Extremism and division, factors in the failure of the so-called “red wave”

Despite the disastrous predictions for the midterm Democrats, everything seems to indicate that they are not as bad as expected. The “red wave” that the Republicans expected did not seem to materialize. Control of the Senate, today with a Democratic majority, has yet to be clarified, and all indications are that the Republicans will control the lower house, but not for the dozens of seats they were counting on.

In other words, it was a good day for American democracy, which consolidated overnight against the harbingers of disinformation and failure, as well as the false propagandists of the said “red wave”, which in fact turned into a “shabby puddle”. However, don’t underestimate the damage Republicans can do at the legislative level if they control one or both houses of Congress.

Perhaps in a divided country there were elections with separate results, and both sides had reason to rejoice. And Trumpism has also been shown to have its vulnerabilities, as in the case of Pennsylvania, where Donald J. Trump-backed candidate Mehmet Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman, whose wife is a Brazilian immigrant who has been undocumented for 10 years. . There are other similar examples.

In other words, it was also a bad night for Trump and his people, who with their rhetoric spread the context of election violence, which also did not work for them, because there was a civility and a right to vote, even exceeding expectations and demonstrating a way to continue at the next election fairs. By itself, Trumpism no longer makes sense, it does not fit into this democracy. Trump is essentially a lousy political investor.

On the other hand, the Nevada Senate race between Democratic incumbent Katherine Cortez Masto and Republican Trumpist Adam Laxalt was undecided, as was that of Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly and Trumpist Blake Masters.

In Texas, Republican anti-immigrant Gov. Greg Abbott reaffirmed his post. In South Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, once a Democratic stronghold, the results have been mixed. Of the three Republican candidates backed by Trump, only one, Monica de la Cruz, won her seat in the 15th district, defeating Democrat Michelle Vallejo. Perhaps this is one of the races that demonstrates the lack of investment of the Democrats at the national level, when they determine that it is difficult to win these races, thus giving way to the Republicans. At least in the case of Maira Flores (TX-34) and Cassie Garcia (TX-28), the realities of the election taught them a lesson they won’t forget when they lose convincingly in their districts.

In fact, in South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, Democrats have invested neither resources nor time, thinking – as always – that Hispanic voters will not abandon them, even though Hispanic support for Democrats has waned since 2020. In fact, Biden won in 2020 by a smaller margin than Hillary Clinton in 2016 in Hidalgo and Starr counties.

Florida is a different story. Indeed, there was a “red wave” with Republican triumphs: Ron DeSantis as governor, Marco Rubio in the Senate, and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in the 10th district, all with broad support for the Hispanic vote in the state. In fact, Hispanic media covered how 70 percent Hispanic Miami-Dade County elected Republican DeSantis as governor for the first time in 20 years. Jeb Bush won this district in 2002.

This proves how vacillating the Hispanic vote can be, although in the case of Florida it has already been said that it has gone from being a purple state that can lean towards either of the two parties, and has become red.

Thus, these still undecided elections provide lessons for both parties that should push their respective strategists to learn how to better interpret this segment of the American electorate and avoid mixing cultural stereotypes with the political realities of a particular election time.

For example, while there was no red wave, the Democrats would be better off if they made the right investments in the right sectors whose support could tip the electoral balance. In fact, Hispanics weren’t too Republican-leaning, as expected. But the erosion of Hispanic votes among Democrats in the party’s once-safe strongholds like South Texas and Miami-Dade County is also very real.

But election after election of Democrats warns of the same thing, that Hispanic votes are not monolithic, that they fluctuate and may even be far right, center or far left. And they are persuasive. If a party and the candidates they support do not consider their priorities, Latinos listen to what other parties and other candidates have to say, even if they are extremists like Donald Trump. Democrats must understand once and for all that this vote must be sought on an ongoing basis, and not days or hours before the election.

And despite all this, Hispanics continue to favor Democrats over Republicans. The proof of this is that, for example, the southern border did not become “red” and that the deniers of the elections failed again.

The lesson for Republicans is that their extremist and anti-immigrant discourse has its limits. Maybe it helps them with the MAGA base, but for the rest of the country, extremism and division are warning signs.