Editors’ Notes
Campaign season is coming to an end. I, for one, will dearly miss the commercials about gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton tripping over her dog gate.
One of the biggest hurdles I’m seeing personally is less about Democrats versus Republicans and more about elections versus apathy. The more money and ads that get poured into an election, the more some people dismiss both parties as ineffectual. But then, primaries and midterms are rarely meant to engage the majority of voters; they’re meant to activate a pre-existing Republican and Democrat base.
Voting is one civic action you can take to participate in democracy, but if you’re disappointed in (or exhausted by) your candidates, there are other ways to participate, including writing your elected officials, getting involved on the local level with city councils and school boards, protesting, volunteering, and participating in conversations across differences.
News About the Midterms
With less than 30 days until the midterm elections, early voting has begun in some states — check out AllSides Election Center powered by Pillars if you need to look up your voter registration or sample ballot.
There has been plenty of money and influence poured into the upcoming elections, from President Trump sending out $500 checks to some Affordable Care Act enrollees to racy campaign ads and PACs making their own news brands. Trump has been hosting rallies across the country in support of Republican candidates, mostly in red states, leading up to the election. Whether his prominence will help or hurt the candidates themselves remains to be seen.
Read more:
- Trump, GOP Lose Latino Support Ahead of Midterm Elections; Support for Democrats Remains Divided
- Trump Moves White House Ad Funding From Taxpayers to MAGA Inc.
Analysis and Opinions about the Midterms
Voices on the left and the right largely agreed that the Democrats can expect to gain control of the chambers following the midterm elections and that Trump’s effect on the economy may be a major driver. However, the center and right showed skepticism that the Democrats will actually be able to serve the people better once in power.
A Bloomberg (Center) columnist focused on polls. “Bias or incompetence? I mean, look the consistent failures of surveys that ask the simplest possible question: ‘Which of these two human beings are you going to vote for?’ A standard defense is that many of these polls fall within “margins of error” or involve ‘tossups.’ Then what use are they?…Republicans ran about 5,500 ads during NFL and college football programming in a single September weekend…But cultural power depends on ... public opinion. The chart above may indicate that the return on investment in the NFL is thinning, and perhaps the Dems might want to target MLS viewers. That’s if they believe the polls, anyway.”
Wall Street Journal Opinion (Lean Right) featured opinions from several students. “Abstract claims that the American dream is still thriving mean little to young people who are postponing homeownership and feel that financial security is slipping out of reach. And GOP efforts to straw-man the opposition as ‘communist’ do little good without a concrete plan to address the economic concerns pushing young people left…young people are straying from party lines because they want a government that will serve their interests at home. When the establishment shows more interest in starting economically harmful conflicts overseas and fighting culture wars than cutting government spending and reducing inflation, young voters will look to the fringes for answers.”
A piece in USA Today (Lean Left) argued that Trump’s rallies were bad for Republicans. “Every time he opens his mouth, controversy falls out, forcing Republican candidates to spend time trying to sane-wash his comments…maybe the GOP candidates struggling to keep their heads above water are glad to see Trump on the campaign trail making a babbling fool of himself. Dealing with his daily burst of nonsense and cruelty might be easier than confronting the grim realities of the mess this president has created.”
In The Hill (Center) a piece said, “If the Democrats win, what will they do to best position themselves for 2028? Because if the Democrats do win, it will be from collecting protest votes, not from offering solutions…There is no true standard bearer or clear direction amid the party’s ideological split, and even winning both chambers won’t allow Democrats to do many of the things they’re campaigning on…Ultimately, Democrats are likely to win in November. Frustration with the president should be enough to hand Democrats the Speakers’ gavel, but it won’t hand them the White House in 2028 unless they can tell voters why they’re the right party to lead — not only that the other party can’t be trusted.”
