Published in BlackCommentator, November 19, 2022

The prediction of a mid-term red wave has petered out. In survival mode, most working-class voters don’t remember one election to the next unless it’s really memorable. Like the election of the first Black president. Some of us do have a memory of the Republican wave of 2010 that left the Dems stunned. That was the middle of the President Barack Obama’s first term when the Republicans snatched up 63 seats in the House, making it the largest political shift since the 1948 elections. On top of the House sweep, the GOP flipped control of some twenty-state legislatures, creating trifectas and super-majorities in key battleground states. The country has never quite recovered from that and soon after came the infamous presidency of donald trump.

The ritual of counting seats to see which of the two wings of the same capitalist bird will be in control is getting old. Historically, the sitting president’s party is almost always hammered in the midterms. Even with President Biden’s low approval numbers, the Dems are still crawling through a few finish lines. As I write, the Dems barely held onto the Senate, and the GOP will probably have the House. A divided house spells another unproductive legislative session. Read more