2018 marks the halfway point in the presidency of Donald Trump. One could be forgiven for thinking that the 2016 election was still going on. Trump has held nearly 60 rallies in two years. Trump was in full campaign mode for this election with a message filled with hate and racism. He even referred to himself as a “nationalist ” on stage during a rally last month in Texas and, as Trump hates the SNP, you know he wasn't joining the inclusive, civic cause for independence.

That was his strategy to combat the blue wave. On average, Presidents tend to lose control of the House of Representatives or the Senate during mid-terms. This is why 2018 will be the first time a Democrat will be the Speaker of the House since 2010. This is part and parcel of the American system of checks and balances.

But this race felt different because it was a test of the power of hate over the power of hope and the results are mixed.

Trump did not mix his words. He did not talk about the economy, he did not talk about healthcare. He focussed on the easy to understand, highly volatile issue of immigration.

Across the country, Democrats avoided that message instead talking about healthcare and jobs. With that message, more women, LGBT people, and minorities were elected to Congress and statehouses. In that way, the blue wave took effect. It was never supposed to be a massive wipe-out for the Republicans. It was just enough to put the American Government towards a more balanced keel.

As a Florida voter, I was disappointed to see Andrew Gillum lose to a race-baiting candidate in the gubernatorial race. He lost by less than a percentage point but the campaign will be known, in part for the massively racist ads ran non-stop throughout the state of Florida during Hurricane season.

I felt bad for Beto O’Rourke in Texas who lost to Ted Cruz and I hope to hear that Stacey Abrams is able to pull a rabbit out of her hat for the governorship of Georgia. Despite their losses in these uphill battles, there is one silver lining. We know their names. We know how hard they work and, we know their appeal. Making a 2020 run for office much more serious than this one.

From the beginning of the 2016 Presidential campaign, America has been under siege with a constant bombardment of hateful, incendiary rhetoric. Most of it, subtle and subliminal. All of it flowing freely from the White House. Over the past 20 years, channels like Fox News have turned the absurd normal. We are now looking at the beginning of a serious change in both American and global politics. The shift to the fascist right is starker than ever.

For example, at the end of October Trump tweeted that he was going to issue an executive order to eliminate the 14th Amendment.That amendment grants automatic citizenship to every child born in America or of American parents. I have never heard of a President, unilaterally, attempting to re-write the US Constitution because every elementary student knows that you can’t.
Trump’s fans online were SUPER excited at this message claiming that it was high time to test this Presidential power in the courts. These so-called “constitutionalists” cheered the potential destruction of our constitutional democracy.

This is one of many examples that I will continue to expose because we need to be more vigilant than ever. Don’t forget, incumbent Democrats lost races across the US as well. Bill Nelson in Florida lost to a climate change denying medicare thief. Florida voted in a government and representatives who do not believe in climate change a month after the largest storm ever since the last “largest storm ever”. They voted in people who oppose gun control in a state that was home to the Parkland massacre and the MAGAbomber.

The fight isn’t over…it is just getting started.

Personal Note:
I know that I have not posted anything in over a year. There are many reasons for that but a lot of them are about Brexit however; I have recently regained some quiet and I can write again. Expect to see more soon.