Mendacious mid-term merry-go-round

THE EDITOR, Madam:

For what seems like forever, all forms of media that I follow have been predicting the outcome of the US congressional midterm elections due on November 3. Every commentator and political pundit advises that these are the most important midterms ever, and this certainly intensifies the hype.

Simple research shows that the sitting president’s party almost always loses seats in the House of Representatives in every midterm election. These are the 21st midterm elections since 1946, and only twice in those 80 years has a president’s party gained seats in the House. That was in 1998 when President Bill Clinton’s Democrats were in the minority, but still gained five seats; despite the salacious scandal with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton had a 66 per cent popularity rating, as the economy was performing really well. Voters thought more about their pocketbooks than about presidential peccadilloes.

Then controversial House Speaker Newt Gingrich lost favour with his own Republicans just four years later, and immediately resigned. In the very next midterms, it was President George W. Bush’s Republicans who picked up eight seats in Congress in 2002, at a time when his popularity was at an all-time high of 63 per cent, with America at war in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda the previous year.

The only other presidents to go into the midterms with an approval rating over 60 per cent were Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, John F. Kennedy in 1962 and Ronald Reagan in 1986. Despite their popularity, they lost seats in those years, as did every other president since World War II, except Clinton and Bush.

Nothing is certain in the sleazy and sordid saga known as presidential politics. Nobody forgets the ]October Surprise’ of the Cuban Missile Crisis right before the 1962 midterms, and the popularity boost JFK earned for his performance in those critical days, only to be assassinated a year later.

We are currently in far different times, riding the disinformation highway, paved by participants from cable television and social media, including influencers, content creators, YouTubers, podcasters, and so many more that, to name them, all would grossly exceed your word limit. Political parties are front and centre in spreading propaganda, and President Trump never misses opportunities to sling some foul-smelling substance at those he perceives as enemies. The gloves are off, and there are no rules for those who ride this mendacious midterm merry-go-round.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada