814
Democrats win control of Senate as US voters reject Trump’s agenda
(www.theguardian.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2026
814 points (99.8% liked)
politics
31727 readers
3788 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles. Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to US politics and contain quality and original content. Social Media adjacent hosts like Substack are allowed, but ONLY if they tie back to a company/subsidiary. No personal or friend group blogs and no self-promotion. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and re-hosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing other users of being bots or paid actors.
- No memes, trolling, misinformation, or low-effort posts/comments (including reposts). If you see posts like this that anger you, do not engage. Report, block, and live a happier life than they do. Any slap-fight is subject to comment removals. Fights full of rule violations will result in temporary bans to cool off.
- No manipulating votes via bots or alt accounts; this will result in permanent bans. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in an account ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be permanently banned.
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules and use critical thinking when reading, posting, and commenting. Users that repeatedly have comments or posts removed, weaponize reports, or violate the code of conduct, will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users. The reason(s) behind moderator action(s) are publicly available through the Modlog.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Wow. Some of these upsets are insane. God now all that's left is for them to actually punish trump.
Do we have enough of a lead to overcome republican obstruction?
best we can do is a non-binding finger wag
I am wondering if the GOP sees this voting bloodbath as a referendum on trump. If so then they might feel he's more of a liability than an asset and they 25th Amendment him.
There’s always the possibility there are Republicans with ethics and values (and who have not yet quit in disgust), who will find their voice now that they won’t be marginalized by their own party.
I envy those of you who still have any hope he'll have any amount of accountability at all for anything ever.
They won’t. All they’ll think is next time cheat harder
They haven't finished cheating harder this time. The results still have to be honored and the new representatives sworn in.
They have no choice now. They either adapt or get completely annihilated again in 2028 because Trump isn't going away. So now we'll see how many of the GOP are just grifters and how many are true believers in the cult.
They tried with all of the mid-cycle redistricting measures to try to gerrymander their way to victory.
It backfired. Republicans got flattened.
Even r/Conservative is finally smelling the Spirit of Hartshorn.
r/Conservative reacts for 6 to 12 hours before shutting everything down and moving on to a new set of talking points. The really significant development would be if the narrative remains broken for a few days
When something big like this happens it typically takes 2-3 days for the Nazi media to develop new talking points. Every now and then it takes longer, eg the January 6th attack took them a few months to fully rationalize.
“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum
I forgot about that cesspool, is it even relevant anymore? Like...is this deadass? Aren't they literally talking about themselves?:
(All 23 replies aren't available to view btw, if anyone was curious. That sub suppresses it's users like they live in a majority black district)
I believe that comment is about Trump and Hegseth intentionally. Is be shocked if it wasn't deleted
If they couldn't sway it when they controlled the government on nearly all levels I doubt they can when they've lost most states
I really hope you are right.
I doubt it.
However I do think the Republican leadership plan is to get rid of Trump in January. Trump is a loose cannon they can't control, and he's caused way too many issues for them, but leveraging his clear mental decline after he gets past the halfway point of his 2nd term gives them free reign to toss him aside via his obvious dementia. Install Vance for the remaining 2 years, someone they can control, hoping to get that sweet 10 year total.
I doubt this happens. Their base is still way up Trump's ass and they'd pay for it in 2028.
You might see some of them, especially the ones from purple states, push back more against Trump but convicting him in an impeachment trial won't happen.
$130 billion of excess oil industry profit says you're wrong.
They're cowards, they won't do shit.
No, they know they're in too deep and it's ride or die. The most decisive thing they're going to do in from new on is eventually annihilate their families three days after Trump dies when he doesn't come back to life.
no great loss.
It would be nice, but that's probably not in the cards for the next two years. Even if everything goes right at this point, the Democrats would be looking at 55 seats in the Senate. That's still 5 seats short of overriding filibusters or vetoes and also for an impeachment conviction. The Democrats need to govern well, get the cost of living down and they need to show that the trust put in them was well placed. Spending the next two years in a bunch of political theater won't do that and Democrats will lose the trust they have now.
Trump's corrupt regime needs to be held to account, but that's not going to happen in the next two years. Democrats need to prove they can make peoples' lives better so they can expand (or at least maintain) their advantage. Then, if they can win the Presidency in 2028, then it will be time to retool the DOJ into an actual law enforcement arm and turn them loose on the corruption of Trump's administration.
They don't have trust now. They are not Republicans; that is the one and only reason they are winning today. None of this is about trusting Democrats and if they don't understand that and respond appropriately then the US is going to have Marco Rubio or some other Republican ass clown as president in 2028.
I really don't see any way the GOP wins the presidency in 2028. That's just not how US politics work. People always hate Congress, but they blame the president for bad economies and bad news.
It's far more likely this turns out like 2006-2008, where the Dems had a huge wave in 2006 and then an even bigger one in 2008 when they elected Obama.
Swing and low info voters simply don't give much of a shit about the work Congress actually does on a daily basis. They're going to blame the president for their problems like they always have.
Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974. Regan trounced Carter in 1980. Never underestimate the American public's willingness to forget about past crimes. I hope you're right that 2028 becomes a second drubbing of the GOP over their failed policies and corruption. I also doubt that what we saw last night will have any durability. It wasn't all that long ago that Democrats were talking about the the Blue Wall. And that fell apart almost as fast as it got named.
I agree that most voters don't care about politics. And more importantly, they don't want to hear about it. And this is why I see an impeachment (which will ultimately fail) is such a dumb play. It will force people to deal with politics. It will be the news cycle for months. And ultimately the votes just don't exist in the Senate to convict. Which means the public has politics shoved in their face for months and the end result is a propaganda win for Trump. He will push a failure to convict as him being "INNOCENT of any wrong doing" (of course it will use ALL CAPS). And the Democrats get what out of that? No one is held accountable, nothing useful gets done to begin the process of fixing the country, and the public just sees the Democrats being useless for months on end.
We need to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. But it's not really possible right now. Once he is out of office and we have a DOJ which isn't filled with criminals, then they can pick apart the criminal empire. Until then, the Democrats need to show the public that they are working to make the lives of the public better.
Nixon resigned due to corruption, and then who became president in 76? The economy stunk it up and Iran humiliated us in 1980, so then who became president? War goes bad and economy tanks in 2006, who got elected in 2008? Congress obstructs Obama for two years, who became president in 2016?
I think you're proving my point, rather than refuting it. I'm not saying Americans have a long memory, I'm saying they've proven they don't understand the role of Congress in our government and blame the head of state instead.
You can go back many decades and see the same pattern over and over again. Americans blame the president when things aren't going well, and reelect the president when they think things are good. And it's mainly but not exclusively tied to the economy.
I don't see the economy improving with Trump in charge. It'll likely get worse. The GOP can whine and cry about Congress all they want but that's never worked in the past, and won't work now. Americans expect the president to deliver and they've allowed Congress to concede large amounts of power to the WH for that reason over the decades.
I'm not making any argument about impeachment here (I'd rather harass the GOP with constant investigations), I'm simply saying the GOP doesn't have a good way out of this situation. And I do think it's going to be durable, because Trump is their biggest liability and he absolutely cannot stfu or stop doing impulsive, stupid stuff that grabs headlines and legitimately hurts voters.
If Trump kicks the bucket and Vance tones things down, that could change the landscape. But even then he's not going to do all that much with a Dem Congress and many things like the medicaid cuts will hit hard under his watch.
Talriko and el sayed seem like noncareer politicians. Maybe they'll actually bring about some change like zohran and you'll see more candidates like them in future.
Was surprised to see independents in iowa, montana and nebraska give tough fights.
I feel quite sure they don't and won't. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
Problem: The American public is out for blood. Making an example out of Trump and his allies is an essential part of gaining any long-term trust from voters. According to exit polls the state of democracy was the top issue for Democrat voters, and to deliver on that requires accountability.
Solution: Democrats need to Louis XVI this motherfucker.
I agree that it's needed. But it's a dead issue for the next two years. Let's assume both Alaska and Mississippi break for Democrats. That's 56 seats in the Senate. If we assume that all 56 Democratic Senators vote for impeachment, that's still 4 votes short of a conviction. Where do those last 4 votes come from?
Maybe they can convince Rand Paul to vote for impeachment. While he may be a couple cards short of a pair, he's pretty consistent in his Libertarian views. He might be willing to go against Trump.
Then there is Ted Cruz. Sure, he's been a full on cock-Gobbels-ing Trump. But, he did originally fight Trump and might be quite willing to jettison Trump and try to build a "savior of the GOP" for a 2028 Presidential run.
And then who? Oddly, I think Lindsey Graham might have been a possibility, but he's done the world a favor and dropped dead. And this is before we consider John Fetterman seeking to ingratiate himself further to Trump,. meaning Democrats would need to pick up another vote for impeachment.
I just don't see it as within reach. At best, it becomes virtue signaling. At worst, Trump touts the lack of conviction as "Proof" that he is innocent and of Democrats' "Trump Derangement Syndrome". It hands Trump a propaganda win while accomplishing nothing real in return. It gives him an issue to take back to the GOP base and repair some of the damage to his cult of personality. And nothing actually gets done.
Ya, it sucks big old donkey balls, but the real accountability is going to have to happen after he is out of the Presidency. His own DOJ has kinda shown the way on this. Break out the RICO act and go after every single one of the criminals who supported his corrupt regime. Toss everyone we can in jail and throw away the key.
The thing is that with a majority in the Senate they can conduct an actual investigation rather than immediately vote to acquit. This will put Trump's corruption on full blast, partly due to the better platform, partly because the Trump admin would have to comply with the investigation, forcing the remaining Republicans into a politically disadvantageous position when they inevitably vote to acquit. That aside,
Which is something the Democrats absolutely need to be doing. Remember that before this whole mess the public had almost no faith in the Democratic Party; they have to show that they're in it for real this time and one way to do that is to carry impeachment proceedings to their conclusion.
All of this, AND the problem remains of the establishment Democrats who are not fascists, but maybe where Republicans were like 20ish years ago. So it's very much an uphill battle for real progress.
But this is a night to celebrate.
The easy part of a democracy is saying, "I have the right to vote". The hard part of democracy is say, "ya, that asshole also has the right to vote." Whether we like it or not, the country as a whole is no where near as liberal/progressive/left wing as Lemmy. This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement. Hopefully with these wins, things can shift leftward and more can get done. At minimum, we can slam the brakes on the GOP and Trump's corruption and undermining of our democracy. It's slow, its frustrating and it often means we don't get what we really want. But, as terrible of a form of government as democracy is, it's a damn sight better than anything else we've tried in history.
WRONG. Blocked.
I kid, I kid.
On serious note, agreed. And we have to keep working outside of the main elections. The primaries are where we get to vote for progressives. No progressives? Getting them to run in the primaries is how we get them :)
It's massive work, but yesterday was a good day.
The Republicans folded like lawn chairs once they knew they couldn't block the release of the Epstein Files. They just need to be pressured enough to throw the executive under the bus to save their own asses.
Beating Trump still doesn't solve the genocides in Cuba and Palestine, nor will it stop the fact that billionaires dictate everything about how this country is run. The working class will continue to get crushed for billionaire profits. We need an entirely new system, a socialist system, and that will never come from the democrats. It needs revolution.
OK do it.
Start your revolution.
Because tons of socalist candidates won last night, like a lot of them. Change through voting might be slow but if last night was any indication its clearly possible.
Accelerationism isn't "make things bad," it's an (incorrect) strategy that says we should support the most competent capitalists so that we speed up the concentration of capital, which speeds up the timeframe at which capitalism itself breaks down. It's wrong because it doesn't actually get around the fact that we need to organize for revolution, and supporting the capitalist class alienates us from the working class. With that being said, the Democratic party is the accelerationist candidate, as they are generally more competent capitalists.
My solution isn't to make things worse. Revolution isn't just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. That's the plan. With a large scale socialist party and militant working class, the crisis of capitalism that inevitably comes doesn't have to devolve into barbarism. If we don't organize, the collapse is coming regardless, and we get barbarism.
Using "it" to refer to me is dehumanizing. I accept he/him or they/them pronouns, not "it." Your crypto-fascist lingo and dehumanizing of leftists is disgusting. I also don't use LLMs for my comments, I'd like a single bit of evidence for that. I've asked for evidence before, and you have never once given any, you just perpetuate dehumanizing me.
I have never, ever, used an LLM to write any of my comments. Not a single time. My entire account is good-faith, I am a socialist organizer that spends time and money each and every week fighting against the billionaires that control the United States. Billionaires control both the Democrats and Republicans. Different billionaires, sure, but billionaires nonetheless. My solution is never to "let republicans win." As I have stated, my solution is to replace the capitalist system with an entirely new system, through revolutionary means, which requires creating a mass revolutionary socialist party.
I do not work for billionaires. I do not work for the Democrats nor the Republicans. You have no argument against the necessity to create a mass revolutionary socialist party, nor the necessity of socialism itself, so you attack my personal character baselessly. In doing so, you rely on dehumanization. This is nakedly reactionary behavior, even if you think yourself progressive. And no, I will not fuck off, because online comments pale in comparison to getting yelled at in person, intimidated by cops, and the regular shit that comes with actually putting my skin on the line to fight for a better world.
You're fully capable of being an honest person and arguing against socialism and revolution without relying on dehumanization and character assassination. I believe that because I believe all working people can come to understand the necessity of socialism and the means to get there. If I didn't, I wouldn't spend so much time organizing for it.
I'll talk about anything with anyone when asked. I don't know why you think I only push back on accusations of LLM use, I push back on all manner of bullshit accusations. "Triggered," "tankie bot," "it," you keep dehumanizing me and using rhetoric straight from Gamer-Gate. You have not once proven LLM use in any capacity.
The truth is that I actually care a lot. That's it, it's as simple as that. I care a lot about advancing the cause of socialism, and if that causes you to despise me, then I can only hope one day you cease this reactionary pipeline you have yourself on. Socialism is necessary, and whether you like it or not, we either advance to it or will descend into barbarism. There's no middle path in the long run.
Your insistence that we should fight the socialists at every opportunity, rather than the capitalist class, will leave us in a moment where the crisis of capitalism hits, and there's no built-up organization to stop it, just like Germany in the 1930s.
Again, never used an LLM for any comment I have made, ever.
0 socialist candidates won. Joe Tuche and Greg Levy both got a little over 2% of the vote each, and even if they had won, you still cannot change a capitalist system into a socialist one electorally. The state is not a neutral body, it's something that co-evolves alongside the base mode of production and distribution, and is under the control of whoever controls the commanding heights of the economy. A socialist-led government over a capitalist state has no power over the capitalist class, because the capitalists control the economy.
There were many social democratic candidates that won, correct. The people clearly do want a system that works for them, and social democracy a la the DSA is in people's heads the path of least resistance to that. However, because the problem of choosing who controls the economy is never addressed, this can only end in reforms that are taken away as soon as there is a crisis of profitability. It does not replace the need for socialism.
As for revolution, it isn't just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. Both Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation have two tiers of membership, general membership which is low commitment in time and money, and cadre membership, which requires significant time and money. See which is more active near you (almost certainly PSL, but varies), and consider joining the general membership!
And yes, I do organize already. You should too!
Mississippi and Alaska are still in play too. A 56 dem senate is possible