It sounds a bit like a Dr. Seuss rhyme. Robert Reich’s Substack newsletter today commented that the election returns haven’t shown any evidence of a partisan wave. As Professor Reich put it, Americans didn’t want to make waves; they told us that they wanted a stable, competent government that can make well-considered policy decisions. I agree.
Later, on The Beat with Ari Melber, the host suggested that there may have been a Feminine Wave created by the SCOTUS Dobbs decision. There may have also been a Youth Wave created by factors including Dobbs, student loan forgiveness and gun control advocacy. I think they are both right as regards the influences of party policy and election results. But the idea of waves determining the outcome was far off the mark this election.
Voters were confronted with a conservative activist SCOTUS, the Dobbs decision, toxic bilge that is constantly spewing forth from his most Orange Hideousness at Mar a Lago, election denialists running for control of electoral college votes in swing states, and a host of other issues. I don’t think that single issue voters determined the outcome.
Perhaps the general electoral sentiment was something akin to, “Stop the Madness, already!”