Ted Grimsrud—November 9, 2026
In the runup to the midterm elections of November 3, most predictions I saw suggested widespread Democratic Party success. What actually happened exceeded almost all expectations. Across the country, from Senate seats to state legislatures to county commissioners, the blue wave changed our political world in major ways. Of course, we don’t know yet what the practical effect of this election will be.
What the blue wave likely won’t do
(1) It won’t reverse American warism. A few high-profile Democratic candidates emphasized the need to pull back from the war on Iran and to end the blank check for Israel. It’s hard to say how sincere even these relatively minor concessions to anti-warist public opinion were. The American people obviously want more peaceable policies. Elections are the one time this desire for peace matters. But will it continue to matter when the election is over?
In any case, most Democrats currently in office have supported Israel, have done little to resist the aggression on Iran, are okay with our extraordinarily bloated military budget, and support the proxy war on Russia. It’s hard to imagine the newly elected people will overturn their party’s warist consensus. We may hope for possible good changes concerning domestic policies to stem from the election, but I expect little positive movement on warism (which I believe is our nation’s biggest problem).
(2) It won’t bring peace with Russia. To me, the litmus test for clear-mindedness and authenticity in seeking a more peaceable world among Congress members is denial of support for the US/NATO proxy war on Russia in Ukraine. Tragically, almost every single Democrat in Congress has profoundly failed this test (including progressive heroes such as Bernie and AOC). As long as the US participates in this war on the level we have so far as part of its bigger anti-Russia and China agenda, a reorienting of federal priorities away from the self-destructiveness of warism and toward a government that consistently seeks for human welfare will be impossible.
Continue reading “Quite an election! [American politics #22]”
