The 2026 Election: A Warning to Both Parties.
I have been waiting a bit to write my take on the election. I know a lot of people have already, and I wanted to let people make their views known while I refine mine. I am not going to make this a long post. But here is my take, with a little history so that you know where I am coming from.
I am currently, and have been for almost the last 20 years, a non-partisan registered voter. I started out when I registered as a Democrat when I first was able to vote at 18, because that was what my Grandmother was, and she was always influential in my life, especially with my love of history and politics in school (that was before computers 😊). The Democrat party then was like the Republican party before Trump, I would say. Then after Reagan, I said I identified with Republicans and switched parties. But after George W., I said, what is going on here? These parties are for themselves and not the voting public, not the ordinary citizen. That is when I changed to non-partisan.
I always like to research and listen to candidates and see how well they align with my visions and priorities. I don't care what party they are associated with, or no party.
That is my number one issue with both parties: they look out for and take care of the Party first. People's lives are not a football, soccer or any other kind of game. These are people's lives. Most people tune out politics (like my parents used to, but once retired I see people get more involved and “aware of politics”). I saw this coming, and the reason was prices more than anything. The second thing was the Iranian war, which contributed to the first, and tariffs, which again lead back to number 1. It is almost always the Economy. I have never seen prices for food, gas or anything else this high in 57 years of life, and definitely not since I started buying stuff on my own as an adult.
I also think the result of this election is a warning for both parties: in modern times people want to see results. I think they want to see results and are less concerned with our politicians worrying about social issues.
My frustration as a voter is to vote for the party in power if they aren't delivering. In my opinion the Republican party was not delivering on:
- The Economy.
- The rampant corruption.
- Remembering that the Legislative branch makes the rules and the President is to execute them, not vice versa, and not the Executive branch running everything.
- Everyone needs to follow the laws of the land, including immigration, and that includes those that enforce the immigration laws and rules.
Now that the Democrats have power, they need to fulfill the mandate, and this was a mandate, with priorities like this:
- The Economy.
- Do your job, don't allow the President, no matter what party they are from, to run everything, keep things equal, and keep number 1 going smoothly.
I think endless investigations will not be well received. I am not saying do nothing. I think the people working for Trump need to be held accountable for following the President and not the Constitution. The Constitution should always be the overriding factor, and if you are fired, you are fired; at least you can hold your head up. Trump is not ever going to be President again no matter what, so just ignore him. If Republicans have any chance, they need to tell Trump no and reach across the aisle more than they have, to help get the Economy and common sense back in vogue, because that is what it takes to override Trump's veto. The Founders set this up on purpose. They didn't think Party over Country, and they deliberately made things slow to evolve. While we do need refinements, I think overall our Constitution, on the majority of things, makes this Country run like no other powerhouse known. Yes, I do think there needs to be fine-tuning of the Amendments, and some new ones based on abuses by the Executive and Judicial branches and even the Legislative branch (I am looking at you for term limits for Federal offices).
These should be the priorities of the new Congress, and if the Democrats want to remain in power, they need to prove themselves. If not, in 2 years we could well see another wave swing things back to the other side. No-party voters like me are the deciding factor in elections now, not each party's extreme wings, but moderates and no-party voters. And no-party voters don't like what has been going on in either party, or at least this no-party voter doesn't.