Where Do They Go From Here?
Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election, at least one of the two major parties will be in what sports teams call a “rebuilding” phase.
Let’s say Trump wins. The fight to either be the heir to the throne…or the anti-Trump Republican to save the party going forward…will be on. Trump is only eligible for one more term, and he’d be 82 by the time of the next election anyway. And all that will be happening as Republicans in the U.S. Senate scramble to see which of three declared candidates succeeds Mitch McConnell as caucus leader—and that is enhanced if the job is as majority leader as opposed to minority leader. Oh, and there’s the House…if the GOP wins a majority, does Mike Johnson stay on as Speaker? And if the GOP loses the majority, will it continue to follow the Speaker who presided over that failure.
If Trump loses, it will be an epic battle between those who want to take their party back…and those who believe MAGA will live forever, if only they could agree on the messenger.
Pretty interesting on the Democrat side. Both Harris and Walz are 60 years of age. That’s not much younger than Barack Obama, who is 63…but to many he’s “old news” because he left office 8 years ago already—and judging from the lackluster response to his efforts to curry favor with young people this election, his time as a bankable star may have passed. Meanwhile, Joe Biden will be 82 when he leaves office, Bill Clinton is 78…neither would win support as “the future” of the party. Obviously if Harris wins, that’s the direction for at least a couple of years; if it’s truly horrible, there may be a primary challenger or six…if not, the top of the party won’t have to have this “what if” discussion for four years at minimum. But what if Harris loses…who’s next? The scramble to be “top Democrat” will be interesting, especially as 2028 becomes the focus.
Regardless of who wins control of the Senate, Chuck Schumer will still be in charge of the caucus. Also no change seen in the House should the GOP hold on; Hakeem Jefferies is the guy to lead Democrats as the minority party—and to become Speaker should they get to 218 members. And again, we could easily see Democrats win both chambers in Congress but lose the presidency—leading to the jostling for position at the top of the party. You can easily see Obama exert authority, but in the wake of a Harris loss, will Democrats follow even him, the last two-term Democrat to be president?
In short, Election Day is a finish line of sorts…but only the next piece to a very long and very nasty race to follow.
