Friday Fun: Let’s Count the Ways It WAS a Blue Wave

Make no mistake about it, despite the Faux “news” (sic) blathering and Twitler’s mendacious claim that it was “close to a complete victory” (and when was the last time that man-child told the truth?) – it was most definitely a Blue Wave election.

Being truthful, we can admit that it was not the Blue Tsunami that we had all been hoping for.  But it was also NOT a Blue Ripple like RepubliKKKlans are trying to spin it.  Let’s get down to the nitty gritty and count the ways it does add up to a beautiful Blue Wave.

But I’m going to need your help doing that.  There was so much good news on Tuesday (along with some very disappointing news, like Beto’s loss) that I’m sure I’ll miss out on some of the news.  So I hope you will add the ones I forget in your Comments.

[MAJOR CAVEAT: As we know, votes are still being counted (even though republicans actually SUED in an effort to STOP votes from being counted).  And totals are generally moving in Democrats’ favor.  So numbers and results are not final]

Let’s begin with the “Big Picture” and look at the general trend in the 2018 Midterm.  And to do that we’ll use the House of Representatives results since it was the only fully national election:

Little too confusing?  Let’s break it down to first show Districts that became “Redder” – of which there were a couple dozen:

Now let’s look at a map showing districts that became “Bluer” – of which there were at least 317!

Even better news, let’s take a look just within those Districts that elected RepubliKKKlans – and show with a graph if they generally became “Redder” or “Bluer”.

Yup – 171 Districts, while electing RepuliKKKlans, still moved to the Left!

[Above graphics from “The New York Times”]

So to summarize, Nate Silver of 538 anticipates Democrats will have taken 34 seats in the House – well above the 23 needed to gain control

Democrats currently lead the popular vote in the U.S. House by about 6 million votes or 6% of the vote. Likely to rise to around 8 million votes and 7-8% once all votes are counted.

The final Rasmussen Reports poll said REPUBLICANS would win the popular vote. @Rasmussen_Poll

And Prof. Sam Wang of the Princeton University Election Consortium is even more optimistic, showing that while it may not be the largest “Wave” in history – it certainly qualifies as a Wave:

The NYT currently projects a national popular-vote margin of D+9.2%. The largest popular margin since 2008, larger than waves of 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014.

1994: R+7.1%
2006: D+8.0%
2008: D+10.6%
2010: R+7.2%
2014: R+5.7%

By historical standards, this a popular wave. pic.twitter.com/4hw71hieVN

— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) November 7, 2018

But the good news didn’t just come from the national level – it occurred at the state level, too!

America now has 45 Million MORE Americans living under unified control by Democrats from winning the Trifecta of Governor and both houses in the state legislatures!  Not only did they gain full control in six new states — Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada and New York — but they also broke the GOP’s total hold in Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire and Wisconsin by winning control of at least one Chamber or Governor’s chair.

Broken down, that includes at least seven governorships and at least six legislative chambers.

 

And all of this was accomplished by expanding the Democratic Tent – setting historic records for electing women, minorities and LGBTQ candidates – including electing the first openly gay governor in Colorado.  Maybe it was more of a “Rainbow Wave” than a Blue Wave.

But the good news didn’t stop with just our candidates – it extended to ballot measures and initiatives across the country.

Voters in Michigan, Colorado, and Missouri (busting with pride here) all approved ballot initiatives to end political Gerrymandering, with approval rates from 60 percent to more than 70 percent!

Two states voted to increase their minimum wages requirements – Arkansas and Missouri (even prouder still)!  Both Utah and Missouri (OK – I’ll quit) approved the use of medical marijuana, while Michigan went a step further approving its recreational use.  And voters surprisingly approved Medicaid expansion in the ruby-red states of Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah.  Plus the newly elected governors of Maine and Kansas pledged to not veto similar measures that had already passed but were blocked by their predecessors.  And voting rights were restored to felons who had paid their dues in Florida.

[This pretty much covers the above paragraph]

And for a cherry-on-top (I’m counting on you guys to add even more cherries that I missed in your Comments), that Bible-thumping hypocrite and homophobic clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue Marriage Licenses to gay couples – Kim Davis – lost her election!

While we should take a bit of time to enjoy our Blue Wave victories, we then need to start working on turning that Blue Wave into productive policies for America!