I expected Democrats to take both the U.S. House and the Senate. I did not expect them to have the Senate 54-44, flipping all of N.C., S.C., Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, and Maine. I did not expect them to win the House 229-139. At the state level, I did not expect Democrats to sweep every statewide office in Georgia, from governor down to school superintendent and seats up for election on the Public Service Commission. The rout of Republicans was complete and total.
While I join David Thornton in the great “I told you so,” I also want to join Governor Brian Kemp, who will complete his second and final term in Georgia, in wishing incoming Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms the best in taking the reins of a state now newly blue, even in the lower house of the legislature. She’s got a big task ahead of her, and undoubtedly will face strong headwinds from day one. Kemp has always been a man of honor and what my stepfather called class; a classy guy who refused to bow to his political opposition (and by that, I mostly mean MAGA and Trump), and has resisted calls to convene a special legislative session to burn the fields before Bottoms takes office.
I am trying my best to resist hot takes, but they are just too delicious, like eating that third waffle at Waffle House, after which any normal person would seek medical attention, or at least an Alka-Seltzer. So here goes.
Far be it from me to tell Democrats what to do. They are surely giddy, with some of them wanting to celebrate, others planning elaborate impeachment hearings, and most of them planning to consolidate their own power base to rule for forty years. Perhaps we face another few decades of Democrats crawling around, enshrining abortion into state constitutions, enacting special taxes on second homes, and overall concern trolling truth, justice, yada, yada, we are Super(he/him).
But first and foremost, Democrats need to fulfill the promise they made to the electorate. It is very clear that American voters are tired of Donald Trump and anyone like him. Remember that Donald Trump used to be a Democrat before he was a Republican. He only became a Republican because that was the only way he could assemble a coalition to win. And he did so, twice. In the process, he destroyed the Republican Party about as thoroughly as any other enterprise he’s destroyed: the USFL, the Trump Shuttle, Trump University, and countless other gigs he’s used to line his pockets and fleece feckless marks. The next two years will be a festival of featherbedding and pardons for Trump, his family, and his friends.
Democrats will be greatly tempted to go for impeachment. I mean there’s such a rich trove of impeachable offenses to keep Congress busy for the full two years remaining in Trump’s term. And I’m sure he himself would love it. A spectacle of venom, that Trump would use to activate anyone still loyal to him (there are some), and raise cash from useful avatars, to feed his eternal need for attention, fame, and more rococo.
I say to Democrats: “don’t do it.”
Instead, they should embark on a disciplined effort, akin to the political skill exhibited by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who gave his senior staff a simple directive to beat his Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins (MAGA-GA): “bury him.”
The way to bury Trump is not to go after him directly. If Democrats could learn any lesson at all, it’s the one Republicans learned the hard way in 2016. His Royal Highness Marco Rubio (viceroy of Venezuela) and the supperating eunuch Sen. Ted Cruz know that feeding Trump hate is like adding Mentos to Coca-Cola, or baking soda to vinegar. It expands, explodes, and makes a giant mess. If Democrats go after Trump directly, they simply empower him to go after them harder, while the MAGA swamp continues to multiply and breed its larvae. Maybe Democrats could persuade 12 Republicans in the Senate to convict Trump and be rid of him.
Maybe they could convince Vice President J.D. Vance to join them, because nobody would benefit more from Trump’s removal than the man in the wings ready to take the oath of office. And that’s exactly what Democrats would get should they succeed. Like the dog who catches the car, they’d end up under the bumper with someone potentially worse because he’s both malicious and smart.
Don’t do it, Democrats.
Go after Trump’s acolytes in government. Dismantle Trump’s MAGA government with hammer and tongs. Start by impeaching Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth. There’s ample grounds—so much that I don’t know where to start. Then (or simultaneously, why not?) impeach RFKJr. Get rid of both. And repeal the stupidity that allows Trump and Hegseth to call the DOD the “Department of War.” Force the government to fund HHS and research properly. Override every single Trump veto by working with disaffected Republicans now free from their fealty and fear of being primaried by a toothless Trump. Humiliate Trump, don’t impeach him.
Kill the “Victory Arch” project. Take over the ballroom project and make it something classy—there’s no point trying to stop it, because it’s indeed too far along. Take Trump’s building toys away. Recreate NPR and VOA. Force the government to fund and operate the Department of Education. Put teeth back into Congress, and revive the normal order of legislative operations. Steamroll the idiots and push attention-grabbing Democrats (never mind Republicans) out of the spotlight.
As the likely Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries should rule the place with discipline and political skill. The Senate should work with the House leadership and avoid all the internecine battles Republicans faced during Trump’s first two years.
The order of battle should not be to destroy or remove Trump. That is not an easy or helpful path. In fact, it’s a path to violence. The general order should be “bury him” in humiliation, limiting his power, removing his loyal followers and cranks from power, and taking power back to the Congress, where it belongs.
This will be a more difficult path, because Congress has turned into a circus of social media influencer types and featherbedders. But it’s the right path. Trump’s time will be over soon enough. At this time, we (voters) have demanded a working government. That’s not a mandate for Democrats to pursue their own pet projects, or even the talking points they ran on in their districts and states. Democrats need to recognize that they won because Trump gave them the race. The inflation, jobs, wars, and other idiocies won them the position they have. Abusing it by thinking they won because people wanted their policies (some did, some didn’t) is getting uncomfortably close to acting like a blue version of Donald Trump.
Democrats, don’t do that.
Stay disciplined, stay focused, and remove the nation from the pit we’re in. That’s why you got elected. To govern.
Now govern, please.
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: You can follow us on social media at several different locations. Official Racket News pages include:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsRacket
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NewsRacket
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@theracketnews
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/newsracket.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://bird.makeup/users/newsracket
Our personal accounts on X:
David: https://x.com/captainkudzu
Steve: https://x.com/stevengberman
Jay: https://x.com/curmudgeon_NH



