TO THE EDITOR:
The midterm elections in the United States have left no one indifferent. And although quite a bit has already been written, it is worth pausing on five lessons they leave on the horizon.
The first is that President Donald Trump turned the election into a plebiscite, and he lost it. He went so far as to say it was the most important election of his career and bet heavily on states like Texas or Michigan, losing emblematic battles. He even asked people to vote as if he were on the ballot. And he succeeded; only the result was not the expected one.
A second point is that the Democrats win, but no one capitalizes on the victory, since it was more a defeat of MAGA trumpism and, therefore, there is no clear winner on the Democratic side. Today names of presidential hopefuls are beginning to emerge — many began to salivate — but, at least for now, there is no great leader whom everyone follows.
A third lesson is that, faced with such a defeat, it is impossible not to think of the lame duck syndrome. The main Republican figures have already begun to distance themselves from the White House. Vice President Vance attributed part of the defeat to the weight of the war in Iran, and Marco Rubio also took his distance. Even DeSantis and Mitt Romney reappeared, with good analyses, and with the attempt to be the surgeons of a party that today, more than a strategist, needs a healer.
Fourth, we see that the ideological pendulum does not stop. Biden defeated…
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DEAR EDITOR: The midterm elections in the United States have left no one indifferent. And although quite a bit has already been written, it is worth pausing on five lessons they leave on the horizon. The first is that President Donald Trump turned the election into a plebiscite, and he lost it. He went so far as to say it was the most important election of his career and bet heavily on states like Texas or Michigan, losing emblematic battles. He even asked people to vote as if he were on the ballot. And he got it; only the result was not the expected one. A second point is that the Democrats win, but no one capitalizes on the victory, since it was more a defeat of MAGA trumpism and, therefore, there is no clear winner on the Democratic side. Today names of presidential hopefuls are beginning to emerge —many began to salivate— but, at least for now, there is no great leader whom everyone follows. A third lesson is that, faced with such a defeat, it is impossible not to think of the lame duck syndrome. The main Republican figures have already begun to distance themselves from the White House. Vice President Vance attributed part of the defeat to the weight of the war in Iran, and Marco Rubio also took his distance. Even DeSantis and Mitt Romney reappeared, with good analyses, and with the attempt to be the surgeons of a party that today, more than a strategist, needs a healer. Fourth, we see that the ideological pendulum does not stop. Biden defeated Trump because of his handling of the first stage of the pandemic, and Trump defeated Kamala because of the economy and foreign policy. The American voter has for years been voting with little ideology and a big bet on change. The criticism of the progressive agenda weighed on the conservative victory of two years ago, but it was not a blank check. The average American does not want a woke agenda, but neither does he want wild republicanism. Finally, we must not forget that we have Trump for a while. The president has two years left and, although he lost the majority in both chambers, he retains two powerful tools: executive orders, which do not go through Congress, and the presidential veto. Knowing his personality, he will not hide nor let himself be appeased by the blue tsunami. Most likely, he will govern with more force and enthusiasm than before. And that augurs high tension between the Executive and the Legislative. After the tsunami, the storm may come. Roberto Munita Morgan Director of Public Administration Faculty of Economics and Business, Andrés Bello University