Democrats went into this midterm campaign cycle indicating that they would run on what they’ve done for average Americans—things like passing a critical infrastructure plan and provisions aimed at slashing drug costs. But the party has since decided to take a new approach: warning that Republicans, should they retake one or both chambers of Congress, will turn the country into a fascist, apocalyptic hellscape where forced births are the norm, insurrections get a free pass, and every American will have a chip implanted into their brain that plays the words “Hunter Biden laptop, Hunter Biden laptop” on loop 24/7 for all eternity. Are we kidding about that last one? Uh, only kind of!
Why the vibe shift from the Dems? Well, the party out of power typically wins seats during the midterms, and Republicans only need five seats to retake the House and one to retake the Senate. And while the reversal of Roe v. Wade gave Democrats some hope that they wouldn’t totally lose control of Congress, it was also a reminder that conservatives believe women should be treated like second-class citizens and the stakes of losing this election are pretty damn high.
What are those stakes, exactly, one might ask, if they’ve been living under a rock? Here’s a refresher: For starters, the GOP would undoubtedly block basically everything Joe Biden wants to get done in the second half of his first term. That this would happen should come as a shock to no one, given (1) the party’s long history of obstructing things that could actually help Americans and (2) Mitch McConnell’s vow to do exactly that even after he’d been relegated to Senate minority leader. (In May 2021, McConnell declared, “One hundred percent of my focus is standing up to this administration.”) Naturally, the blockage would include judicial nominations, including in the unlikely event a Supreme Court vacancy arises, given McConnell’s penchant for making up rules about when a president is allowed to fill a seat on the Supreme Court.
Elsewhere, a GOP agenda, should the GOP be in power, would include a vote on a national abortion ban. Are Republicans on the record as having said that the matter should be up to the states? Absolutely, this is all they could talk about after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Are they nevertheless the biggest bunch of hypocrites on the planet? Also yes! Last month, Senator Lindsey Graham proposed a 15-week abortion ban, and while some members of his party were quick to distance themselves from the idea— presumably because it came so close to the election—it’s obvious that conservatives are champing at the bit to further restrict reproductive rights. What else? Well, as The Washington Post notes, there’s clearly an appetite from some Republicans to require Congress to reauthorize Medicare and Social Security every five years, which fits in with their worldview that government should do jack shit for people (unless they‘re billionaires.) And, obviously, we should probably expect ’round-the-clock hearings about Hunter Biden, and a push to impeach his father, both of which are things Republicans have already vowed to do.
Of course, the GOP only needs to retake the House, and doesn’t need to control the Senate, in order to impeach the president and investigate his son. As the Post reports, another thing we can expect from a GOP-controlled House are lots of other investigations—likely including Biden’s border policy, the FBI’s (court-authorized!) search of Mar-a-Lago, and ones that “lend credence to Trump’s false election fraud claims.” And, naturally, they’ll no doubt move to disband the January 6 committee, which has made Donald Trump and his allies look really, really bad.
Now, what would Democrats do if they stayed in power? Per the Post, they could try again to pass more climate legislation; national protections for abortion, same-sex marriage, and voting rights; and also make it harder for any future president (*cough* Trump) to clear out any dissenting voices from the federal government.
Unfortunately, the Post notes, a situation in which Democrats retain both chambers is probably the least likely, but given the stakes— national abortion bans, no consequences for insurrections, etc.—you can probably understand why Democrats are taking this darker tack.