two more years. The only good news about Miller becoming chief of staff is that it will 1) remind Americans that they can’t vote for any Republicans including any GOP presidential hopefuls in 2028 and 2) give Saturday Night Live more fodder for their cold opens.
WHY DID AMERICANS TURN ON TRUMP?
It is really pretty simple.
Trump is a narcissist. Narcissists only pay attention to their own needs. Voters in this election demanded their government pay attention to THEIR problems.
Voters wanted Trump to know what they thought of his endless renovation projects. To hell with the Lincoln Reflecting Pool (which still looks weird), the Kennedy Center, Trump’s triumphal arch, his threatened championship golf course in DC, the ballroom with chandeliers and Trump’s endless gold encrusted decorating projects that he says help HIM “feel better”.
In fact, those projects are more sinister than mere “arts and crafts”. It is the goal of every authoritarian to remodel the culture of the country they lead to reflect their power and domination. They want to leave their symbolic mark on the country as the king or dictator.
Voters also rejected Trump: his tariffs, the Iran War, data centers that undermine community resources without paying for themselves and remind everyone that the ultra-wealthy elites get to have everything their way, his massive corruption, and his retribution campaigns.
Americans want leadership that helps THEM to feel better and have productive lives.
AMERICANS WANT the DIVISIVENESS, CORRUPTION AND CRUELTY TO END
Americans also rejected divisiveness, cruelty and big money in politics.
How do we know that? Musk spent about 500 million dollars to buy Ken Paxton a senate seat and instead, that money helped turn Texas totally blue: Talarico wins by 12 points. Gina Hinojosa will be the first Democratic Hispanic woman governor of Texas. Up and down the ballot Democrats won in Texas, including a majority in the state house. Texans resonated with Talarico’s messages of unity and kindness that were also strong talking points of Adam Hamilton, the Democrat who won a senate seat in ruby red Kansas.
As I have said before in many of my posts, Americans are not by nature as mean as the MAGA/Trump right-wing trolls. Americans have never been down with the viciousness. They don’t think it’s funny that children are being torn from their parents or that law abiding people are being arrested without due process and carted off to third world countries. They don’t think it is ok to start a war in Iran without provocation and with a war crime, bombing a girls’ school because it was mislabeled on an old map that should not have been relied on by incompetent Pete Hegseth. They do not like it that innocent fishermen are being killed by our military off the coast of South America.
Trump’s rally crowds might have been pumped up by his mean humor, but Americans in general are more like Canadians in their sense of decency, values and fairness. Most Americans would agree with a “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” approach to life.
Most Americans also accept that a rising multicultural majority is becoming the norm in our country and that’s ok. In deep red Florida, Republicans elected Byron Donalds, the first Black governor of that state, over David Jolly, a white man and former Republican running as a Democrat. Most Americans are not white supremacists.
When you get right down to it, one of the biggest reasons Trump lost the good will of this nation, especially his rural American voters and low education white dudes, is that their lives were personally and directly damaged by his bad decisions: the loss of Medicaid, the end of ACA subsidies, rural hospitals closing, tariffs that were taxes, another endless war in the Middle East affecting gas prices, inept cabinet members like RFK Jr who refused to protect us from measles. I could go on.
In short, Trump failed to consolidate his power as an autocrat because the American People stood up to him.
WHAT DOES THIS ELECTION MEAN FOR OUR COUNTRY?
Robert Guest of The Economist writes:
Midterm voters delivered the biggest wipeout in half a century. Democrats have recaptured not only the House but also the Senate, and flipped at least five governors’ mansions. Every statewide office on the ballot in rock-solid-red Texas has turned blue. A Trump-picked Senate candidate in North Carolina lost by 20 points. As I write, it looks like a Democrat could win the US Senate race in Mississippi. That is not a misprint: Mississippi! (Markin Report: Based on an assessment by Dave Wasserman of Cook Political, not only the Mississippi senate race but the Alaska’s senate race will be Democratic wins based on an assessment of the outstanding votes yet to be counted.)
Mr. Trump’s humiliation presents America with an opportunity. Voters are fed up with the administration’s incompetence and shameless self-dealing. (Markin Report: The share of Americans who think corruption is widespread in their government is around 89%, which means it is a bipartisan concern.) They are demanding something different.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
I have faith in this incoming crop of Democratic lawmakers who will make up the 120th congress and new Democratic governors will use this opportunity well. I have met many of them. This new group of congressional leaders represents this country- a fully diverse, multicultural group of men and women who will serve their constituents instead of a corrupt president. They are generally younger, mission driven, articulate people who really want to help Americans have better lives. They are not going to congress to get rich or get more “likes” on social media.
They come from a variety of backgrounds: blue-collar workers, government workers, people who served in the military, former mayors, small business owners, a forest fighter, a logger, teachers, and much more. They are all “fighters” in their own right, but not in a performative way as the MAGAs are. They know how to and want to work with others. They will stand up for what is fair, want accountability and they believe in constitutional democracy. They understand collaboration will be essential if they hope to be successful in the next two years in both standing up to Trump and passing legislation that helps Americans get out of the ditch Trump drove us into.
WHAT ABOUT TRUMP’S VETO POWER?
Even if Trump uses his veto power, the Dems hope to be joined by Republicans to override his vetoes. Why? Republicans are on notice now that the American people reject Trump’s approach to governance. This election was a wipeout. They can also see that Trump will not be in power forever. Many will realize they better make nice with the Democrats if they hope to have a future in politics. They will need to pass legislation that The People want instead of doing whatever Trump wants to be re-elected in many districts.
Congress has the vast power of the purse. This group of lawmakers knows it has only 2 years to prove they can help Americans have better lives. They are going to be motivated to break glass to get sh-t done for the American people.
WHAT’S FIRST ON THE AGENDA?
First on the agenda are the following interventions to help Americans afford their lives asap:
- Reverse the cuts to Medicaid and restore ACA subsidies
- Reverse cuts to SNAP benefits
- Stop funding the Iran War
- Get Hegseth out either by impeachment or some other way to force him out so the war can wind down
- End Trump’s tariffs (which will ease cost of living)
- Reinstate watch dogs in agencies where Trump removed them
I am also hearing longer term ideas that they would start working on right away:
- Investigate the rampant corruption by Trump and his allies so that Americans understand what Trump and his crime family and corrupt pals have been doing and why it made the cost of living go up
- Supreme Court: expand the court and get term limitations (which would force the two most senior justices -Alito and Thomas- to rotate off of the court and “ride the circuit” instead). Every future president would get 2 appointments. Impose ethics rules with teeth.
- Tighten up legislation that has allowed Trump to weasel out of legislation like Lindsay Graham’s that was supposed to impose limits on Russian aggression and help Ukraine win its war
- Use the power of the purse that Congress has total control over to put Trump on a leash. Much of this can be done without passing new legislation as I understand it. Instead, forcing Trump to back down because he will not have the money. I think his vanity projects are all on the chopping block.
There are many systemic changes that the Democrats also want to pursue:
- Eliminate the Electoral College by getting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact adopted. Now that Texas, Georgia, Iowa and other states have Democrats in charge with supermajorities in some cases, this could finally be done. It would hand the presidency to the winner of the popular vote and eliminate the need for the Electoral College.
- End midcycle gerrymandering
- Pass legislation that protects a woman’s reproductive health choices
- Limit Citizen’s United by expanding the number of states that pass legislation banning corporations from spending money on elections in their state. If they still do they, they will lose the right to do business in that state. This legislation was already passed in Hawaii and Montana. It will eliminate a lot of big money in politics and end much of the power of Citizens United. Getting big money out of politics is a bipartisan issue.
- Block ultrawealthy executives from getting government contracts (i.e. Elon Musk), if they are big donors. It is called Close the Campaign Cash for Contract Loophole Act or the “Elon Musk Loophole”.
There is a lot more I have been hearing about, but this would be a great start.
Stay tuned. Our country could become a model for other countries fending off authoritarian takeovers and reimagining and reinventing successful democracies.
Thanks to everyone who reads The Markin Report and supported Democracy like your life depended on it by going to the polls. It did. You helped to make this election a massive win for our country.