Last night was a very strong night for Democrats, most especially in Kentucky which won the governorship in a very red state, as well as in Virginia which went Democratic in both the senate (which had an especially-major shift) and the assembly, known as the House of Delegates -- and already holds the governorship. This latter is especially important since 2020 is a census year, and the state will be redrawing its districts which had previously been gerrymandered heavily for Republicans. And they also now have a state court ruling that addresses that in their favor.
However, it's important not to make too much about national politics because of state and local elections. In the case of Kentucky, for instance, when Republican Governor Matt Bevin lost he was one of the two most unpopular governors in the United States. And that can't be ignored, nor can his loss be extrapolated to the national landscape without knowing that perspective. To be clear, however, even with that perspective Matt Bevin's loss was not just about a local election by an unpopular governor, which therefore can be dismissed by other relieved Republicans in 2020. After all, a big reason he was unpopular is for pushing Republican agenda (most-notably on getting rid of ACA healthcare) and aligning himself so closely to Trump. Therefore, as important to him "just" losing is that even if he had won, this was a 30-point drop from Trump's victory margin in 2016. Keep in mind, too, that this 30-point drop was just not Matt Bevin's doing. Trump himself campaigned heavily for Bevin, and even held a rally there on election eve. And not only did Trump hold a rally, but he made the election about himself (as of course he does about near-everything), shouting to the crowd that if Bevin lost all the headlines would call it the worst loss in the history of elections. And then implored the crowd, "Don't let it happen to me!!!" They let it happen to him. Of course, one can't extrapolate everything about Kentucky into national meaning. After all, at heart it really is just local. But any Republicans thinking that pushing impeachment would backfire on Democrats and cause an outraged public, they might want to rethink that. When you close a 30-point gap, voters clearly weren't outraged. For all we know, in fact, the impeachment hearings might have helped Democrats. That said, impeachment might have had absolutely no bearing on the election -- but even if so, THAT is almost as meaningful. Because it means the voters did not take their anger out at Democrats. If there's one person, other than Trump, who should be concerned about the Kentucky results though -- since again, at heart, this was a local state election -- it's Mitch McConnell who is up for reelection in 2020. And his popularity within the state is almost as bad as Matt Bevin's. And he's probably even more tied at the hip to Trump -- and will be leading the Republican defense of Trump in the impeachment trial when it gets to the Senate. So, seeing this result in his state and knowing how their reaction to Trump has dropped significantly and likely helped Republican Governor Matt Bevins lose, the question is how will that impact the way McConnell handles things with impeachment. I'm not suggesting he'd lead a GOP revolt against Trump -- he won't -- but he may allow for a more "fair-minded" trial than he would have otherwise. And as we've already seen, even before yesterday's election, McConnell's statements seem to suggest that that will be the case. Trump took to Twitter after the election results and raved about how great they were, that they took five of six statewide races in Kentucky and won the governorship in Mississippi. That's just swell, and hopefully Trump believes that is all good news and doesn't change a thing. But this is Kentucky and Mississippi, two of the most-Red states in the country. You're supposed to win those races. If Republicans can't win governor of Mississippi, they're in deeply-serious trouble. By the way, Trump won Mississippi in 2016 by 18 points. The GOP gubernatorial candidate won his race by five points. There's a long way to go in the election cycle until next November. But this was a notable start for Democrats.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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