![\"Blue](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Blue-Wave-2026.png\")
<\/a>Did the Dems win big because people were engaged by their ideas, or because people revulsed by the ideas coming from the GOP? Clearly it was about change, <\/em>but how much of it was for progress<\/em>, and how much about a return to normal?<\/em><\/p>\nWhy not both? There were people who voted Dem (or didn’t vote GOP) because Trump and his MAGA office-holding enablers went “too far.” There were people who want things back the way they were in 2020, or 2012, or 2008 … or 1992. And there were people who want to see significant social progress across a variety of areas.<\/p>\n
Assuming everyone voted (or didn’t vote) for one reason, even if that’s how the media will drive the story, is a formula for disappointment and miscalculation and misinterpretation.<\/p>\n
What does this actually mean?<\/h3>\n
With majorities in both chambers of Congress, the Dems are in a position to actually now make that branch act as a check on and balance to the Executive.\u00a0 Trump’s greatest successes have come from his being willing and able to do anything he wanted, even ignoring Congressional power, and the GOP leadership nodding in approval or fear.\u00a0 That dynamic has now changed.<\/p>\n
So Trump can still bleat out all the EOs he wants, but there is now a body that can (and, presumably, will) take action against them, even in court. Ditto for the Administration simply sitting on legislated funding for things Trump dislikes.<\/p>\n
Those Dem majorities in Congress are also large enough to allow some internal debate within the Dem caucuses without causing everything to fall apart. Expect a lot of argument over progressive vs. centrist viewpoints, leaning left, leaning right, etc.\u00a0 Hopefully that will lead to a synthesis that improve the nation overall (and garner national approval in 2028 and beyond).\u00a0 Worst case: a fractured Congress and fractured Democratic base that lets control slip from its fingers, uselessly.<\/p>\n
The majorities are, at least, large enough that potential spoilers like Fetterman are blunted. We’ve seen that song way too often with one- or two-seat majorities.<\/p>\n
It’s also a huge positive that Senate rubber-stamping their advice and consent for Presidential appointments — to federal departments or the judiciary — will stop. Expect, of course, even more “assistant” \/ “deputy” \/ “temporary” \/ “interim” shenanigans from Trump — but expect much more focused and effective push-back on those tactics.<\/p>\n
The majority power on Congressional committees will mean the power to investigate under the rocks of corruption that have cropped up all over Washington, many of them with Trump names on them.<\/p>\n
Will we see impeachment attempts — against Trump and\/or his inept or corrupt cronies like Hegseth?\u00a0 We should, because accountability is important. But Congress needs to be seen as doing more than just fighting\u00a0against<\/em> Trump; it has to be fighting\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>something. Next election cycle, people want to see results both destructive and constructive.<\/p>\n To that end, the Dem majorities in Congress are\u00a0not <\/em>large enough to override vetoes — unless more of the congressional GOP regrow a spine or see the electoral writing on the wall.\u00a0 Much of what the Dems want to do will face limits by veto power and cloture rules in the Senate (the “filibuster”).<\/p>\n To a degree, the populace will tolerate that.\u00a0 But there still need to be results that can be pointed to come 2028, and that’s going to be a real challenge.<\/p>\n To that end, there will be renewed calls to get rid of the filibuster.\u00a0 Those calls will ignore how that tool actually provided one of the main methods of opposition to the GOP over the last two years. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, in my opinion, it’s that the tide always changes. Someday, maybe soon, those in power will be out, those out of power will be in — so the Dems in the Senate need to weigh carefully the advantage of “getting things done today” against the advantage of “stopping things being done tomorrow.”<\/p>\n The Right poured unthinkable amounts of money into this election.\u00a0 In many of the highest-stake areas, they lost, both because of crappy candidates (Ken Paxton!) and because of a countervailing surge of voters.<\/p>\n Of course, even the massive funding Elon Musk threw away is just a rounding error in his overall wealth. Still, there’s some pleasure in seeing that money isn’t the only thing that matters.<\/p>\n But it\u00a0does<\/em> still matter. And the Dems can’t assume the sort of turnout every election. And if folk like Musk are willing to spend that level of money to twist the system to their purposes and profit, how else besides campaign adverts will they be willing to spend it?<\/p>\n This is, in many ways, the most profound challenge American democracy faces. This blue wave doesn’t change that at all, except to buy us some time.<\/p>\n On one level, even with the above limits, the Dems have to actually do something. Whatever the agenda, this was very much a “we don’t like what the status quo has become” tidal shift, which means failure to change that status quo in a successful direction will hurt their chances next presidential election.<\/p>\n Progressive changes, of course, will lead to the same squawks of “commie radicals!” from the Right, while Centrist changes, of course, will lead to significant disappointment and disaffection in some of the groups that led to this blue wave. There are lots of chances for missteps, and the Democratic leadership in the past has shown they’re more than happy to make them.\u00a0 At least they will be helped by how inept and disliked the current GOP White House is.<\/p>\n Beyond that, though, what’s happened in 2026 doesn’t mean as much for 2028 as one might think. It shows the GOP\/MAGA movement can<\/em> be beat — not unimportant, to be sure — but a lot of what that race in two years will be will come down to who the candidates actually turn out to be, on both sides. Will the Dems mine from the past, pick someone new, weaken themselves through internecine warfare?\u00a0 Will the GOP double-down on MAGA, recruit from Trump’s orbit, or try to put a fresh face on things?<\/p>\n One positive for 2028 — there will now be a further a restraint on what the Executive (if not the Judiciary) can do to suppress votes and corrupt the process in their favor.<\/p>\n One thought worth remembering, I think: a lot of GOP candidates showed their true colors this election, even beyond their celebration of Trumpism. Every soundbite of every racist attack, every crude intolerance, every gleeful enjoyment of punching down, should be kept in storage and replayed hourly if they ever pop their heads up again. With luck, a generation of MAGA sociopaths has disqualified themselves from office for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n Of course, I thought the same of Donald Trump in 2020.<\/p>\n There will be a massive push by Trump and, presumably, the current GOP leadership in Congress, still in the majority<\/em>, to flood the calendar with new appointments and legislation during the lame duck period, while they still maintain control. It’s going to be a tumultuous time, only restrained to a degree if we see a united Democratic opposition and if some of those Republicans, seeing the writing on the electoral wall (or being lame ducks themselves) put the brakes on those last-ditch efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since everyone else is talking about it this morning, why not me, too?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2320,374,358,1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections-2026","category-money-politics","category-poor-citizenship","category-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Blue-Wave-2026.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9852,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/10\/20\/three_weeks_is_still_a_lo.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":0},"title":"Three weeks is still a long time …","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 20-Oct-06 7:08am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm hoping (maybe -- see below) that the Dems will take back at least one house of Congress, if not both, in the coming election. In my opinion, government works...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2006"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2006","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2006"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138343,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/19\/packing-the-supreme-court-again.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":1},"title":"Packing the Supreme Court (again)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 19-Mar-19 8:12am","format":false,"excerpt":"Dems are considering expanding SCOTUS to counter GOP shenanigans","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2020"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2020","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2020"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gorsuch-and-kavanaugh.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gorsuch-and-kavanaugh.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gorsuch-and-kavanaugh.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gorsuch-and-kavanaugh.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gorsuch-and-kavanaugh.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137579,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/02\/cue-gop-pearl-clutching-about-the-the-federal-debt-in-3-2-1.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":2},"title":"Cue GOP pearl-clutching about the The Federal Debt in 3 … 2 … 1","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 2-Jan-19 5:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Concerned that the Dems were always winning elections (at least on the House level) because they could play Santa Claus with social programs and infrastructure spending bills and the like, beginning with Ronald Reagan the GOP have pursued the \"Two Santa Clauses\" strategy:1. When the GOP is in power, cut\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128579,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/05\/rt-marmel-heres-how-dems-lose-900-seats-since-2008-elections-because-there-are-no-off-year-elections.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":3},"title":"RT @Marmel Here’s how Dems lose 900 seats since 2008 elections.BECAUSE THERE ARE NO OFF YEAR ELECTIONS","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 5-Nov-15 10:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"RT @Marmel Here's how Dems lose 900 seats since 2008 elections. BECAUSE THERE ARE NO OFF YEAR ELECTIONS View on Twitter","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10420,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/20\/let_the_games_begin.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":4},"title":"Let the games begin","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 20-Jan-07 11:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Sen. Barack Obama. Sen. Hillary Clinton. And, of course, Edwards, Dodd, Biden, Kucinich, Vilsack, and whomever else decides to poke their noses in. Let's just hope the Dems can figure...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135921,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/02\/23\/cruz-says-dems-lisa-gop-homer-marge-maggie-bart.html","url_meta":{"origin":161026,"position":5},"title":"Cruz says the the Dems are Lisa, the GOP are Homer, Marge, Maggie, and Bart","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 23-Feb-18 3:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"What? At CPAC (the annual Conservative Political Action Committee conference), Ted Cruz said in his speech, \"The Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson and Republicans are happily the party of Homer, Bart, Maggie and Marge.\" So the Dems are a mature, intelligent, agency-filled, loving girl, and the GOP are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Ted-Cruz.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Ted-Cruz.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Ted-Cruz.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Ted-Cruz.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161026"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161028,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161026\/revisions\/161028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Money, money, money<\/h3>\n
What does this mean anything for the 2028 (!) presidential race?<\/h3>\n
What does this mean for the next two months?<\/h3>\n