Nov 18, 2018 5 min read

A funny thing happened on the way to the much-ballyhooed “blue wave” in the recent midterm election. It didn’t happen. In fact, it was hardly a “blue ripple.”

Conventional wisdom proclaims that the party in power will lose many House seats and maybe some Senate seats in the midterm election. Obama is the star in that department, having lost 63 House seats in 2010. Clinton wasn’t far behind, losing 52 in 1994. This year, despite certified predictions of doom and gloom for Republicans, President Trump lost just 26 seats and that with the help of some serious gerrymandering by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and 26 Republican retirements (plus 13 seeking higher office). The Republicans picked up seats in the Senate.

Both nationally and in Pennsylvania, turnout for this election was at record levels. Nationally, 48.3 percent of registered voters cast ballots; in Pennsylvania, 57 percent voted, and in Washington County, 56.7 percent voted.

There are some important lessons to be gleaned from this election.

First and foremost, many voters seem less inclined to vote for a party than for their values. The Democrats have long played the identity politics card and it is no longer working. They can no longer depend on the unwavering allegiance of blacks, Hispanics and other “identity” groups. People are increasingly inclined to vote for that which impacts them the most. If there is a divide, it is between those who work for a living in the private sector and those who either work for the government or receive significant benefits from the government.

Those who are employed in the private sector are concerned about jobs, their security, immigration, the economy and their future. Those in the employ of the government and recipients of various income redistribution programs are more concerned about the security of their food source, bigger and bigger government and increasing its largess. Those in the real world of private industry, regardless of “identity group,” are concerned that those they elect will produce real world results that help them. They look at what Trump has delivered with regard to decreasing taxes, decreasing unemployment to record low levels, reducing welfare rolls, increasing take-home pay, a record stock market, shutting down illegal immigration that threatens their jobs and security, strengthening our military, renegotiating unfavorable trade agreements and upholding our Constitution and our laws. They compare this to Democrat promises to increase taxes, reduce jobs, shut down industries, increase regulation, make health care increasingly unaffordable, gut our military, increase the size of government and its intrusion into our lives, ignore the Constitution and move this nation toward guaranteed-to-fail socialism. The choice is pretty clear for rational people.

We also learned from this election that despite the media’s disdain for the president, he is a powerful political force. He was a tireless campaigner and positively impacted races in Florida (despite blatant Democrat vote tampering), Texas, Indiana, Ohio, North Dakota, Tennessee and Missouri. Yet to be determined is Georgia. In Arizona they apparently kept counting until enough votes could be manufactured. We also learned that Obama is a toxic campaigner, losing four of the six races in which he was involved. Come to think of it, he didn’t help Hillary, either. He, and his party, really have nothing to sell other than “hate Trump,” high taxes and bigger, more oppressive government.

We learned that Republicans behave very differently than Democrats. Despite losing the House, there were no demonstrations in the streets, no snowflake meltdowns requiring therapy animals or counselors, no marches on Washington, no chasing Democrats out of eating places and no media rants about the House of Representatives being an “illegitimate body” because they didn’t win.

We learned that the Democratic Party is as corrupt as ever, trying to steal multiple elections with tired, old, dirty tricks to defraud voters. In Florida, for example, tens of thousands of ballots, almost all Democrat, were suddenly “found” days after the election. No chain of custody, just “found,” manufactured as needed. The top election official in Broward County pays no attention to election laws in her quest to overturn an election. Now Democrats want to count votes cast by illegals and noncitizens. In Arizona it’s the same thing. Boxes of uncounted ballots keep magically turning up seemingly as needed.

Here in Washington County, Republicans have a great deal to be proud of. Despite a Democratic edge in registration, the county supported both Scott Wagner for governor and Lou Barletta for Senate. We elected Guy Reschenthaler congressman in the 14th District and re-elected state Sen. Camera Bartolotta. We elected five great young state representatives in Josh Kail, Mike Puskaric, Jason Ortitay, Natalie Mihalek and Tim O’Neal. Not only did these candidates win, but they won big. One race is yet to be decided.

Why were Republicans so successful in Washington County? Because our voters are value voters who are willing to shed old identity stereotypes and vote for what positively impacts them. They voted for what Republicans are delivering – a great economy, strong support of the energy and manufacturing industries in the county, jobs, security, a strong military, more take-home pay and constitutional government.

If Democrats are insane enough (and I think they are) to choose Nancy Pelosi as speaker again, and if she and her fellow radicals follow through on the “campaign of vengeance” they are pitching, Trump should be assured of re-election in 2020 along with large majorities in both houses.

Dave Ball is vice chairman of the Washington County Republican Party and a Peters Township councilman.