Batya, The bad guys won a battle the other night. A big one. There’s no question about that, and yes, if you care about your country, it hurt – and the country is going to bleed a while because of it. A lot of bad people are moving into positions of power. These people don’t mean our nation or us well, and given how they think, it probably won’t take long to see their true colors. We already know the Democrats will side with the enemies of Israel and of freedom. However, we’re also going to rise, fight again, and make sure that the greatest nation that has ever existed in human history isn’t run into the gutter because of it. We lost one election, but the cause of freedom and democracy goes on.
Well, slow clap for the voters who cared so much about cost of living. Could they not have taken a few seconds to think through whether those they were voting for would actually IMPROVE the situation? Judging by the bad results on Wall Street two days after the election., we’re all in for a bumpy ride. What are the odds these psycho leftists will backpedal their plans to hobble AI?
"Could they not have taken a few seconds to think through whether those they were voting for would actually IMPROVE the situation?"
If it means Trump course corrects, it absolutely could. If Trump refuses to listen to the voter, then Republicans are in for a world of hurt in 2 years.
De Santis would be fantastic at the job (look at FL!) but he’s not “mediagenic” enough for a national campaign. Rubio has real charisma, I think. But any of these four would be preferable over Jesuit Dugin Vance.
Democrats were laser focused on talking about cost of living. Saying what their plan was, not so much. They might push some free stuff plans but TANSTAFL. The bipartisan permitting bill that has passed the Senate and is supported by Trump has promise but new Speaker is already talking about rolling it back. Congress is a clown show no matter who is in control. You can always count on Democrats for taxes and gun control but most of that action will be at state level.
What you pointed out is accurate, but what about the FRAUD? There was A LOT of fraud that no one wants to talk about. For instance, 20 MILLION new voters just happened to show up in Texas?
Not at all: here is the analysis from Sean Trende, elections analyst at RCP, and he shows the collapse in Trump's approval rating started with the Liberation Day tariffs. He lost more approval from that than from the war:
I really support looking at Trump's approval rating over time and noticing the large drop between tariffs and start of the war, compared to the smaller drop after the war.
Better than waking up is reading the actual data: Trump's approval rating fell more between Liberation Day tariffs and the start of the war than after the war started.
Tariffs were the biggest hit to Trump's approval rating; all described by Sean Trende in the link above.
All those "groups" and "exit polls" are, honestly, garbage. Food for talking heads. There was no 100% attendance to be able to estimate the mood of entire groups. Group members with opinion X showed up in droves while those with opinion Y vote in presidential elections but never in midterms. And based on this slice you conclude that the entire group changed since 2024. You can't tell if it changed or not, but this is some magic "science", just like covid.
It's socialism, stupid! How many people got pissed off when they lost their COVID and Biden era benefits, ACA subsidies, government and DEI jobs, federal funding (both stealing and doing real projects) etc? Now the federal government requires that you work a job or volunteer a certain number of hours per month to get Medicaid, it's horrible! Sure, you can call it "affordability" or "economy" as an euphemism. Just like the protests in France, requiring more government money as a "fix" for the high cost of living. One indicator not being the economy is the difference between the urban and rural voters, only the former increased substantially in numbers. Doesn't the economy affect rural voters as well, especially, diesel and gas prices? But farms don't run DEI jobs and learing centers.
The election was bad for Republicans and worse for Jews, who are blamed for price increases by the Democrats and the war by JD Vance and his followers.
But a reminder: in the 2010 midterms Democrats lost 63 House seats. Barrack Obama was reelected two years later.
Batya, thank you for presenting the data to support the hypothesis. It is true that costs remain high, and Donald Trump and the GOP are being blamed for the failure to cause a drastic reduction in prices. Much of the increase over the last six years can be attributed to the Biden administration's mismanagement. Furthermore, Trump's aggressive and fluctuating tariff policies are often misunderstood and easily scapegoated. The geopolitical instability in Venezuela and Iran has been utilized by the opposition, as those regions have yet to provide the energy abundance that the President and the Treasury Secretary had anticipated. Barring a significant deflationary event, prices were always destined to rise. The administration’s mistake was failing to acknowledge this reality and treating it as a serious electoral liability, all while promoting the narrative of impressive growth that we are currently witnessing. Trump dominated every moment of the news cycle, with cameras and journalists focused on his every word and post, which he curated himself. There was a clear lack of empathy from the administration regarding the economic stress in everyday Americans. Donald Trump's anger and attacks were once his greatest strengths, both while he was in opposition and during the initial stages of his second term. However, that advantage quickly eroded as others on his team unsuccessfully attempted to emulate and amplify his style. The narrative proved too complex, and the tone was too intense for the casual voter to embrace. I believe his signature "no explanations, no holds barred" approach has now become his greatest weakness.
To say Trump squandered his second term - and the absolute TON of good will generated by the Vibe Shift - is an understatement. It began with the ridiculous, erratic, full-fronted attacks on our allies - from the Tariffs to Greenland - and continued on through the corruption and lawfare and then on to overzealous ICE raids and then on to the bone headed attack on Iran with no plan to win. Yes, the economy was a factor. But I'd also argue that making the US look stupid and corrupt doesn't help.
I mean come on. Part of the reason why we're tired of "forever wars" is we just can't seem to win any of them. So all he did was show that our military - the biggest, most powerful, most expensive the world has ever seen - can't keep a single waterway open after it unsuccessfully invades a country....then he spends the next several months stating that we're a step from winning. Come on.
I voted for Trump. And next to an open-borders, Harris-quality candidate from a party in the throes of wokism, I'd probably vote for Trump again. But make no mistake this is a complete and total refutation of Trump the man, the president. About the only thing he's done right is he closed the borders and supported AI.
Batya, The bad guys won a battle the other night. A big one. There’s no question about that, and yes, if you care about your country, it hurt – and the country is going to bleed a while because of it. A lot of bad people are moving into positions of power. These people don’t mean our nation or us well, and given how they think, it probably won’t take long to see their true colors. We already know the Democrats will side with the enemies of Israel and of freedom. However, we’re also going to rise, fight again, and make sure that the greatest nation that has ever existed in human history isn’t run into the gutter because of it. We lost one election, but the cause of freedom and democracy goes on.
Well, slow clap for the voters who cared so much about cost of living. Could they not have taken a few seconds to think through whether those they were voting for would actually IMPROVE the situation? Judging by the bad results on Wall Street two days after the election., we’re all in for a bumpy ride. What are the odds these psycho leftists will backpedal their plans to hobble AI?
"Could they not have taken a few seconds to think through whether those they were voting for would actually IMPROVE the situation?"
If it means Trump course corrects, it absolutely could. If Trump refuses to listen to the voter, then Republicans are in for a world of hurt in 2 years.
Pro-Israel Republicans want Rubio, Cruz, DeSantis, or Haley as the nominee. JD Vance has lost their confidence for good reason
https://substack.com/@thinktorah/note/c-381717727
Not Cruz, never Cruz. Not Haley. Not Vance. Rubio best. DeSantis second best.
De Santis would be fantastic at the job (look at FL!) but he’s not “mediagenic” enough for a national campaign. Rubio has real charisma, I think. But any of these four would be preferable over Jesuit Dugin Vance.
What is the corruption thing the left has been going on about? Who in the Trump administration has been marched out to face justice for “corruption”.
The left is projecting again.
Democrats were laser focused on talking about cost of living. Saying what their plan was, not so much. They might push some free stuff plans but TANSTAFL. The bipartisan permitting bill that has passed the Senate and is supported by Trump has promise but new Speaker is already talking about rolling it back. Congress is a clown show no matter who is in control. You can always count on Democrats for taxes and gun control but most of that action will be at state level.
What you pointed out is accurate, but what about the FRAUD? There was A LOT of fraud that no one wants to talk about. For instance, 20 MILLION new voters just happened to show up in Texas?
He didn't lose because of fraud.
I think this pretty much sums up why the war was the thing that broke the base.
https://substack.com/@christopherrufo/note/c-379829721?r=2ucynv&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
All the other stuff peeled off the swing voters earlier.
Not at all: here is the analysis from Sean Trende, elections analyst at RCP, and he shows the collapse in Trump's approval rating started with the Liberation Day tariffs. He lost more approval from that than from the war:
https://pollvault.substack.com/p/it-was-all-the-things
Swing voters were mad about tariffs and ICE overreach. The war is what broke the base because it made gas and energy prices untenable. Wake up
You must just really support the war. Most people do not.
I really support looking at Trump's approval rating over time and noticing the large drop between tariffs and start of the war, compared to the smaller drop after the war.
Better than waking up is reading the actual data: Trump's approval rating fell more between Liberation Day tariffs and the start of the war than after the war started.
Tariffs were the biggest hit to Trump's approval rating; all described by Sean Trende in the link above.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but nobody is entitled to their own facts"
All those "groups" and "exit polls" are, honestly, garbage. Food for talking heads. There was no 100% attendance to be able to estimate the mood of entire groups. Group members with opinion X showed up in droves while those with opinion Y vote in presidential elections but never in midterms. And based on this slice you conclude that the entire group changed since 2024. You can't tell if it changed or not, but this is some magic "science", just like covid.
It's socialism, stupid! How many people got pissed off when they lost their COVID and Biden era benefits, ACA subsidies, government and DEI jobs, federal funding (both stealing and doing real projects) etc? Now the federal government requires that you work a job or volunteer a certain number of hours per month to get Medicaid, it's horrible! Sure, you can call it "affordability" or "economy" as an euphemism. Just like the protests in France, requiring more government money as a "fix" for the high cost of living. One indicator not being the economy is the difference between the urban and rural voters, only the former increased substantially in numbers. Doesn't the economy affect rural voters as well, especially, diesel and gas prices? But farms don't run DEI jobs and learing centers.
How could "corruption" be a determining factor for a Dem blowout?? The Dems majored in corruption the past several years and scored straight A's!
Thank you Batya!
Full exit polls from NBC:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls
Note that on Israel, 51% of voters said US support was too strong while 49% said is was about right or needed to be stronger.
Among those who voted Republican, 77% thought US ties to Israel were about right or should be stronger.
The election was bad for Republicans and worse for Jews, who are blamed for price increases by the Democrats and the war by JD Vance and his followers.
But a reminder: in the 2010 midterms Democrats lost 63 House seats. Barrack Obama was reelected two years later.
Batya, thank you for presenting the data to support the hypothesis. It is true that costs remain high, and Donald Trump and the GOP are being blamed for the failure to cause a drastic reduction in prices. Much of the increase over the last six years can be attributed to the Biden administration's mismanagement. Furthermore, Trump's aggressive and fluctuating tariff policies are often misunderstood and easily scapegoated. The geopolitical instability in Venezuela and Iran has been utilized by the opposition, as those regions have yet to provide the energy abundance that the President and the Treasury Secretary had anticipated. Barring a significant deflationary event, prices were always destined to rise. The administration’s mistake was failing to acknowledge this reality and treating it as a serious electoral liability, all while promoting the narrative of impressive growth that we are currently witnessing. Trump dominated every moment of the news cycle, with cameras and journalists focused on his every word and post, which he curated himself. There was a clear lack of empathy from the administration regarding the economic stress in everyday Americans. Donald Trump's anger and attacks were once his greatest strengths, both while he was in opposition and during the initial stages of his second term. However, that advantage quickly eroded as others on his team unsuccessfully attempted to emulate and amplify his style. The narrative proved too complex, and the tone was too intense for the casual voter to embrace. I believe his signature "no explanations, no holds barred" approach has now become his greatest weakness.
To say Trump squandered his second term - and the absolute TON of good will generated by the Vibe Shift - is an understatement. It began with the ridiculous, erratic, full-fronted attacks on our allies - from the Tariffs to Greenland - and continued on through the corruption and lawfare and then on to overzealous ICE raids and then on to the bone headed attack on Iran with no plan to win. Yes, the economy was a factor. But I'd also argue that making the US look stupid and corrupt doesn't help.
I mean come on. Part of the reason why we're tired of "forever wars" is we just can't seem to win any of them. So all he did was show that our military - the biggest, most powerful, most expensive the world has ever seen - can't keep a single waterway open after it unsuccessfully invades a country....then he spends the next several months stating that we're a step from winning. Come on.
I voted for Trump. And next to an open-borders, Harris-quality candidate from a party in the throes of wokism, I'd probably vote for Trump again. But make no mistake this is a complete and total refutation of Trump the man, the president. About the only thing he's done right is he closed the borders and supported AI.
A lot of details corroborating this are in Sean Trende's
https://pollvault.substack.com/p/it-was-all-the-things
Close to what I wrote elsewhere. "Wall Street is not the economy, stupid."