The Pink Puddle of November

For John, BLUF:  Mr ROGER KIMBALL asks:  How did I get the midterms so wrong?.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How did I get the midterms so wrong?

Here is the sub-headline:

I was hardly alone but that is no consolation

From The Spectator, by Author Roger Kimball, November 9, 2022, 11:06 am.

Here is the lede plus three:

About as wrong as I was about the character of the midterm elections.  I thought there would be a red wave, fueled in part by high-octane orange fuel.  Clearly I was wrong.

It is no consolation to know that I was hardly alone in my assumptions.  Nor is it much consolation to hear from Donald Trump that it was a “GREAT EVENING” because there were “174 wins and nine losses.”

I didn’t check his math, but even if accurate it is obvious that there was no red wave. Several of his high-profile candidates lost, most conspicuously Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.  The fact that he lost to a man who is ostentatiously a mental incompetent added insult to injury.  The most that John Fetterman will be able to do is show up to the Senate in his hoodie and vote “yea” or “nay” on the orders of his handlers.

A friend suggests that perhaps the Democratic strategy is to let Fetterman assume office and then have him resign, leaving Josh Shapiro, who won the gubernatorial race handily against Trump-endorsed Doug Mastriano, appoint a mentally competent successor.  Rumors suggest that Scranton mayor Paige Cognetti is the likely replacement.  That scenario appeals to the Machiavellian in me, but who knows if it is in the offing.

This is why Law Profesor Glenn Harlan Reynolds keeps saying, "don't get cocky."

I aqm with Mr Kimball in wondering what happened,  Perhaps President Biden's claiming that "democracy is on the ballot" got through to otherwise lethargic Democrats and Independents. l Whike I think it is overbkown hyperbole, others, based on media disinformation, may see it as a threat.  For sure I thought the bread and butter issues of inflation and crime would be determinitive.  I was wrong,

Maybe in twao years,

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff