The midterms are finally over. After so much time in the political wilderness, the left is celebrating. Conservatives are soul-searching about what went wrong. The occasion invites reflection.
The first thing to say about the midterms is that no one was surprised by the Democratic Party win, though many were rattled by the number of victories. Everyone knew the Republicans were in trouble. Victory was not a matter of if, but by how much, and whether it would include the upper chamber or not.
Breakthroughs and Shaken Foundations
Of course, the voting-booth success of Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed causes shock since it unites socialism with Islam. Electing candidates from the Democratic Socialists of America brings their failed policies into Congress. Leftist breakthroughs in red states like Texas and Kansas cannot be ignored. The results represented serious gains.
Much has changed. However, it is also surprising how little has changed. The county electoral map of the nation still shows the American heartland as a deep red sea, albeit with larger islands of blue. Many red-state candidates won by wide margins. The foundations of the political order were shaken but not uprooted.
One can argue about the quality of some Republican candidates and the charismatic qualities of some Democrats. All these factors contributed to the victory but do not explain it.
The Rule of Discomfort
What ruled the midterms was discomfort. It was discomfort at the gas pump, the grocery store or just not knowing where the country was headed.
It was a desperate discomfort that sought relief at any cost. Voters wanted to punish those they perceived were causing it and reward those who claimed they possessed the magic to stop it. Demographic groups like young people and Hispanics that jumped on the red bandwagon in 2024 bounced back to blue in the face of this discomfort. They all wanted to make it go away.
As many commenters on the left and the right have affirmed. The election was not a mandate for the leftist agenda or an endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America. It was a rebuke of the many wrecking-ball, self-destructive policies of the Trump Administration, a poorly explained war in the Middle East, near-universal consternation at a misguided foreign policy that disserves America’s interests, painful inflation and the general uncertainty of the nation’s direction.
The nation could now face a wrecking-ball agenda from the radical and undisciplined left as it seeks to avenge past offenses and overthrow the Democratic establishment. The crazy socialist policies that have wreaked so much havoc in history could return.
The Rocking Boat
Analyzing the American political situation, especially after the second Reagan administration, the noted Catholic thinker Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira commented that Americans are not traditional but conservative. They like to conserve an American way of life in which they feel comfortable.
Thus, he said American elections are like people traveling comfortably in a small boat. When the boat leans too far to the left, they shift their weight to the right to stabilize it and maintain their comfort. They reverse direction and lean left if they sense the boat dipping excessively to the right.
The result is seesaw, must-win elections that are always the most urgent of the times. America seems doomed to this polarized existence amid moral decadence that threatens the boat as a whole.
A Move Toward Virtue
A political polity cannot be based on discomfort. When a society is motivated by discomfort, it will never be satisfied. It will lead to governments that cultivate entitlements, benefits and assumed rights (like abortion). It will favor the unbridled passions and vices. The political scene will be dominated by the party that can offer the most to its constituents, not to those who defend principles and virtue. It will be a godless society that abandons God’s Law and thus be doomed to eventual ruin.
A truly just society must be based on principles. It must seek to move the boat forward toward the goal of a virtuous life in common, and ultimately toward sanctification.
Such a position is not comfortable. It requires sacrifice and heroism—qualities that are much more attractive when properly presented to the public. These are things that should orient American politics, not rocking-boat discomfort.
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