Jeff Greenfield had some fun writing this for Politico
If You’re Breathing a Sigh of Relief About the Midterms, Just Wait
If you’re in a celebratory mood today, you’ve got good reason. The fears — including my fears — about a wave of election-deniers sweeping into offices did not happen. Virtually every swing-state denialist candidate for governor, attorney general or secretary of state was defeated. Democratic governors in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will serve as bulwarks to keep their elections fair; Democrats actually gained control of the Legislature in Michigan, and Republicans did not win veto-proof majorities in Wisconsin or North Carolina. In every state where abortion was on the ballot, voters chose to protect it. And GOP Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert may go down to defeat, thus instantly raising the collective IQ of the House of Representatives.
Now imagine you are Kevin McCarthy, on the cusp of finally realizing your yearslong hope for the speakership. You’ll likely be dealing with a Republican majority in single digits — and some of those House members have already expressed less than full-throated support for your reign. With a paper-thin majority, you will be at the mercy of the most extreme elements of your party, including all-out propeller heads like Marjorie Taylor Greene. You’ve already sought to appease your members, but what will the cost of that be next year? Impeaching the president is the least of it. When your majority decides to block a raise in the debt ceiling unless there are massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, you’ll either be leading that charge or risking your speakership. Are you prepared to default on the nation’s credit obligations and potentially spark a global financial crisis? The dominant MAGA wing of your party seems fully prepared to do so.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/11/09/democrats-midterm-election-results-relief-00065990
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