Stirewaltisms: Midterm Split Decision Goes Hard on Hogwash, Emotional Blabber

The lack of humility in our political class has never been worse.

By
130
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., campaigns for Herschel Walker. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/ Getty Images.)

It is a good thing that Election Day fell on the same week as Veterans Day this year. 

Maybe today’s reminder about what real public service looks like—sacrifice for one’s fellow citizens—will seal in our hearts the main lesson of the 2022 midterms: Voters have had it with the selfish, power-mad political parties that have failed them for so long. 

Republicans had puffed themselves up like a flotilla of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons in anticipation of what they just knew was going to be a “red wave.” Never mind that they had made no practical case for how they would govern besides abject opposition to the president in office. Never mind that they put together a slate of candidates from coast to coast that was as unserious as it was scammy. That national Republicans abetted the campaigns of candidates who ranged from tragically troubled (Herschel Walker) to chronically kooky (Don Bolduc) revealed a party so desperate for power that it was unworthy of holding it. 

Republicans believed they could benefit from the same rhythms as those of the Obama era, when it was not necessary for Republicans to be serious or care deeply about candidate qualifications. It was simply enough to be a blank slate on which midterm voters could draw their own image of what change would look like. Democrats did it in 2018, so why not for the red team again in 2022?

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
130
By
Comments (130)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Good work by Nate. And Stirewalt’s correct to call out Biden’s hubris after the recent election for what it is.

    Collapse
  2. Mmiller

    So, I get why McCarthy deserves the punishment, but is it a GOOD thing for democracy that he'll need to pacify the looniest of the loonies (on the Right) to get anything done?

    Collapse
    1. Scianti7

      There is another direction to work in if he is willing & wise.

      Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Chris Brooks

    Story of local Democrat Gluesenkamp in Southwest Washington state owning the center and giving lost Republicans a reasonable alternative: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/how-did-marie-gluesenkamp-perez-pull-off-the-upset-of-the-year-in-southwest-wa/

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    Pterseus

    The Trumpian moment turned the Republicans into New Coke. Hopefully they can find their way back to Coca-Cola Classic because our system needs a viable conservative yin to balance our progressive yang just as the peppery sweetness of an icy Coca-Cola gives balance to a savory plate of Kung Pao Chicken.

    Collapse
  5. Jim S

    I see a lot of comments about how Biden needs to be ‘humbler’. You mean like Kevin McCarthy? Ron DeSantis? Ted Cruz? Tom Cotton?

    Such a humble crew we have on the GOP side, even after the red ripple.

    Collapse
    1. Clarity

      Lack of humility made Biden and his advisors think that victories by less that 1% in three states, a 5 seat majority in the House and a 50-50 Senate (a gift from Trump) made Biden into the next FDR. Lower than expected losses in the midterms - another gift from Trump - is likely to convince Biden he's not too old for another term. In two more years, the people get to speak, and reality should return, just like it may be with the Republican party.

      Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Ajax81613

    Humility, shumility. "Humility is for losers!" says Donald Trump. Who is going to fault Biden for lack of humility -- Republicans? Hah. (See also: Newt Gingrich says, "A majority is a majority it doesn't matter what size it is, Republicans have a mandate in the House." Hello Freedom Caucus! LOL)

    Collapse
  7. Twlivingston

    NPR reported: “ Regardless of the final tally, Biden has said he's willing to try to find consensus across the aisle.

    "I'm prepared to work with my Republican colleagues," he told reporters the day after the election. "The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well."
    This doesn’t comport with Stierwalt’s opinion: “ But Biden could muster no humility, even of the false variety. At a time when statesmanship was required, Biden offered ego and arrogance.” Really?

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      David Burke

      Stierwalt is The Dispatch’s Junk Yard dog when it comes to Democrats. Running up and down the length of the chain link fence and barking when Biden walks by.

      Boring.

      It’s why I never read conservative press before I found The Dispatch. All so predictable and performative. In this reader’s opinion, while charming on the podcasts he’s all too reliable. A drag on the paper.

      Collapse
    2. InadvertantObfuscation

      Yes, he did say that. I remember listening to that on NPR and adding my own word to the end of his sentence ... "if they are willing to be assimilated." (Reference to Star Trek's Borg.)
      I do not see President Biden as capable of "working together". (Nor most Republicans, for that matter.)

      Collapse
  8. Bdecicco2001

    IMHO, calling this a split decision is missing the point. The GOP should have picked up 30 House seats and several Senate seats. As it is, they will only take the House due to a couple of states being savagely gerrymandered. This is due to the GOP being what they are.


    Biden and the rest of the Dems have worked very hard fixing things up, with the GOP and the 'liberal' media putting their feet on the scale.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Brianboyce

      If Republicans take the House while getting approximately 4% more votes across the U.S., how is their victory due to "Republican gerrymandering?" Both parties do it, it just so happens that Republicans got more votes this year.

      Collapse
  9. Safety Cone

    As post mortems and CW congeals in this midterm, no one is mentioning that voters nationally cast 3 million more votes for Senate Republicans and 5 million for House candidates.

    Is that normal?
    Is it significant beyond being more evidence of R/D self sorting and distillation by geography?

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Ajax81613

      This would be true if the red states were redder than the blue states are blue. In other words, the "blue" states are more purple than the "red" states are. This sounds right but I'm too lazy right now to try to look it up. That could point to further partisan divide in states like Illinois, which are really red states with a large blue city in them (which, perhaps, is arguably always the case at some level).

      Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      LBernard

      Normally, it's the other way around, with Democrats picking up more votes nationally but Republicans taking the majority of Congress anyway.

      Collapse
    3. Kevin Dolan

      I don’t know if it’s normal or significant, but every time it happens in the other direction, usually I think, we get to hear about the systemic injustice and undemocratic nature of our electoral processes. Eye rolling stuff for sure.

      Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    DougAz

    This election was not just a defeat of MAGA Republicans.

    It was an defeat of all Republicans.

    This was Joshua Chamberlain, smashing the Conservatives on Little Round Top. Delicious

    Collapse
Load More