Today is the long-awaited day of the midterm election. Tonight (or tomorrow morning) we’ll find out who was right: those who prognosticated a giant blue wave that will retake the House and Senate and sweep state houses across the country, or those who believe that was only wishful thinking and that the Trump train still has a long way to run. But despite the hyperbole often emanating from the mainstream media, the results of today’s election will determine how much of this country is run for at least the next two years and possibly even longer. What is at stake?
While conventional wisdom has it that the election is a referendum on President Trump and his policies and performance, that’s not entirely true. Yes, a Democratic sweep would likely be the result of voters deciding to vote anti-Trump rather than pro-Democrat. But it’s also a referendum on which way voters want the country to head, and which group of voters is more motivated to turn out at the polls. Are Republican voters ready to forge ahead and maintain their trust in President Trump’s promise to drain the swamp? Or will they stay at home and let Democrats win, ushering in an era of legislative overreach such as we’ve never seen before?
A Democratic victory would be seen as a mandate and a confirmation of the virtue of the Democratic Party’s policies, rather than solely an anti-Trump measure. And what are those policies? Mostly higher taxes, more government welfare and healthcare spending, and more intrusion into your life. And if Democrats take both the House and Senate, you can bet that gun control will be at the top of their list of priorities.
But the Democratic Party is less a party with a vision than it is a party of opposition to Trump and Republicans. Its major characteristic is its enforcement of groupthink and punishment of thought crime. Dare to say something that they don’t like and you’ll be tarred as racist, misogynistic, or homophobic. That ultimately is what today’s election comes down to. Do we want to live in a country in which diversity of opinion, freedom of speech, and traditional values are respected, or do we want to live in a country that punishes those who depart from the ever-changing social mores of the radical left? Choose wisely, because you may not get a chance to change your mind.