Why America's Democrats aren't as wounded as you might think
Donald Trump has wasted no time making his mark in his first week back in office, signing executive orders, delivering speeches and outlining his plans. Meanwhile, the Democrats are still absorbing their election loss in November and trying to chart a path forward. But despite the prevailing view that they are in trouble, their situation may not be as dire as it seems.
"This is one of the most misinterpreted elections in our last 75 years," said Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report. A well-known Washington analyst, Cook has provided independent commentary for decades and is widely followed by major US news outlets.
"Yes, Democrats are extremely disappointed that they lost the presidential election," he said, but pointed out that the party "picked up seats in the House of Representatives".
The Republicans still control the House after the 2022 midterms, holding 220 seats to the Democrats' 215. But while a majority requires 218 seats, the Republicans lost ground – dropping from 222 seats in 2022 – while the Democrats gained two.
"Democrats lost four seats in the Senate," Cook acknowledged. "But three of them were states that they probably shouldn't have had anymore. They were very, very red conservative Republican states, West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana."
Republicans now control the Senate with a 53-47 majority. But the election results were not a wipe-out. "Not a single governorship in the country changed parties. The state legislatures: very little happened. Same thing on Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State," he said.
Biden's loss was a "very focused, very targeted repudiation" of his presidency and the Biden-Harris administration.
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