The Hope For 2026

    If you've been tuned into any of the congressional news lately, you'll know things have been changing, rapidly. Regardless of how you feel about the changes...it's an entirely new shift if government not seen since early last century. Just about every aspect of American society has been hit by these changes. From education, to parks and nature, to commerce, to trade, to the stock market, to medical research.... my God, there's a lot. My point is anyone and everyone has been affected by these changes. 

The silver lining to this dark cloud that we are seeing is that we still have our democracy (until it is gone we still have it and I will operate under such pretenses.). The midterms are going to be a figurative bloodbath. If there's one thing the 2024 election helped show me, it's that the American attention span is short, about four years- give or take. So many people forgot the kind of economic duress Trump put us into during the Covid years. 

It was only because of the inevitable delayed inflation that hit under Bidens presidency that the Republicans were able to get into solid footing. Despite the source of a lot of our economic issues stemming from Trumps first presidency, because most of those effects were not felt until Biden's term, many Americans showed us who they blamed. 

The 2024 election was marred by many other factors all of which culminated in extreme low democrat turnout. Whether it was Gaza, the shift to Kamala too soon before the elections but after the primary, the assassination attempt of Trump, etc... voters showed that they did not care to show up for the left.

    I believe that in all of this, a newer and stronger Democratic party will be forced to arrive to meet the moment. Either that or it withers and dies. I believe there is a chance that despite the hardships our nation is about to experience we may come back better than if the status quo remained. The 2026 midterms will be a test of that. If you take a look back to Trumps first midterms, the house was won back by record margins. If the same pattern holds true that means '26 will be even more record shattering. That's if, like I said, the Democratic party can rise to meet the moment. 

What does, "Meet the moment" mean to me? It means pushing back anywhere and wherever is possible, standing up both vocally and as much as legislatively possible. In the same way that Republicans wreak havoc even when they don't' have power, Democrats must do the same. It also means shedding the weight that holds them back, their billionaire influence. It's no secret that representatives in both political parties have been subjects of corruption and being bought by corporations. Republicans embrace it while it limits Democratic expansion. 

Meeting the moment means shedding some of that. Allowing legitimate voices like Bernie be heard. Even if you're not a far left person a lot of what Bernie address are understood by people across the political spectrum, even Trumpers. The only difference is the solution to the corruption. Republicans early on with Trump believed he was going to "drain the swamp" with the help of the good ol' republican way, i.e. Reganomics.

Tldr;

To wrap this up, my prediction for 2026 so far is that the US House will be taken back and the Senate is going to be close, if not taken back as well. If opposition against the Republicans grows strength inside the Democratic party then 2026 will be what I expect, if not I believe the power will grow in independent parties, dooming us to split tickets. (Damn this two party system!)