will it be a road less travelled?

possible consequences of the U.S. 2022 midterms

The moonrise was lovely as the polls closed Tuesday night but I tend to see everything here as lovely since I have the privilege to see it regularly. None of us knew when I took this picture where the voters would take us but we have a slightly better idea twenty-four hours later. As I noted last night, however, humans tend to add far more variables and complexity to our world than pundits want to acknowledge so we cannot be certain of the majority of the questions we all would like answered now.

We should anticipate much similar stress for our political system. Little fundamentally changed yesterday to close the chasms plaguing the country’s social, cultureal and political systems. Fundamental distrust of motives on each side intensified as a result of this campaign. Indeed, the Paul Pelosi attack and resulting widespread Republican innuendo regarding the event will endure for many. Republican shock at women’s refusal to acquiesce to sweeping restrictions on abortions following the Dobbs decision similarly will persist. These are just two likely factors to keep some new voters energized over these next two years.

Will the probable Republican control over the House of Representatives result in policy proposals rather than endless oversight investigations of Democrats? What approach will former President Trump take as some critics blame him for endorsing the Republican candidates who failed to match common levels of midterm electoral successes when the White House incumbent is of the opposition? How will the Trump-versus-Ron DeSantis aspirations for the 2024 presidential ticket unfold? Will Joe Manchin or Kristen Sinema or someone else hold the Senate hostage again to maintain their support for a razor-thin Democratic should the party prove successful at holding the upper house? What completely unforeseen turn of events, such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, will throw any and all traditional analysis out the window? Will the Supreme Court issue similar rulings to Dobbs which brought out women in droves to question their second-class status on making decisions for their own health care.

We may confidently predict the nation’s political parameters as tonight’s moonrise occurs on the Chesapeake Bay but we are left with a staggeringly high number of unknowns. I am confident, however, in noting that the rest of the world watches anxiously to see how we handle the continuing saga we call the American experience. They really cannot quite fathom what is going on here these days. They hope we figure it out soon as do I. FIN