FOLLOW US

With this year's midterm elections on the political horizons, many Americans have weighed in on whether or not Democrats or Republicans ought to fret. However, one Fox News op-ed writer believes that Democrats, and not Republicans, should be more concerned.

2018 Midterm Elections, Democrats, and Republicans

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are all too eager to opine whether or not Republicans or Democrats will emerge as the victors of this year's upcoming midterm elections. Either Republicans will retain (or strengthen) their control of the House and Senate or Democrats will regain control of one (or both) of these factions of Congress.

In order for Republicans to lose control of the House, they would have to cease to retain at least 24 seats. However, the GOP would only have to lose two Senate seats in order for the Democrats to regain control.

As noted by Fox News, history has proven that the party which lacks Congressional control usually emerges as the victor of midterm elections. Nevertheless, the 15 point advantage that Democrats once had over the GOP has evaporated. Some people have attributed the aforementioned former lead to "poll bias."

Others asserted that various events which have transpired in the past month engendered the Democrats' latest polling decline.

Recent Political Events and their Potential Impacts on 2018 Midterm Elections

First and foremost comes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The success of this legislation serves as a major victory for President Trump and the GOP. Many Democrats conversely slammed the foregoing tax bill as a "scam."

Democrats also stated that the true beneficiaries of the legislation only consist of wealthy Americans.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi even came under fire for referring to the plethora of employee wage increases and bonuses as "crumbs." Republicans have habitually responded to critics of the tax bill by slamming them as out-of-touch with average, everyday Americans.

Next comes last month's government shutdown. January's 72-hour government shutdown followed after Democrats refused to vote for a spending bill designed to preserve the functionality of the government. Many Americans viewed this occurrence as a battle between the GOP and the Democrats. After the latter conceded to vote in favor of the spending bill, thus re-opening the government, some people opined that the GOP ultimately "won" the battle.