Midterm Voters Were Myopic

Last night, after I cast my vote at my town hall and like I do on every election day, I went home, glued myself to the couch and watched the election results unfold. I always enjoy watching democracy on display and there’s nothing more fascinating than watching the results come in, real time. Unfortunately, last night, I went from being engaged to being in complete shock.

Right before my eyes, I watched Republicans lose control of the House and Senate. I watched James Talarico, a Texas Senate candidate who said there are “six really common biological sexes” and “God is non-binary” win a Texas Senate seat. Texas has not elected a Democrat Senator since 1988.

I then had the joy of watching Abdul El-Sayed, an Islamic Democrat from Michigan speak Arabic during his victory speech. El-Sayed became the first Muslim to be elected to the United States Senate.

And right here in my home state of New Hampshire, I witnessed Chris Pappas hug his husband during his victory speech and say, “I’m the luckiest guy because I’m married to a man that I love.” Chris Pappas is the first openly gay man elected to the United States Senate.

These are only a few examples of what caused the shock I experienced last night. I’m still not over it and I am still struggling to understand how Americans overwhelmingly voted the way they did. It’s baffling and hard to comprehend.

"These are only a few examples of what caused the shock I experienced last night."

Who are these people? I travel the country a lot and have met people from all walks of life. I find it hard to believe that more than 50% of Americans voted this way. I just don’t think it’s possible. The only way I think it could happen is through fraudulent voting. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but that is the only logical explanation I can come up with.

After reality set in, I shifted my focus to trying to understand how this happened. I talked to people who voted Democrat to get a sense of what they were thinking. I watched interviews of voters on the news explain their reasoning.

I get it that people are frustrated, and they have good reason to be. Gas prices are through the roof, affordability is a major concern for most families, and we’re tied up in another never-ending war in the Middle East. Those are all legitimate concerns. However, are those reasons enough to give Democrats control over the House and Senate? Apparently so.

In my humble opinion, the majority of Americans voted very short sighted yesterday. People forgot about the horrific years of the Biden administration and what we all lived through. They forgot about the DEI nonsense. They forgot about men playing in women’s sports. They forgot about the millions of criminal aliens invading our country. They forgot about the rampant crime in our major cities. They forgot about the punishing inflation. Instead of remembering recent history, they voted based on emotion they felt at that single moment. And that is very unfortunate and disappointing.

I hope and pray for America’s continued success, however, I hope and pray more for voters not to be so myopic when they vote. I am not a big fan of the “I told you so” attitude but sit back and watch what happens over the next two years.

I also really hope people will learn from it, but based on history, there’s a slim chance that will happen. The majority of Americans who voted in this year’s mid-term election somehow forgot about the catastrophic path our country was on two years ago.

Chris Thompson’s is published weekly on howiecarrshow.com and livefreepressnh.com