I wrote about the concept of the American pendulum in my book, “Indivisible, Uniting Values in a Divided America,” in 2005. In short, it was the idea that Americans take good ideas and go too far with them and then come back to some semblance of the middle. I think voters approach majorities the same way. In modern American history, voters do not like to have all the power in one party’s hands, but they do want those parties to work together. That is why if you are a partisan and your party has the White House and both branches of the legislature, you have to work at warp speed to get your president’s agenda through because you do not know if you will have another term.
With the exception of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), every major piece of legislation (Medicare, Social Security, Civil Rights, Voting Rights) was passed with big majorities from both parties. At the time the ACA was passed, Rep Eric Cantor said that if you took the 4 tenets of the ACA and put them in a bill together, you could pass them with 70%. At that time, then Speaker Nancy Pelosi, knew they did not have much time, so she gambled with a one party vote and then lost her majority in the next go round. Congressman Doug Collins said in November 2019 that Nancy Pelosi is willing to risk everything to get what she wants, even the majority. That is what she is doing now.
I think things are different than they were in 2010. The Republican majority of the last Congress in 2017 and 2018 squandered an opportunity to further the president’s agenda. The Senate was all in, but the House lagged behind under the leadership of Speaker Paul Ryan and those on his leadership team. Ryan was a guy who went from intern to staffer to congressman to Vice Presidential candidate to Speaker. He never had a real job and he believed in the system. He was part of the “swamp” and he dragged everyone in his leadership team there with him. He may have lost the majority anyway in 2018, but he was not bold in pushing for the president’s agenda and we will never know how much could have been accomplished and if it would have put us in a better place going in to the pandemic.
Be wary of those who were quiet in 2017 and 2018 who now want you to go to the polls and give them more---more power, prestige and status. Some say, they have made up for it for being staunch supporters of the president against impeachment and maybe they have but 2017 and 2018 is not that long ago and if they were timid with their majority then, how will they behave if Republicans win the majority back.
Anyone who says they know how November is going to play out does not know what they are talking about. One thing we do know is state and district polling is lacking and very inaccurate. You can make a poll say anything you want and at the risk of being trite, the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day. I will work to give you the best analysis possible. I did not name names because there are too many to name who were in the “support Paul Ryan camp.” It was his turn to be
Speaker of the House and those who wanted power within the House of Representatives supported him. He did not last long in that position because he could not support the president. Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you have to support the agenda of the president when they are in your party. That is the way that works. The voters will decide and I believe they will turn out in record numbers in November so that makes our goal clear, tell voters what you will accomplish and what you stand for and hope you can win their votes. It will be harder, but it can be done.
