‘Red Wave’ meets a blue wall
Hardly anybody expected last Tuesday鈥檚 results.
Democrats were ready to run for political cover. All of that talk about a 鈥淩ed Wave鈥� darkening their role in Congress appeared to be a foregone conclusion.
Many Republicans were already chilling champagne for a joyous night of self-congratulatory revelry 鈥� sure they鈥檇 win enough seats in Congress, and they could impeach Joe Biden three or four times.
Neither of those things happened.
In the end, Democrats thumbed their collective noses at that expected 鈥淩ed Wave.鈥�
They proved to be far more resilient than history said they would be.
Historically, and nearly without fail, the party of the sitting president loses badly during midterm elections.
In 1994, with Bill Clinton in the White House, Democrats lost 54 seats.
In 2010, when Barack Obama was president, he held a news conference the morning following that midterm election, admitting that Democrats got a 鈥渟hellacking,鈥� because they鈥檇 lost 63 seats.
It鈥檚 just been that way.
That is, until now.
Republicans certainly thought that wins across the country would be easy pickings.
Biden suffers from low job approval numbers.
And Republicans made sure to remind the American voter at every chance they got that: crime never existed, until Biden took office; that Biden personally tried to make it so that every American pays $10 for a banana and $20 for a gallon of gas; and there was never any illegal immigration until Biden personally asked people to rush here from all over the globe.
That鈥檚 the wind Republicans mistakenly thought they had at their backs going into last Tuesday.
But they had some built-in problems.
First, they didn鈥檛 offer any specific solutions for the problems they claimed Biden caused. None.
Rick Santorum, that former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, appeared on Newsmax on election night. He offered these words of wisdom. (I can鈥檛 believe my fingers just typed that last sentence.)
鈥淒id you see any plan out of Washington, D.C., to do anything to fix anything? No. It was how bad the other side was,鈥� said Santorum.
Second, across the country, Democrats mostly held their own.
Republicans may control the U.S. House, but they鈥檒l hardly have a strong enough majority to wreak havoc on Democrats.
And with the announcement that John Fetterman had pulled out a win to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, all hopes of that expected 鈥淩ed Wave鈥� were dashed.
Fetterman鈥檚 Oct. 25 debate performance was thought to have been problematic. In the end, it wasn鈥檛.
In fact, it鈥檚 quite clear Republicans have another, more serious, problem.
His name is Donald J. Trump.
Throughout the run-up to the election, Trump saw himself as a kingmaker.
He had hand-picked some of the Republican candidates who lost in some key races.
Doug Mastriano was one of them.
He鈥檚 a sharp-tongued MAGA Republican who won鈥檛 become the governor of Pennsylvania, most likely because he just tried too hard to sound and act like Trump.
Of course, there鈥檚 always going to be soul-searching, hand-wringing, and finger-pointing by Republicans.
Marc Thiessen, a right-leaning Fox News contributor, satisfied all three of those things in a matter of seconds on Tuesday night.
鈥淭he Republican Party needs to do a really deep introspection 鈥� look in the mirror right now. Because this is an absolute disaster for the Republican Party. And we need to turn back,鈥� Thiessen said during a Fox News election night panel.
鈥淭urn back鈥� probably means turn away from Trump 鈥� who is widely seen as having been a drag on the 鈥淩ed Wave鈥� prospects of Republicans on Election Day.
Not all of the voting was about candidates.
There were ballot issues in several states that were of widespread interest 鈥� especially to Democrats.
Voters in four states (California, Kentucky, Michigan, and Vermont) solidified their support for a woman鈥檚 right to choose abortions.
And voters in Maryland and Missouri gave their OK to the legalization of marijuana.
While voters in Arkansas, North, and South Dakota said 鈥渘o鈥� to marijuana in their states.
Of course, that could always change in the future.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.