Posted on 11/05/2018 12:07:40 PM PST by Kaslin
Don’t let the headline deceive you. I’m hopeful, even somewhat optimistic, about Republican chances on Tuesday, and the thought of losing even one iota of ground to these sanctimonious blowhards repulses me to my core. But I’m also realistic to the possibility that Tuesday could be a good day for Republicans, especially in the Senate, yet - because of a variety of factors at play - the House of Representatives may be lost.
Yes, it could be a slim margin, but whether it’s one member or twenty, for the next two years the results will be the same as far as the House is concerned. As Ann Coulter aptly stated in this Daily Caller video about preventing a “Blue Tsunami,” “there’s no dimmer switch” when it comes to House control. “It’s on or it’s off. If they win, the Democrats win by one vote. It’s lights out for the Trump agenda.”
I agree with Coulter’s assessment, for the most part. If they win the majority in the House, they get to pick the speaker, the chairmanships, and set the agenda. They get to investigate, hold hearings, subpoena Trump officials, and even - should the ever-growing wing-nut-wing of their party prevail - vote to impeach President Trump. Sure, the whole circus promises to be extremely entertaining and a gold mine for reporters like myself, but it’ll be ugly, and the chances of anything really conservative coming through are about the same as California going red.
But I don’t agree with Coulter’s last sentence. Far from being “lights out” for Trump’s agenda, in some ways I think there could be a few silver linings to having to endure Democrat control of the House for the next two years, and they don’t all have to do with getting millions of clicks from the coming hilarious hijinks from the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Here are four reasons why Democratic control of the House may not be so bad.
We’re not actually losing all that much.
I get it. It’ll be hard to stomach the insufferable liberal crowing that will inevitably come, but let’s think for a second about what we will have lost. Yes, they’ll conduct the whole investigative circus against President Trump. They may even vote to impeach him, but none of that will fly past a Republican Senate. And as far as past accomplishments go - a GOP-controlled House barely passed an Obamacare alternative only to have it die in the Senate. Other than managing to spend a gazillion dollars they don’t have on everything BUT a border wall, the tax cut bill was the only real accomplishment to come out of the House in two years. And even that barely passed the Senate thanks to McConnell using budget reconciliation to keep it from needing 60 votes to get around a filibuster.
In other words, as long as the filibuster rule allows the Senate minority to block any bill they don’t like, House control actually means very little.
They could actually get something done.
Yes, the wing-nut wing may prevail for a while, but at the end of the day Democrats will join the GOP in public accountability as a power-wielding branch of government (or at least half of one). The wiser ones (if there is such a thing) might realize that unless they actually manage to pass something of substance and get it through the Senate and signed by President Trump, they could be rejected in two years the same as the previous party was. Maybe it’ll motivate them to pass things a majority of folks actually agree on, like an infrastructure bill or real prison reform. Hey, stranger things have happened!
President Trump’s approval will rise.
Remember Barack Obama’s approval ratings pre-2010 midterms? That’s right - they were pretty close to what Trump’s are now. Only the hard-core Dems could stomach him. The rest of us were still wondering why we weren’t able to keep our healthcare. Granted, from our perspective it was a good thing the GOP took control in 2010, especially at a time when Democrats were pushing 60 senators for a bit (now that was TRULY a one-party government!), but once the GOP took the House Obama’s popularity began to rise. Paul Ryan & Co. investigated a few Obama administration scandals (remember Fast and Furious?) and passed bills they knew didn’t stand a chance. Meanwhile, Obama cruised to reelection in 2012. I’m sure a variety of reasons were at play, but one of them was undoubtedly the fact that a significant percentage of Americans actually prefer divided government.
Those of us who study politics understand the reasons why President Trump hasn’t yet been able to get some of the things he wants - reasons like squishy Republicans and the stupid filibuster rule in the Senate - but the average Joe who has better things to do than to keep up with this stuff all day simply sees a Republican House, Senate, and Executive branch and wonders why on earth Trump’s agenda keeps getting stalled. So yeah, Nancy Pelosi and Crazy Maxine wielding gavels will make far better foils than Paul Ryan and Jeff Flake ever did.
Combine that with the fact that, especially with a stronger Senate majority, Trump’s agenda in many ways can and will continue unabated. Judicial appointments will keep rolling, regulations will keep disappearing, and governmental departments in the hands of the good guys will keep plugging along.
If the Democrats take the House, expect President Trump’s approval ratings to rise bigly. Which could lead to…
President Trump having an easier path to re-election in 2020
With a roaring economy and a consistently 50 percent or better approval rating, President Trump could soar to re-election in 2020. I don’t know about you, but I’d trade THEM apples for a Democrat House victory any day of the week!
VOTE RED, NOT BLUE TOMORROW
There’s not going to be any more legislation passed anyway, and if the Dems have House control we can blame them for the deficits.
The second Dems take back power they will start impeachment proceedings, because that is the new playbook, I don’t like your agenda so we will impeach you. So if a Dem ever becomes President Republicans can do the same damn thing, I don’t like your agenda so Im gonna impeach you and so on and so on
The house was the only one doing an investigation against the deep state. We need it.
When are Pubbies going to learn you don’t win by losing?
I voted already, and of COURSE I want the house in R hands.
Not because I think they’re worth much.
But SC nominations will get through easier (I don’t know what role the house plays so please educate me on it anyone) I assume.
And Trump won’t be tortured by investigation after investigation and others’ lives won’t be personally and financially ruined.
I guess there’s some other benefits.
But most Rs are NOT conservatives
While Trump has more to accomplish, it wouldn’t be a disaster to lose the house now... not like the disaster it would have been to have Hillary as POTUS.
But more than anything, I want the democrats to lose tomorrow so I can watch them all melt down. All that wonderful crying, and whining, and anger, and shouting, and incredulity. I want to see Rachel Maddow in disbelief and anger. I want to revel in the youtube compilations of the talking heads trying to explain what happened (again) and how wrong they were.
If we lose the house it’s going to be very hard to get it back. The Dems will have more Governors so more states will be Gerrymandered in 2020 to favor them.
Something wrong with townhall today. Just read one article, dated today, Monday the 5th, that said “Two Days until Election Day”
and
Now this guy can’t count to four. He only gives three reasons even though the title says Four Reasons.
There’s a pony in there somewhere. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.
A Veto Pen and a Phone attached to a Twitter Account.
EXACTLY. Yes they will have perceived power to rein in
Trump, but actual blame for obstruction. Wall not getting built by R’s anyway, and we still get Judiciary. May very well help Trump to reelection.
NO! That’s not acceptable
There’s no good outcome of the Democrats taking over the House or Senate.
Sadly, there’s been very little good outcome from the Republicans holding power in the House and Senate.
I still say, Ryan and McConnell have squandered the biggest opportunity of their/our lifetimes.
If the Democrats do gain control of the House or Senate, Ryan and McConnell will go down in history as two of the biggest oafs in American History.
If the US were to falter, they would be seen as the last two nails in the coffin.
The nation deserved better! We deserved better!
No wall
No repeal of Obamacare
No defunding of Planned Parenthood
No Tax cut that wouldn’t expire in a few years
What part of this or the myriad of other things we need to get done, will get done if the Democrats win the House or Senate?
You make hay while the Sun shines.
Our guys weren’t up to the task. Frankly, it angers me!
The GOP didn’t build the Wall. The Dems won’t either obviously. We need the Wall.
The House has no say on judges.
GOP will still have the Senate so impeachment is a dead letter.
This would probably help Trump in 2020 but be a disaster in all other respects.
No thanks. I could do without endless Trump investigations.
They actually understand what political power is and how to use it.
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