No one likes to lose – least of all someone like Donald J. Trump – but Tuesday night’s Republican loss of the majority in the House of Representatives may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The president notoriously had a rough time with the Republican-controlled House, which would tend to mitigate the loss in practical terms, and he now has to contend with an independent and distinct power base. But therein lies the rub.
We believe the so-called “resistance” – more popularly known as TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) – has been a function of Republican control of the presidency, Senate, and House. Since Democrats were completely shut out of power – at best they had to rely on Republican defections from the Trump program – they eschewed the role of loyal opposition and resolved to seek across-the-board delegitimization of the Trump presidency.
Although the increased Republican majority in the Senate means Democrats are still outnumbered on the power grid, they will have to be included in important decision-making henceforth and thus actually share power now. Ironically, therefore, they may be more inclined to deal with Mr. Trump than when they were relegated to the political wilderness.
This will create an interesting dynamic for President Trump, who will have to decide when and how he will compromise. Since the Democrats are hysterical about the appointment of federal judges, they may try to leverage their newfound power, for example, to steer the selection process leftward.
We will have more to say next week, but for now we conclude with this thought: Every vote counts. The truth of this aphorism was particularly apparent in the Florida races for U.S. Senate and governor. Because of the significant Jewish Press readership in Florida, we paid special attention to these races. We strongly endorsed Ron DeSantis for governor and he defeated his opponent by less than one percent, and we strongly endorsed Rick Scott for the Senate, and it seems like he too won – by less than a half of one percent.