Opinion
The totally, utterly sane 2022 midterm elections
And how are the Jews faring in this midterm season of our discontent? Mostly, they are discontented...
November 3, 2022 11:43
2 min read
And how are the Jews faring in this midterm season of our discontent? Mostly, they are discontented...
November 3, 2022 11:43Long ago, in the 18th century to be precise, Americans believed that politics were the answer. It has long become apparent that politics are the problem, and that too much of them will drive you mad. Americans are surprisingly traditional, so they still talk about “midterm madness”, but why wait? American politics are mad all year round.
And how are the Jews (high on neurosis, low on psychosis) faring in this midterm season of our discontent? Mostly, they are discontented. In this they as usual resemble their fellow Americans more than Israeli Jews, who score off the charts in the global happiness index and are never slow to tell you why.
In July, a New York Times/Siena College poll found that only 13 per cent of Americans thought the country was “going in the right direction” under Joe Biden. Only 27 per cent of Democrats approved of the great unravelling. These are spectacularly bad numbers.
Ally Seifried (Facebook)
The Republicans, despite their best efforts to sabotage themselves by overreaching on the Supreme Court and underachieving when it comes to shedding Donald Trump, may win both Houses of Congress next week.
But back to the Jews. And off to Nevada, the southwestern state where the Republican Adam Laxalt is running neck and neck with the incumbent Democratic senator, Catherine Cortez Masto.
Laxalt, a former attorney general and naval officer, has the support of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Donald Trump, Miriam Adelson (widow of Sheldon the Generous), and one Robert Beadles, a big donor to Nevada Republicans and a big fan of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”. It is not entirely surprising that Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the US Senate, has an endorsement from AIPAC.
If there is a MAGA movement, it is a rabble of self-starting opportunists and cranks trying to capitalise on the Trump presidency.
Catherine Cortez Masto (GettyImages)
