Forest

Tonight we're posting 2 more Texas songs that didn't quite make the main cut.

First off is the great ballad by George Strait. Amarillo by Morning

https://youtu.be/wtVeDaZxAXo?si=jJjzw7mTY_EVDhCj

Secondly, we have that classic tune: Yellow Rose of Texas. For our road trip, we're going with the Roy Rogers rendition.

https://youtu.be/LxMGsFbQlX4?si=oTEEN79C3FCx3w2N

So another football cup called the Cup of Harmony started?

Well, that was an election.

Now that the dust is settling, and the final picture is looming into view (although as of this writing, 2 federal senators, 2 state governors, and 20-some federal representatives are yet to be called), I have a few thoughts.

First, I think that this election was much more anti-Trump and anti-Republican Party than it was pro-Democratic Party. It’s indisputably true that the Democratic candidates were much more likable as a group (e.g. Ossoff, Talarico) than the Republicans were (e.g. Paxton, Ramaswamy), and that helped a great deal, but the underlying fundamentals were huge shifts away from the Republicans compared with the 2024 election.

Second, I think that single best thing which could happen for the Republican Party would be if Trump went to the big cheeseburger in the underworld. He’s not going to let the party try to move on and recalibrate, and he’s going to very tiresomely suck the oxygen out of everything for two more years. That will greatly weigh down the Republicans. If living standards don’t improve for Americans in the next two years (e.g. cost of living, inflation, ICE raids, retrograde social ideology), they’re not going to blame Democrats in the Congress; they’re going to blame the orange baby at the top who’s already brought things down to this low ebb. So if Trump doesn’t go away in such a way that he finally just shuts up and recedes from public consciousness, 2028 is likely to be another bad election for the Republicans. It probably won’t be as extreme as these midterms, simply because they were so far out there, but it won’t be a good night for Republicans in two years. Also, let’s just rule out a fantasy of “Trump might learn/adapt;” one, he’s shown no such ability in the last decade, and two, he just made Stephen Miller the chief of staff, which says it all.

Third, and in contrast to the last point, the Democrats have a wealth of options for 2028. For someone like Jon Ossoff to have won by such massive margins in Georgia on the combined strength of college-educated whites and minority groups, along with his personal affect, he’s really got Obama vibes. He’s also in his 30s. My governor, Josh Shapiro, won more than a million excess votes than his Republican challenger, and in a state Trump won by small margins twice. Shapiro got a slightly larger percentage of the vote in Pennsylvania than the Democrat in New York did. That’s astonishing, regardless of any other factor. At this point, I think you’d have to conclude that 2028 is the Democratic Party’s to lose, unless Trump goes away and the Republicans vigorously recalibrate.

Fourth, I agree with some on here who have said that the Democrats in congress are likely to be disappointing over the next two years. Anything they do is going to be vetoed, and aside from investigations, their autonomous power is quite limited. HOWEVER, I think the greatest good is in what they won’t do, which is name Trump’s wacky candidates to the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court. That’s not going to, in itself, translate into any votes in 2028 which they wouldn’t already get, but it will meaningfully start to root out the future impact of Trump’s era.

Fifth, I think that by far the biggest and most positive story from the election is that now, 75% of Americans will live in a state with a Democratic governor, and 53% will live in a state with unified Democratic control over their state government. That’s the big one. The states have a huge amount of power within their own borders. Repressive voter laws in southern states? Gone. Gerrymandered state government and federal representative districts? Gone. Election deniers in 2028 trying to steal the election? No shot with Democrats in control of the relevant offices. Various social issues? Secured with Democratic control. In every state where Trump tried to steal the 2020 election, Democrats now control every office and government organ which might have potentially gone along with the stolen election conspiracy. This also extends to future swing states, such as North Carolina and Texas.

Sixth, it’s worth briefly mentioning that the sheer scale of the Democratic victory will take successive losses to undo, regardless of what happens. In the Senate, the 2028 map is better for Democrats than this one was, and these new Democratic seats will be there until 2032. The same goes to a lesser extent for all four-year terms in various state offices, so those are guaranteed to 2030. And if Democrats remove the gerrymanders Republicans put into place and fix suppressive laws and systems for voting, they may put many states on a even footing where Republicans will no longer be able to extract a disproportionate victory from a neutral or even slightly hostile environment, as they have done.

Seventh and finally, this election showed that partisanship doesn’t ultimately overpower basic, daily economic or personal pain caused by stupid people making stupid decisions. The main system of the last few decades, really, has been that neither party has a big advantage, and that things are increasingly entrenched and tenuous. This election really, truly shakes a lot of things up, and opens the door towards a larger shift going forward, or at least towards more fluidity in voting outcomes. The MAGA cult seems to be on its way out, and if the Democrats have a good 2028, it will likely be the end for Trump’s corrosive movement.

~

I’m now going back to not focusing on politics. 2024-2026 was a good two year period to ignore everything, and I found a lot of personal peace and freedom in not paying attention. My plan now is to continue on the path, but while knowing that things have taken a massive step in the right direction for once.

Guys, Look At This New Video I Made About My Nation

Yesterday, Valentine Z celebrates her 11th year on this site.

This dispatch was for the 10th anniversary, but hey!

I know people typically kind ironically or unironically sees NationStates itself as a detriment or the hellsite, and hey, I am all for the memes! For me, however, it's a little more than that - because I deadass would not have met you all any other way; we don't really have that similar circle thing going on.

So yeah, again in a good way, I really have the honor and gratitude of meeting you all, and also making my own lore. ♥