Opinion: Doug Schoen Says Trump Is the Biggest Loser of the Midterms, but Warns Democrats That Voters Want Governing, Not Investigations
The longtime Democratic pollster, writing for Fox News, calls the result more a Republican collapse than a vote for Democrats, blames the Iran war, gas prices and a rigged-system perception, and warns the new majority against paralysis. The views are his.
This is a summary of an opinion column on Fox News by Doug Schoen. The views are his, not RightNewsRightNow's.
His verdict. Schoen writes that the big winner Tuesday night was the Democratic Party and the big loser was President Trump, given what he calls a blowout in both the House and Senate. He points to Democratic Senate wins in formerly deep-red states, naming South Carolina, Kansas and Texas, which he says looked "virtually unachievable" earlier this year.
Why it happened. He argues the night was "more of a collapse of the Republican Party than it is an affirmative vote for the Democrats." In his reading, voters rejected the Iran war "as it's being conducted," high gas prices they see as a direct result of that war, and a sense that there are "two sets of rules," one for the rich and elites and another for ordinary working people.
The Democratic problem. Schoen questions whether the new majority can govern coherently, citing progressives such as James Talarico in Texas and Troy Jackson in Maine and an agenda that he says is sympathetic to or aligned with democratic socialists. He fears Democrats will cover over the split between their establishment and far-left wings "not with policy but with investigations," and that this would deepen the paralysis of the last two years.
His advice to Republicans. He says the president and Republicans have a clear chance to govern constructively with Democrats, and that voters have shown that "simply demonizing the opposition" is not acceptable. He adds that Republicans must respond to concerns about the Iran war, corruption and inflation or face the same swing against them.
His closing point. Voters care less about party labels than about getting things done, and Democrats could face the same punishment in two years if they ignore it. "Hopefully, going forward, the big winner will be the American people," he writes, "but that's by no means certain."
Related. Our earlier report covered Democratic lawmakers' warnings of subpoenas and investigations as they take Congress.
What we could not check. The column does not give polling or vote figures for its claims about why voters acted as they did. Many races were still uncalled when he wrote. We have not verified his reading of voter motives.