Who faces the bigger nightmare in next year’s midterms: Democrats or Republicans?

Arithmetic and history are both against the Democrats in 2022, but their base knows all too well how serious the implications of losing Congress really are, writes Andrew Feinberg

Friday 22 October 2021 19:22 BST
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<p>Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell</p>

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell

When then-President Donald Trump went to campaign for then-Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue on 4 January, the speech he gave – and the next day’s special election result – was the stuff of nightmares for then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans.

Instead of making a coherent argument about why voters should reject then-candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Trump railed against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – members of his own party in good standing – for having the temerity to certify then-President-elect Joe Biden’s victory after three separate recounts confirming it.

Instead of rallying his supporters to vote in the next day’s special election, he complained that there was “no way” he had lost the state and called the 2020 election “rigged”. Both claims were, of course, false. But there was truth to at least one thing he said the night before Georgia voters handed Democrats full control of Congress.

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