From: punditster@gmail.com   
      
   On 2/13/2026 3:31 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   > On Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:30:03 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2/13/2026 2:06 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>> On Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:58:36 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 2/13/2026 1:21 PM, Tara wrote:   
   >>>>> On Feb 13, 2026 at 2:55:03?PM EST, "Noah Sombrero"  wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> On Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:37:27 +0000, Julian    
   >>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> We gotta win the midterms,? President Donald Trump told the crowd in   
   >>>>>>> Iowa at the end of last month. ?I?m here because we?re starting the   
   >>>>>>> campaign to win the midterms. That means Senate and it means House.?   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Trump is, by all accounts, obsessed with the upcoming elections in   
   >>>>>>> November. Having been distracted by various foreign dramas, and seeing   
   >>>>>>> his approval ratings dip, the President aims to pivot back to a   
   domestic   
   >>>>>>> mission in 2026.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Trump understands the stakes, hence choosing Iowa, the traditional   
   >>>>>>> starting place for presidential primaries, to launch this campaign. The   
   >>>>>>> final two years of his presidency hinge on the outcome of these   
   >>>>>>> elections. He sees that, without a congressional majority in both   
   >>>>>>> houses, his political revolution will stall or even be reversed. If the   
   >>>>>>> Democrats capture the House, Trump would almost certainly face another   
   >>>>>>> round of noisy congressional battles and, quite likely, impeachment.   
   >>>>>>> That would drown out the revolutionary tempo of his second   
   >>>>>>> administration ? a repeat of the relentless Democrat-led scuppering of   
   >>>>>>> his first term, only with added venom.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Trump?s plan is to focus on what voters care about most: the economy.   
   At   
   >>>>>>> the Iowa rally, a large banner above the President read: ?LOWER PRICES,   
   >>>>>>> BIGGER PAYCHECKS.? He brags relentlessly about having lowered the cost   
   >>>>>>> of gas and is busy hyping a series of policies designed to make   
   >>>>>>> Americans feel good about their finances. There?s the $1,000 ?Trump   
   >>>>>>> Account? for every child born in the US between January 1, 2025 and   
   >>>>>>> December 2028 and, perhaps soon, a $2,000 ?tariff dividend? for every   
   >>>>>>> American taxpayer. Moreover, if Trump?s new nominee Kevin Warsh is   
   >>>>>>> installed as chairman of the Federal Reserve in May, he may well get   
   >>>>>>> those feel-good interest rate cuts he so badly wants.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> At the same time, the Democrats are increasingly confident that, for   
   all   
   >>>>>>> Trump?s salesmanship skills, lingering cost-of-living pain and   
   anxieties   
   >>>>>>> about the impacts of his erratic tariff system will ensure victory for   
   >>>>>>> their party. They believe a giant blue wave could soon drown out   
   Trump?s   
   >>>>>>> legacy once and for all. The latest Fox poll supports such a view: only   
   >>>>>>> 20 percent of respondents felt Trump?s economic policies had ?helped?;   
   >>>>>>> 43 percent said they had ?hurt.?   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Unfazed by her failure in 2024, Kamala Harris has launched a shiny new   
   >>>>>>> youth mobilization organization, ?Headquarters,? to build enthusiasm   
   >>>>>>> ahead of the midterms.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Democrats are also thrilled at growing concerns about the uglier side   
   of   
   >>>>>>> Trump?s immigration policies. Immigration is supposed to be a winning   
   >>>>>>> issue for Trump. His success in stopping illegal migration across the   
   >>>>>>> southern border is popular. Mass deportations, however, are becoming   
   >>>>>>> trickier to sell to the electorate. This is why, in the wake of last   
   >>>>>>> month?s shooting of the anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti, Trump moved   
   >>>>>>> quickly to put Tom Homan in charge of operations in Minnesota, while   
   >>>>>>> defenestrating Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> As November draws closer, Team Trump will emphasize how his strong   
   >>>>>>> crackdown on migrants, and his broader assertion of law and order in   
   >>>>>>> many American cities, has led to dramatic decreases in homicides and   
   >>>>>>> violent crimes. Yet history and logic suggest that the odds must   
   >>>>>>> strongly favor the Democrats. No one is certain about the Senate, where   
   >>>>>>> the Republican majority is stronger but still vulnerable. In the House   
   >>>>>>> of Representatives, however, where Republicans hold a vanishingly thin   
   >>>>>>> majority, Trump?s mission looks almost impossible: since the 1930s,   
   only   
   >>>>>>> three presidents have seen their party gain House seats at midterm:   
   >>>>>>> Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1934, Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W.   
   >>>>>>> Bush in 2002.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Yet Trump is blessed ? if not yet with a golden economy, then with a   
   >>>>>>> weakened and unpopular opposition. Today?s Democratic party is in hock   
   >>>>>>> to an increasingly strident leftist ideology. For the first time since   
   >>>>>>> its founding, Democrats now resemble a European socialist party, one   
   >>>>>>> that stresses centralized control, heavy regulation, identity politics,   
   >>>>>>> high taxes and income redistribution.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> That orientation is a novel development for any major American party   
   and   
   >>>>>>> does not command majority support among the public. The Democrats lack   
   a   
   >>>>>>> positive agenda and the closest figure they have to a national leader   
   is   
   >>>>>>> not Harris but the arguably more detested Governor of California, Gavin   
   >>>>>>> Newsom. His state was once a symbol of American growth and optimism;   
   now   
   >>>>>>> it is suffering outward migration for the first time since the Gold   
   Rush   
   >>>>>>> of 1849.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> But the Democrats? weakness is also their strength. Although the party   
   >>>>>>> is muddled on core issues, the real glue that binds them these days is   
   >>>>>>> their white-hot hatred of Donald Trump. Hatred is not too strong a   
   word.   
   >>>>>>> It motivates party activists, donors and especially core voters, who   
   are   
   >>>>>>> disproportionately important in midterm elections, when turnout is   
   >>>>>>> typically low. It is this hatred of Trump that keeps true believers   
   >>>>>>> marching through the bone-chilling cold of a Minneapolis winter. It   
   >>>>>>> inspires them to vote for a socialist (some say communist) mayor of New   
   >>>>>>> York who cannot pay for his airy promises and has never managed so much   
   >>>>>>> as a two-car funeral.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> While Democrats fear a reign of right-wing populism, Republicans fear   
   an   
   >>>>>>> irreversible slide into socialism, managed by a sclerotic Washington   
   >>>>>>> bureaucracy. Notions of a ?loyal opposition? are long forgotten. For   
   the   
      
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