Repulsion

 

Trump and his acolytes in Congress can live under a delusion of their massive popularity and stride around like Caesar and his guards, but voters who get to decide these things are largely repulsed.

--Matt Bai

Did repulsion ever win an election? It sure as hell seems to have lost one last Tuesday.

I'm not even thinking of the marquee races in NYCity, Virginia, and New Jersey. Reports from North Carolina of Democratic victories in the municipals -- from big cities to tiny towns -- became too numerous this morning to keep making a list. Down Home, a progressive working-class advocacy org, bragged about a very interesting success rate for Down Home-endorsed candidates in a bunch of small downs. Frankly, the details are maybe not as important as the overall message. My conclusion -- Tuesday's landslide established a shocking divergence from conventional wisdom: All politics are not local. A single national scumbag can juice all the water everywhere -- literally poison it for local Republican podunk candidates who never uttered a MAGA opinion in their lives.

Matt Bai writes ambiguously about whether the Trump effect will work just as well in 2026. Bai has his doubts (I notice a disproportionate number of editorial writers who seem obsessed with bringing down any progressive vibe!). But odds are -- on my green pitch, at least -- repulsion will still play. Because Jethro ain't gonna change. He can't. He's a prisoner of his own malignancy -- greed, lack of empathy, childish insecurity. Perhaps the Supremes will slap him down over his erratic, revenge-motivated tariff program (some commentators think a 7-2 vote against its constitutionality seems possible), but other trumpist cruelties will continue and probably escalate. Members of the NC Republican delegation in Washington, for example, are now pressuring Gov. Stein to invite Trump goon squads to occupy Charlotte.

Trump won't stop. He can't. His habitual character is embodied in his manner of talk -- irrational, distracted, rambling, ultimately incomprehensible, but still dangerous. And like a large thing with teeth, he's always trolling the waters. He bites at any provocation. (Let's strafe Nigeria y'all!) A meaningful congressional Republican uprising against him -- which former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was calling for this morning in the WashPost -- seems unlikely, given Mike Johnson's playing slobber-mouth in the House. Senator Thune, leading the Republicans in the Senate, isn't about to eliminate the filibuster, and that refusal to give Trump what he wants -- even desperately needs -- will be one small step for mankind. But I don't expect any giant steps away from trumpism to follow it. I'd love to be surprised.

So I'm feeling uncommonly optimistic, and it's making me woozy. Some reports have crossed my desk showing that some Republican gerrymanders may be more properly called "dummymanders," when a redrawing of the map backfires spectacularly. I'm hearing about Republican +5 districts flipping, and I think that upset potential only grows into and through 2026. I'm going to be examining partisan rankings like never before. Of course, the exploitation of our collective revulsion will depend on having credible candidates. And, obviously, voters just declared themselves enthusiastic about all types of Democrats, from avowed socialists, Muslims, atheists, and also safe middle-roaders like Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill. We need candidates on the 2026 ballot in all General Assembly districts, and I think it doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot whether they're electrifying or rarely inspirational, for opposition and resistance are winning the day.