There is plenty to say about the November 8th midterms, and much to learn. But this quote from Marc Thiessen struck me:
“There is a broader issue, and think about this: We have the worst inflation in four decades, the worst collapse in real wages in 40 years, the worst crime wave since the 1990s, the worst border crisis in U.S. history, we have Joe Biden, who is the least popular president since Harry Truman, since presidential polling happened, and there wasn’t a red wave."
And therefore
“That is a searing indictment of the Republican Party. That is a searing indictment of the message that we have been sending to the voters. They looked at all of that, and looked at the Republican alternative, and said ‘no thanks.'”
According to Thiessen, the Republican party “needs to do a really deep introspection look in the mirror right now, because this is an absolute disaster for the Republican Party, and we need to turn back.” [Fox News commentator describes midterms as ‘searing indictment’ for GOP, by Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, November 9, 2022]
There were some bright spots on November 8th: Ron DeSantis' victory in Florida, J.D. Vance in Ohio and Mike Lawler defeating Maloney in New York.
And Oklahoma. Governor Kevin Stitt was running for re-election against Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who had been elected as a Republican but who switched to the Democratic party last year. Low polling put a scare into the Republican Governors Association, who pumped money in to the state. See here and here.
As it turned out, on November 8th, Stitt won easily, with 55.5% of the vote, versus Hofmeister's 41.8%. [Also of interest: One poll predicted the Stitt blowout win. Here's what they say they did right. By Dan Snyder, FOX 25, November 9, 2022]
Meanwhile, the race for Hofmeister's current post, Superintendent of Public Instruction, was won by Republican Ryan Walters, who beat Jena Nelson 57% to 43%. Walters ran on school choice and opposition to leftist indoctrination in schools, and was in the crosshairs of the education establishment, but still won.
In a debate on October 25th, Walters had said
"We have to continue to stay vigilant as the far left has decided that they’re going to launch a war for our kids’ minds and convince our young people that they are racist,. They’re going to inject this division into the classroom. They’re going to inject this hatred of the Constitution and the values this country was founded on." [Walters storms to superintendent victory in Oklahoma in fight against 'radical Biden agenda' , by Nuria Martinez-Keel, The Oklahoman, November 9, 2022]
In other election news in Oklahoma, Senator James Lankford easily triumphed over his Democratic opponent, as he had easily triumphed over his Republican primary opponent. So it's another six years of Lankford.
Click here for VDARE.COM's James Lankford file.
