{"id":2518793,"date":"2025-12-08T13:51:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-what-the-blue-wave-means-for-the-midterms\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:59:07","slug":"op-ed-what-the-blue-wave-means-for-the-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-what-the-blue-wave-means-for-the-midterms\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: What the &#8216;Blue Wave&#8217; Means for the Midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fop-ed-what-the-blue-wave-means-for-the-midterms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2518793&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article argues that the recent gubernatorial and mayoral election victories by progressive Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey were not surprising or indicative of a broad rejection of former President Trump or his MAGA movement. It emphasizes that these wins followed predictable voting patterns in historically Democratic-leaning states and cities, where incumbents or well-known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-race-is-on-heres-what-trump-is-looking-for-in-possible-running-mate\/\" title=\"The race is on: Here\u2019s what Trump is looking for in possible running mate\">candidates typically<\/a> have an advantage. The piece suggests that media and progressive commentators overhyped these results as a major blue-wave shift,when in reality,the elections reflected usual off-year dynamics where the party out of power often gains ground due to voter dissatisfaction. Ultimately,the author concludes that these wins are better seen as routine electoral outcomes rather than a decisive repudiation of Trumpism,likely to have only a temporary political impact.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s unsurprising that progressives smugly celebrated their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bills-barring-foreign-money-from-ballot-campaigns-pick-up-steam\/\" title=\"Bills Barring Foreign Money From Ballot Campaigns Pick Up Steam\">recent election victories<\/a> in Virginia and New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>Having lost the presidency a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/months-after-telling-us-we-didnt-need-them-cdc-begs-americans-to-just-wear-the-mask\/\" title=\"Months After Telling Us We Didn\u2019t Need Them, CDC Begs Americans To \u2018Just Wear the Mask\u2019\">year ago<\/a> to a man they tried to paint as a Hitler, no longer controlling either the House or the Senate, and with the Supreme Court leaning right for years to come, they were left grasping for straws.<\/p>\n<p>They billed the results as Trump&rsquo;s repudiation, claiming voters had come to their senses and MAGA was being relegated to the dustbin of history.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, upon closer review, the election&rsquo;s outcome a scant month ago was just as likely a preordained blue-wave ripple as an unexpected tsunami-consuming Republican beatdown.<\/p>\n<p>While it&rsquo;s true that liberals won the Statehouse in the only two gubernatorial elections in the nation, that should have surprised no one. In fact, if the results had been otherwise, it would have been almost shocking.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>And, despite what progressive talking points claim, in both contests, the results were far less a rejection of Trump than a business-as-usual blue-state expectation.<\/p>\n<p>In New Jersey, four-term Democrat congresswoman Mikie Sherrill easily bested Republican Jack Ciattarelli by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2025-elections\/new-jersey-governor-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over 13 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, an impressive win, but less remarkable when considering that, as an entrenched member of Congress, Sherrill enjoyed an enormous name recognition advantage and also greatly benefited from a Garden State history of deep-blue voting outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, over the last quarter-century, New Jersey has voted for the Democratic candidate for president every time, and a year ago chose Kamala Harris by nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/2024-election\/results\/new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">six percent<\/a> over Trump.<\/p>\n<p>More specifically, over the past 25 years, four Democrats have been elected governor compared to only one Republican. Therefore, being surprised by the continuation of that trend is akin to being shocked that Elon Musk drives a Tesla.<\/p>\n<p>In Virginia, the defeat of the Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, was only slightly less expected. Certainly, the Old Dominion&rsquo;s history of alternating between Democratic and Republican governors clearly signaled a close race, but that did not happen. The progressive candidate, Abigail Spanberger, won the election by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2025\/results\/virginia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over 15 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But in hindsight, that blowout was also foreseeable.&nbsp; For as was true for Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Spanberger&rsquo;s name recognition as a member of Congress resonated with the electorate. However, even though Virginia voters typically ping-pong between governors from both parties, their electoral history in presidential elections shows a very different pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Since Virginia voters supported George Bush in 2008, they&rsquo;ve favored Democratic candidates for president every time.&nbsp; And in 2024, that trend continued when Harris defeated Trump by nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2024\/results\/virginia\/president\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">six percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But perhaps more importantly, anyone still viewing Spanberger&rsquo;s victory as part of a sweeping blue-wave rejection of MAGA Republicans should consider the context of her win.&nbsp; That is, Spanberger won even after refusing to withdraw her endorsement of Democrat murder fantasizer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/virginians-elect-jay-jones-ag-fantasized-murdering-republicans-children\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jay Jones<\/a> for Attorney General.<\/p>\n<p>That failure to condemn Jones&rsquo; unspeakable comments for fear of offending party loyalists should make it clear that Spanberger&rsquo;s victory had little or nothing to do with a rebuke of Trump. In electing Spanberger and Jones, it&rsquo;s clear Virginia voters would support anyone from the left as long as they could fog a mirror.<\/p>\n<p>However, inferring a blue-wave kickstart for political dominance goes beyond gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia &mdash; It also refers to mayoral races in the 18 largest cities where they were held. Of those contests, Democrats won 13, Republicans won four, and an independent won the remaining election.<\/p>\n<p>But again, were those results a blanket rejection of conservative candidates in general and Trump in particular, or was there another explanation?<\/p>\n<p>Of the 13 large-city Democrats who won mayoral elections, five were incumbents seeking another term, and eight replaced outgoing mayors &mdash; all of whom were Democrats.&nbsp; Overall, in those 18 largest city mayoral contests, all retained the same party control as before the election.<\/p>\n<p>So again, rather than an outright rejection of Trumpism, name recognition for incumbents and past support for Democratic candidates significantly influenced electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>But beyond the widespread progressive wins in the recent gubernatorial and mayoral races, falsely exaggerated as clear signs of an emerging blue wave, there are broader reasons for those results. Most notably, off-year elections almost always result in diminished support for the party in power.<\/p>\n<p>This is because political discontent energizes voters far more than satisfaction. And clearly, supporters of the out-of-power party are likely to be far more politically unhappy than those across the aisle.<\/p>\n<p>And with the overwhelming media coverage demonizing Republicans, supporting Democrats, and reinforcing such sky-is-falling discontent, the results of the recent election should not have been surprising.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s not that the Democrats didn&rsquo;t perform well in that election. Only an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >unaware ultra-partisan fool<\/a> would argue otherwise. However, human nature is such that wishful-thinking winners often overstate an outcome&rsquo;s importance while sour-grapes losers often downplay its significance.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, when objectively analyzing the recent election&rsquo;s results, it&rsquo;s hard to decisively conclude anything other than the outcome should have been expected &mdash; not necessarily as a blue-wave rejection of Trump, but at least as likely a blue-wave ripple, quick to dissipate and already easy to forget.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><i><b>The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either d or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/submitop-ed\/\">here<\/a>.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s no surprise that progressives proudly celebrated their recent wins in Virginia and New Jersey. After losing the presidency last year to a man they compared to Hitler, losing control of both the House and Senate, and facing a conservative-leaning Supreme Court for years ahead, they were eager for any victory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2518794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Blue-wave-election-results.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32408,6571,7408,4902,5894],"class_list":["post-2518793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-blue-wave","tag-elections","tag-midterms","tag-opinion","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Blue-wave-election-results.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518802,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518793\/revisions\/2518802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}