The view from under the Blue Wave

Steven Fitz, wearing a blue cape and a shirt that reads “blue wave voter” gestures after scanning his ballot at early in-person voting in Cleveland, Ohio.

" data-large-file="https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/AP-blue-wave-771x513.jpg" /> In a massacre that would embarrass Genghis Khan, the Democrats obliterated Republicans in the midterm elections.

At the time of this writing, the Democrats have picked up seven Senate seats giving them a total of 54. Two races, Alaska and Mississippi, are too close to call, but odds are they will both go Democratic. In the House the Democrats have already won 30 seats and political pundits believe this number could climb to 46. Thus, the Democrats will have about 260 to 175 majority.

Joseph Bentivegna MD

" data-large-file="https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Joseph-Bentivegna-2.jpeg" src="https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Joseph-Bentivegna-2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-992823" srcset="https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Joseph-Bentivegna-2.jpeg 168w, https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Joseph-Bentivegna-2-140x140.jpeg?crop=1 140w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 168px) 100vw, 168px" />

Traditional Republican states such as South Carolina, Ohio, Kansas and Iowa elected Democratic senators. And the liberal wish of turning Texas blue finally came true, as the incumbent Republican governor was vanquished and the open Senate seat was won by Democrat James Talerico by 12%. The State House also flipped to the Democrats as did all the constitutional offices.

In my home state of Connecticut, elected Republicans in our General Assembly and Senate are rarer than Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Eight Senate seats were lost and now the Democrats have a 33-3 majority! The Governor, the Senators, constitutional officers and the members of Congress are all Democrats.

How did this happen?

The invasion of Iran was a disaster. With neither the consent of Congress nor the American people, President Trump decided he was going to bring peace to the Middle East by neutering Iran. But he had no plan.

Only regime change is going to change Iran’s policies, and this is not possible without an armed insurgency by Iranians, American ground troops or the use of nuclear weapons.

The result, the clever Iranians looked at American polls, blocked the Strait of Hormuz and caused gas and diesel prices to skyrocket. Hello Democrats.

People are tired of President Trump’s antics. The inflationary tariffs were bad enough, but having his family promote cryptocurrency scams while his son-in-law Jared Kushner is extorting foreign leaders to invest in his hedge fund is a bit much.

And why insult Canada by saying it should become our 51st state while imposing lumber tariffs that increased housing costs? And sucking up to the barbarian Putin has accomplished nothing. The federal deficit is higher than ever. So much for fiscal conservatism.

President Trump has lost his juice. The conventional wisdom was that either Vice President J.D. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be the presidential nominee and if Trump choose one of them, the other would bow out. This has been thrown out the window. It may well be that both Vance and Rubio are too tainted by Trump and Republicans will look at more electable candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley.

Trump was not the only issue. Seventy percent of the American people believe America is on the wrong tract. This number is consistent no matter what party is in the White House.

We once had a country in which a man could support a family on one income. Now you can barely do it on two incomes. Young people are refusing to marry because they can’t afford to. Neither party has any concrete solutions to high housing, health insurance and car prices. Taxes are too high but cutting them is politically impossible, especially with our massive $40 trillion deficit.

This Blue Wave makes it easier for Republicans to win the White House in 2028. Americans love divided government since it prevents the extremes of either party from imposing their will. The Democrats have relatively large majorities in the House and Senate, and many voters do not want to see an unchecked Democratic president, especially if the Democrats nominate a socialist such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC).

Israel will have to fight harder for its existence. Even prominent Jewish politicians such as Bernie Saunders and Jamie Raskin have embraced the Palestinian cause, and Democratic rallies are replete with Palestinian flags. The swing state of Michigan just elected a Democratic Senator, Abdul El-Sayed, who is openly hostile to Israel’s existence. Unless President Trump by some miracle can turn the war around with Iran, Israel may soon find itself abandoned by the American political class.

But as bad as this election was for Republicans, it is not without precedent. The Democrats lost 63 seats during the Clinton presidency in 1994 and 54 seats during the Obama presidency in 2010 – more than the Republicans lost this cycle. Yet both Clinton and Obama won reelection easily. And there is no better street fight than Donald Trump, even when he is a lame duck. It would be foolish to count him out.

But if this election shows anything, America is an unhappy country in spite of our affluence. People find happiness in faith, family, friends and financial security. The pollical, economic and cultural changes of the past two generations have made this possible for fewer people.

Joseph Bentivegna MD is an ophthalmologist in Rocky Hill.