by Ron Unz, The Unz Review:

Contrary to widespread expectations, Republican gains in last week’s midterm elections were absolutely minimal, nothing at all like the “red wave” that so many had predicted.

The GOP seems to have picked up enough Congressional seats to achieve a very narrow majority in the House, but the Democrats actually extended their control in the Senate, with the final results awaiting a January run-off in Georgia. A new president’s first midterm elections have usually shown a huge swing to the other party, with the Republicans gaining 54 seats in 1994 and 63 in 2010, while the Democrats picked up 42 in 2018. But despite the highest inflation in four decades and up to 75% of the country saying America was “on the wrong track,” the Republicans will be lucky to win even ten additional seats, representing the worst midterm results for a party out of power in two decades. This quickly led Donald Trump’s bitter neoconservative opponents to blame him for the debacle.