US Midterms (post-results): Are the Democrats too weak to impeach a ham sandwich? – Lucy Wong
To put the midterm elections into more ordinary context, if the midterms were to be applied within the school body – we could effectively, remove Holly and Adam from their Head of School positions (what a tempting idea), if the majority were to vote against them for the opposing Party. This would be as result of unsatisfactory performance of their leadership. However, president’s party has lost control of both House and Senate only three times since 1945: Truman, Eisenhower, and Clinton in 1946, 1954, and 1994 respectively. Indeed, in modern times the Republicans have just emerged with a 51% majority compared to 43% for the Democrats – which means sadly the narcissistic orange cheeto of a president (Trump) is still in power.
However, although this is the case, Trump’s unchecked hold on power has come to an abrupt end. The Democrats gained more than the 23 seats they needed to take control of the House. So what would happen if the Republicans held the Senate, but Democrats claimed the House of Representatives? The answer is: gridlock. It is the first time the party has held the majority in the lower house of Congress for eight years. The loss of the House will make it harder for President Trump to push his policies forward. Meanwhile, the Republicans have kept control of the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, and will increase their majority. The exit polls gave Democrats a massive 21-point advantage among women, while Republicans scored just a two-point lead among men. White women split 50-48 for the anti-Trump movement known as Democrats. The only age group that Republicans won were 65 and older – and that was only by one point. Just two years ago, in those same exit polls, white women gave Trump a nine-point lead over the first woman to hold a major party’s presidential nomination. Married women were pretty divided in 2016, but leaned heavily towards Democrats on Tuesday. With Trump’s defeat in the House of Representatives, Democrats have ended two years of the Republican party’s determined refusal to conduct any meaningful oversight of his administration. Donald Trump’s unchecked hold on power has come to an abrupt end, and if his predecessors are any guide, it won’t return any time soon. There will be no more Trump tax cuts for big businesses, and no slashing Trump cuts to social security or healthcare.
Since 2004, turnout has been usually at least 20% lower than in the preceding presidential vote but this year there has a been surge in early voting. Even Taylor Swift shocked people last month when she came out in support of the Democrats ahed of the midterms, this being the first time she has voiced her political views. Although, the cessation of her political silence was met with tweets such as “the Democrats are too weak and complicit to impeach a ham sandwich”.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s has put in a word with CityNews Toronto that “my job is to stand for Canadian interests, and to have a constructive working relationship with whoever Americas choose to elect”. His choice of animal to compare Canada to was a moose – even tempered and strong. In the late 70s, Trudeau’s father gave a speech to a joint session of Congress where he likened Canada living by the United States to a mouse sleeping next to elephant: “no matter how even-tempered the beast, every twitch and grunt is reacted to”. However, Trudeau asserts that “I don’t think of us as a mouse – I think of us as a moose – large, present – but still massively outweighed beside the elephant.” Trudeau also expresses the intent to “continue to be attentive to what’s going on in United States”, but stand securely in Canada’s “own strength”.
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