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Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Well, that was interesting. Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate during a historic midterm election that clearly repudiated Donald Trump’s administration and the failed candidates he personally selected. How big was the rout? We don’t know yet, since Alaska and Mississippi (!) are still very much up for grabs, though prediction markets should give Democrats reason for optimism. So what next? Can a newly elected Democratic majority legislate with Trump running the executive branch and do anything beyond providing the constitutional checks and balances that’s been missing? And what do we make of the sudden identity crisis both parties face in a post-Trump political world? I’m not sure there is any clarity yet on what the winning message was, other than a massive vote on Trump, and that’s not something anyone can run on in 2028.
01. Blue Tsunami: Trump Told Voters to ‘Pretend I’m on the Ballot.’ They Sure as Hell Did.
[Going Mainstream]. Why did at least seven Senate seats flip, and Kansas, for the first time since 1932? Trump has the worst midterm approval number any president has posted.
Have you heard the news? Democrats flipped at least seven Senate seats last night, and the House majority will likely clear a whopping 250. Kansas elected a Democratic senator for the first time since 1932. Texas elected a Democrat statewide for the first time in 32 years, and did it twice. South Carolina, Iowa, and Maine all went blue.
Trump spent the last month insisting that crowds vote like he was on the ballot. Voters heard him and did that, especially in the battleground states he aggressively campaigned in over the past month. CNN's exit poll put Trump’s net approval at minus 24 among midterm voters, which is the worst midterm number for any president in the exit poll era. Non-MAGA Republicans gave him 60 percent approval. Those two numbers likely explain why Kansas and Texas both went blue better than any other hot take.
Fox’s Chad Pergram accurately reported the election results as “an unpopular war, gas prices, President Trump not being on the ballot, Republicans staying home.” The New York Post’s front page headline screamed “BLUE TSUNAMI,” placed over an image of a wide-eyed Trump. Ainsley Earhardt previewed a raft of cable news segments to come when she asked Rahm Emanuel, “What happens now with your party? Do you go the El Sayed-AOC route or a more moderate route?”
TAKEAWAY: Last night was an undeniably massive win for Democrats, but next up in the national discourse? Diagnosing exactly what this big win means, beyond a clear repudiation of Trump and his policies. “Woke is back!” was the takeaway from a CNN political analyst, which I’m not sure everyone agrees on, but it is a clear signal of the looming debate within both parties as they try to figure out what voters want in a post-Trump political world.