SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One week after the midterms, the full scope of America's changing political landscape is coming into focus.
Back in September, President Trump told Republicans and independents to pretend he was on the midterm ballot. Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said voters listened — just not how Trump hoped.
"If voters wanted to cast a ballot against Donald Trump, they were very willing to cast a ballot against members of Congress who have become so tied to him in the Republican Party," Kousser said.
Midterms are often a referendum on the president, and losing control of Congress isn't unusual. What stood out this time, Kousser said, is the scale of the Democratic victories.
"A stronger reaction against President Trump than we've seen against any president since really the post-Watergate reaction to Nixon," Kousser said.
San Diego's redrawn District 48 is one example. The new map gave Democrats a slight edge, but Marni Von Wilpert won beat Trump-endorsed Jim Desmond by nearly 20 points.
That victory gave San Diego County what is believed to be its first all-Democratic congressional delegation and helped Democrats in the House secure their largest majority in nearly two decades.
Kousser said Trump's agenda isn't necessarily dead, but moving it forward won't be as easy.
"It's gonna be very hard to get legislation passed. We're not gonna see another Big Beautiful Bill, but there will be things that he wants to do. And Congress may dare him to shut down the government in order to do those, unless he makes compromises," Kousser said.
As for the Democrats, Kousser said the smart move would be to prioritize long-term goals rather than swing the pendulum too far, too fast.
"Do we focus on things like affordability and healthcare, or, or do we truly move to the center and try to find some areas of common ground?" Kousser said.
And that, Kousser said, is the art of governing. Now we wait to see how it all takes shape.
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