Donald Trump says the upcoming midterm elections are a referendum on him — if Republicans keep control of both houses of Congress.
After 2016, predicting what voters will do is not smart. But it looks as if Republicans will increase their hold on the Senate while control of the House is a toss-up.
Despite new enthusiasm among Democratic voters, apparently a lot of men think the new Supreme Court justice was treated unfairly and intend to vote Republican in revenge. Despite worries the economy is softening, even as Trump’s trade wars are hurting farmers and factories, many think Trump is an economic genius who should be rewarded.
Before you vote, consider the following issues.
Two-thirds of Americans got nothing from Trump’s tax cut. But because of it, the nation’s annual budget deficit is headed toward the $1 trillion mark. That means Trump will have added almost $2.5 trillion to the national debt in less than three years. And a clause added to the tax cuts directly benefits the Trumps.
Saudi Arabia’s reported slaughter and dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist was dismissed by Trump as “rogue operators” getting too rough. He says he does not want to disrupt arms sales to the Saudis. Also, Saudis have personally benefitted him and his businesses by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Trump himself. Never mind that the autocrat who controls Saudi Arabia permitted 15 thugs to fly by private planes controlled by the Saudi government to Turkey to capture the journalist, who was killed a few minutes after he walked into the Saudi Arabian consulate.
After publicly mocking the woman who under oath accused the new Supreme Court justice of sexual assault, Trump called a woman he paid not to talk about sex — that she claims they had engaged in — a “horseface.” He has also referred to various, named women as “fat,” “ugly,” “a crazed, crying lowlife,” “a dog,” having the “face of a pig.” He consistently has said women who criticize him, including a presidential candidate, as having a low IQ or bad plastic surgery or of being liars. He bragged that because he is famous, he can do whatever he wants to women. A president who consistently belittles women is quite a mentor for malleable teenage boys.
Negativity, turnout
Hundreds of children are living in regimented tent cities because of Trump’s war on immigrants, even those with legitimate claims to entry or asylum. The United Nations now categorizes the U.S. as a violator of human rights.
Climate change will wreak havoc on millions more lives because Trump thinks it is a “hoax” and refuses to do anything about it.
Trump can’t praise the world’s worst dictators enough. He even says he loves North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, responsible for many deaths and possessor of nuclear weapons. Trump wants the world to reject globalism and the goal of peace; each country should look out for its own national interests first.
Trump remains determined to abolish what’s left of the Affordable Care Act, once known as Obamacare, although he has no plan to put in its place. Children could no longer stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26; pre-existing conditions would cease to be covered. The administration is arguing in court that legal protection for the chronically ill is unconstitutional.
And we’re supposed to laugh off the 5,000 documented lies he has told since his inauguration last year.
Many complain this election is turning out to be one of the most negative in memory, although each election cycle gets a little nastier — negative ads, sadly, are highly effective. Democrats are “a mob” of “terrorists.” Republicans are “amoral, uncompassionate, unquestioning Trumpers.”
Independents are up for grabs, potentially vulnerable to Trump’s palaver. Gerrymandering favors Republicans. But the real question, as always, is turnout. Traditionally, Republicans vote in higher numbers than Democrats in midterms.
If Democrats stay home, we all must live with the consequences in a chaotic, Trump-dominated world.
Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Email: amcfeatters@nationalpress.com.
