The Silver Linings of Last Night’s Losses

The Salty Citizen

Audio By Carbonatix

Per reader request.

We were never going to win those races.

Demographics, blue-state realities, up-ballot candidates, the shutdown atmosphere, Democratic zeal, Republican infighting — the ingredients were never in our favor. If we’re honest, the shock only exists because the left has sprinted so radically off the cliff of sanity that we hoped the door for upset victories had cracked open.

But if these same candidates ran with the same demographics last year?
We wouldn’t have even whispered the word “upset.”

Which means this is not the sweeping referendum CNN wants you to believe it is. It is largely blue states voting like blue states always have.

Perspective Matters

Remember: Glenn Youngkin only won in Virginia because parents’ rights hit a boiling point and his predecessor got caught up in the “Let the babies die on the counter” scandal.

And in New York? I cannot imagine voting for Cuomo after watching loved ones die in nursing homes under his COVID policies. Yet the only worse option on the ballot was Mamdani — and still, over 47% of New Yorkers swallowed their grief and voted to stop a socialist.

That’s no small thing.
There’s your silver lining: New York isn’t morally dead yet.

And for what it’s worth, Fateh and Wilson — the other Democratic Socialists — lost.
Even in Seattle and Minneapolis. Which is saying something.

We are not wholly doomed.

Avoid the Two Natural Mistakes

Don’t overreact in despair.
But do not underreact in arrogance either.

The GOP has nothing to gloat about. Nothing. Nada.

Losses were expected — fine. But there were still opportunities to close gaps and create momentum. That didn’t happen. Democrats obliterated any spinnable margins.

If someone tries to spin this as a GOP win?
They are lying.

The Shutdown Context

We are in Day 35 of a government shutdown. You and I may know:

It takes 60 votes to reopen government and GOP has 53
Democrats voted for the exact same CRs before but won’t now
Obamacare’s design is economically unsustainable on purpose

We know the policy details.
The average voter does not.

Voters forgive flaws when they feel secure.
They punish even good policy when they feel unstable.

Combine economic insecurity with right-wing tribal chaos?
Not a winning formula.

Only a fool pretends otherwise.

Internal House-Cleaning on the Right

Scott Pressler warned what would happen if ground game wasn’t followed by strategy.
Spoiler: he was right.

We should have focused on 80/20 issues heading into midterms.
I understand why we didn’t — adults are in charge now and see the storm coming. But the optics of adulting are still tough on the kids.

Post–Charlie Kirk era, the “big tent” should be galvanized. Instead?

Fuentes drama.
Tucker drama.
Candace drama.
The Catholic wars. Israel fights. Charlie fights. And — absurdly — people now questioning Allie Beth Stuckey.

There is no planet on which ABS is not a conservative leader. None. She has planted flags on every issue that matters, at cost.

If you think otherwise, you are getting played by enemies — earthly and spiritual.

Enough.

The Silveriest of Silver Linings

Last night, Democrats chose to sprint toward communism out loud.

Yes, they call it socialism.
But socialism becomes communism when the money and goodwill run out.

The free stuff always comes due.

The vibes don’t pay the bills.

And the movement was emboldened. Dark and dangerous rhetoric was rewarded.

I grieve for those who tried to stop it and couldn’t.
I grieve for those who didn’t try.

Marxism rains misery on the righteous and unrighteous alike.

Let Reality Do the Work

Make them own it. Give no resistance to the party of “Resistance!” Do not dare let socialism land softly on our shores. Do not smooth its edges or spare its cost.

If I were Trump, I would:

Withhold every legal federal dollar tied to violations
Fast-track every socialist promise they voted for

“You want it? Have it — now. Quickly. Publicly.”

Let the results come swiftly and honestly. Remove any hurdles that delay NYC and the world seeing the inevitable effects of socialism that wants to be communism as quickly as possible.

It will be worst for the vulnerable who cannot leave.
That is the tragedy of Marxism.

But hard lessons must be learned quickly before the window closes entirely.