Why did Republicans wipeout? They gave voters an easy choice.

[catbyte]

Instead of a red wave, Democrats more than held their own. Voters looked past the economy and crime in an effort to right the American ship of state.

by The Editorial Board, Philadelphia Enquirer
Updated Nov 11, 2022

Tuesday’s election seemed to have all the makings of a bloodbath for Democrats. Inflation at a 40-year high, surging gun violence, and record gas prices combined to anger voters and sink President Joe Biden’s approval rating to 39%.

snip

So, what happened?

In short, the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was a political earthquake. It energized many voters, especially women outraged to have a basic right taken away after nearly 50 years. Republican efforts to further ban abortion at the state level, even in the case of rape and incest, backfired.

The GOP’s continued attacks on the U.S. election system roused millions of complacent voters to take a stand for democracy. The one-two punch sounded the alarm beyond the usual midterm politics. Basic rights getting stripped away and attacks on American democracy cut to the core of what the country is all about.

snip

One political party is standing up for basic rights and defending democracy, while the other is trying to undermine both. That left voters with an easy choice.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/us-midterm-elections-2022-republican-results-20221111.html

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Yeah, but if the choice were that easy we would have won 66% of races

Or maybe that's a comment on how stupid the voters

[Botany]

5. Sadly thanx to republicans and gerrymandering many congressional races are over before 1 vote ...

.... is cast. The GOP knows that demographics and what the majority of what Americans want dooms
the party to the dustbin of history so to keep power they have packed the courts, owned the media,
gerrymandered the congressional districts, installed voting machines that are programmable for manipulating
the data and not leaving fingerprints of what was done, and making it just hard to vote.

And yes America has a shit ton of stupid people too.

[Tanuki]

12. That's what happened in Nashville. We are solidly Democratic (Biden won by a 32% margin),

Last edited Sat Nov 12, 2022, 12:27 PM - Edit history (1)

so the GOP-controlled legislature hacked the congressional district to bits and shoved the residents into 3 surrounding rural, ruby-red districts. It was done with surgical precision to make it statistically impossible for a Democrat to win. In some cases, people in the same precinct or the same apartment complex are now in different districts. Whereas Jim Cooper's office was right downtown in the public library complex, I'd now have to drive 80 miles away to Cookeville to my new creepy pervert congressman John Rose's office. No public transportation, of course, for those who don't have a car. The GOP was thus able to flip our Democratic congressional seat without changing a single heart or mind. John Rose, part of the Jan. 6 sedition caucus, didn't even bother to show up to campaign in Nashville, much less debate his Democratic opponent. He didn't have to...the fix was in with the gerrymander.

[Botany]

16. And those district maps were drawn up nationwide by American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

OH's congressional races are over before one vote is cast.

[DownriverDem]

8. Michigan

passed a new way to draw district lines in 2018. They were drawn for the first time by a citizen committee. They are more fair and that is how we won the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years. Just wait until the MAGA repubs realize what we passed this time to expand voting rights.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. IMO, put the blame on SCOTUS.

The five of them blew the wad for republican candidates for the Midterm Elections.

If they had waited for this term to overturn Roe, we could have lost both Houses of Congress.

Guess Thomas never thought of coordinating with the RNC, McConnell, and/or McCarthy.

[GreenWave]

3. Let's see

GOP regales oilagarchs with billions of taxpayer dollars
Gun violence... NRA solution more guns ad infinitum
Inflation while mega-corporations are raking in skillions of dollars.
All the while GOP votes down solutions to these problems they help exacerbate.

[gab13by13]

4. Michelle Goldberg explained what happened

People believed what cable news anchors were saying. people believed the bogus polls. the right controls the MSM and I have been trying to emphasize how important it is to control the narrative.

What happened in a nut shell is that what we were being told was not the truth. It wasn't a mistake made by the pundits and polls, it was deliberate. What happened is that voters were enthused, were pizzed, could not wait to vote, which historically is an anomaly in mid term elections. Voters cared more about abortion and democracy than they cared about fake sand boxes in schools, about fake statistics about crime, about blaming Democrats for inflation.

I graduated from college a long time ago and the #1 thing I learned was to not blindly believe everything I read in the paper or watch on TV. I limit my news watching to Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, Mehdi Hasan, Zerlina Maxwell, Stephanie Miller, and Thom Hartmann, they all get it. There are others out there like Michelle, but those are the people I watch.

[Dopers_Greed]

9. Yep

The Republicans followed the authoritarian playbook that's been successfully used in other democracies.

1. The electoral system is already rigged in their favor through Congressional seat allocation and EC. Make it even more so with gerrymandering.
2. Voter suppression and other dirty tricks.
3. Enact draconian measures through levers that the voter doesn't directly control (like Supreme Court decisions).
4. Use the M$M to control the narrative to make it seem like they legitimately won.

[gab13by13]

13. If the Magats take the House

it is only because of unfair gerrymandering. We had a lifelong Rep. out of Nashville, Cooper I think, who chose not to run because they stretched his Nashville district out into moonshine country. What Desantis did in Florida was also corrupt. But hey a judge made NY redraw its map which cost Democrats seats.

[greymattermom]

6. Who watches cable news?

No one in my family younger than 70. And I've switched to mostly youtube channels too.

[gab13by13]

15. I only watch a few people,

Nicolle Wallace runs rings around what Rachel Maddow used to be.

Nicolle made Trump's crimes her lead segment all of the time, and she had excellent guests, not pundits.

[Etherealoc1]

7. We can't forget GEN Z

They showed up big time.

I Hope the Democrats keep them engaged and help them to become our future leaders.

They had something to fight for and they sure made their voices heard.

[raging moderate]

10. Yes, GEN Z.

I have been watching these young people since they were children. I am almost 75 years old. And I remember that Carl Sagan mentioned that he had noticed good signs in the younger generations.

They are very impressive. I remember my generation, as children and as young adults. These young people are mostly steadier, more ethical, more competent, and more knowledgeable. They are better at using technology.

GEN Z, you are great! Go ahead and begin taking positions of leadership. You will do a great job!

[IronLionZion]

11. The choice between parties has never been clearer

anyone who still says "both parties are the same" simply isn't worth talking to.

[lambchopp59]

14. Some credit must be handed to the ultraMAGA's displays

Trump normalized vulgar tantrums, and the MAGA's step it up a notch.
"F your feelings" "F Biden" "F Democrats" seen daily. On vehicles picking up schoolchildren!
They've made it a point to wear out their welcome mat anywhere.
I wonder how many simply did protest voting on top of the Hobbs bullshit.
I know I had to be very careful not to rip the paper marking my ballot.

[malthaussen]

17. "Philadelphia Enquirer?" must be a new paper. n/t