Not sure how Muslims say it, but in Germany they would say, “Der Mann,” a.k.a., The Man. (Photo credit Fox screenshot)

MAGA needs smelling salts

As if seven million No Kings protesters were not enough. As if getting humiliated not once, not twice, but three times (by Putin, Netanyahu and Xi) on the world stage were not enough. As if approval ratings underwater in every single measure are not enough. On Tuesday, Trump and MAGA suffered an epic beatdown at the place that matters most: in the voting booth.

Tuesday was an overwhelming repudiation of everything Trump and his toadies stand for. Voters emphatically rejected fascism, military unleashed on American cities, warrantless snatching people off the street (i.e., kidnapping), an economy corrupted by billionaires, and a government that starves its most vulnerable people. Had Tuesday’s election been a prize fight, it would have been stopped via technical knockout after the first round.

The bad news for Trump’s fascist administration began even before polls closed. In the Virginia governor’s race, Democrat Abigail Spanberger trounced her MAGA opponent. Spanberger delivered her victory speech before many of us finished dinner.

From there, things quickly went downhill for Trump and MAGA. Mikie Sherrill in the governor’s race in New Jersey and Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral contest sprinted to big leads. Though their races were deemed “too early to call,” both had such sizeable leads it was an inevitable formality when they were announced winners. Sherrill won in a blowout. Mamdani won handily.

Gov. Gavin Newsom led California to a crucial strategic victory. (Photo credit Fox screenshot)

West Coast Boogie

Out on the West Coast, California turned the tables on Trump, voting 2 to 1 to re-draw voting districts to negate what is happening in Texas. Dems will pick up five House seats courtesy of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Golden State voters. (A note of caution for Republicans: re-drawing maps, whereby GOP officials reduce comfortable margins from, say, 10% to 2%, may backfire. If Tuesday is an indicator, slumbering MAGA voters are awakening to the fact they’ve been fleeced by a flock of crooked Republicans. These newly awake citizens just may vote blue in 2026, regardless of what gerrymandered maps say.)

Tuesday’s shellacking, foreshadowed by Trump’s historic negative poll numbers (paltry 37% approval on the economy), proves Americans want nothing to do with an inept, corrupt government. Voters rejected the GOP authoritarian playbook wherein people lose healthcare, lose food stamps, and fare much worse economically, while insufferable billionaires get richer.

Watching Mamdani’s brilliant acceptance speech reaffirmed how backward and racist much of America remains. Democrat socialist Mamdani espouses policies we hear every election cycle from Democrats. Kamala Harris articulated some of the same ideas. Mamdani’s push for free public transportation, free childcare, rent control and affordable housing, with rich folks paying a fair tax, are things everyone would benefit from. It’s pathetic that so many Americans still lose their minds when a highly intelligent Muslim speaks truth to power.

It’s also pathetic that, unable to simply savor Tuesday’s victory, some progressives ask the silly, divisive question, Is Mamdani the future of the party? Duh, the future of the party is an informed electorate voting against MAGA fascism.

Just do it

Of course, it’s one thing to articulate innovative policies in a victory speech. It’s an altogether different thing to make policies reality. Just ask former President Obama about his journey to pass the Affordable Care Act. (The ACA is still in the crosshairs of jealous Republicans, their constituent’s needs be damned.) However, Mamdani is determined to implement his agenda, and voters appear ready to throw out New York City lawmakers who stand in the way.

Tuesday was ladies night in New Jersey and Virginia. (Photos credit Fox screenshot)

Tuesday was a great night for good versus evil. The two highly anticipated gubernatorial races ended in definitive victories for Democrats Sherrill and Spanberger. They soundly defeated opponents who hitched their wagons to Trump. Tuesday night may set the table for what’s coming in 2026. Will GOP candidates eschew campaign help from a soiled 34x felon? Will Democrats retain the discipline and belly fire that gave voters reason to support Dems, who finally proved willing to roll up their sleeves and punch back?

Mamdani sent the corrupt, accused sexual assaulter Andrew Cuomo packing to Florida. Californians reminded everyone that a state with the world’s 4th largest economy has the power to chart its own course, and the gravitational pull to influence others. Hopefully, blue states like New York, Illinois and Colorado will re-draw their district maps, too.

In Virginia, Dems also won the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, and gained 13 seats in the legislature for a 64-36 advantage. Re-districting is now a real possibility in Virginia. In Pennsylvania, voters re-elected three Democrats to the state Supreme Court allowing Dem justices to retain their 5-2 majority. And in Mississippi, voters elected enough Democrats to break the Republican state Senate supermajority.

When I was in college, completing an assignment for a psychology class, I concluded that in relationships the pendulum most always swings back. Tuesday night, the relationship voters have with truth and fairness swung back. There’s still work to do but Big ‘Mo (momentum) is in Democrats’ corner.

Don’t soften up

The only downside Tuesday was when former President Joe Biden offered flowery condolences regarding the death of Dick Cheney.

In fact, Cheney was a ruthless, corrupt, evil man. Kind of a Trump-lite. Cheney’s lie about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction led to the deaths of thousands of innocent people. His embrace of torturing prisoners made him a war criminal, according to legal experts and human rights organizations. Cheney pushed for expansion of executive branch power (sound familiar?). If there’s a hell, Dick Cheney should be where the goblins go, below. All Biden needed to say was, “Good riddance.”

And therein lies the underlying concern. There are still Dems who do not understand that, when it comes to dealing with corrupt Republicans, traditional Washington decorum is out, and a smack upside the head is in.

ELECTION ROUT