Five days after the midterm elections, with the balance of power in the House of Representatives still unknown, many are looking ahead and trying to figure out how the midterm results will alter the political landscape moving forward.
We’re looking at an interesting post -midterm week ahead for politics with President Donald Trump scheduled to make a “special announcement“ on Tuesday and Democratic leaders planning the way forward knowing control of the Senate will remain in their hands.
As many scratch their heads over a midterm outcome that for many didn’t match expectations or certainly much of the polling, NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd offered this explanation: "The voters may not be well informed on day-to-day issues but they’re also not stupid."
While midterm elections often lean toward the party out of power, Todd says many Republicans focused on the wrong message: bashing Joe Biden and relitigating 2020, which Todd says proved to be a failed strategy.
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"This was a Republican party that was not offering anything new," he added.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, says that the GOP message stood in contrast to the Democratic agenda, an agenda she credit Biden with standing by.
"The Republicans, they’ve got nothing," Warren said. "Remember right after Joe Biden was sworn in, all of the economist and the pundits in his ear who were saying go slow, go small. Joe Biden didn’t listen to them. And in fact he went big."
Democrats believe the popularity of the Inflation Reduction Act and policies like canceling student loan debt proved to outweigh any dissatisfaction citizens are feeling about other economic problems or the thought of turning Congress over to MAGA Republicans -- Even as Donald Trump is expected to announce his bid for 2024 on Tuesday night.
"And the message is not so subtle," Todd said. "You can choose not to be with me now is his message, but know that I’ll remember it."
That Trump announcement will certainly spice up this week in politics but even more consequential may just be exactly what happens with the balance of power in the House. While the "red wave" did not materialize, Republicans at this point are favored to win, even as many GOP members say they do not intend to back the current leader Kevin McCarthy.
