Only 5 of 10 voters turned out, cutting into Democrats' big election victory on Tuesday

In this photo from The New York Times, casino employees lined up to vote on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Blue Wave broke early -- much too early.

Democrats scored significant victories in the 2018 midterm elections on Tuesday, gaining control of the House of Representatives, but didn't do the same in the Senate.

The reason may lie in disappointing voter turnout -- whether from apathy or laziness -- one of the major factors cited for the surprising victory of Donald J. Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

"It looks like more than 113 million people voted, which would be at least 48 percent of eligible Americans," The New York Times reported on Friday, based on preliminary -- but incomplete -- data made available by the states and analyzed by Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida.

So that means fewer than 5 of every 10 voters cast ballots. 

"By percent of people eligible to vote, it was the highest turnout of any midterm election since at least 1970 and the first time midterm turnout topped 100 million," The Times reported, quoting Target Smart, a data analytics firm that studies voter data.

Races for governor

Democrats took the governor's office in Wisconsin, defeating conservative Scott Walker; Pennsylvania and Michigan -- the three states whose electoral votes provided the margin of victory for Trump in 2016.

Meanwhile, dysfunctional Florida began the first statewide vote recount in its history on Saturday to decide the contests for U.S. Senate and governor -- races Republicans appeared to have won.

And a record 35 new women won House seats, meaning more than 100 women will take their seats on Jan. 3.

Hackensack turnout

More than 23,000 Hackensack residents were registered to vote last Tuesday, and turnout in most of the city's 27 voting districts bettered the national average of 48%.

Turnout ranged from 43.03% to 59.94%.

Nearly 55% of the 567,568 registered voters in Bergen County cast ballots.

If more voted ...

You can only imagine how the 2018 midterm elections, the 2016 presidential election and other national contests would turn out, if more voters cast ballots.

What is turning off voters in states that don't have Republican officials trying to suppress the vote or disqualify voters, as well as gerrymandering congressional districts?

The news media's relentless focus on politics is a big factor when what voters really want is information on how candidates stand on a wide range of issues -- from health care to the environment.

And the media's addiction to sound bites means they spread Trump's lies without fact-checking or pushback, delighting his supporters.

GOP controls all branches of government, answers to an unhinged President Trump

Jimmy Margulies, former editorial cartoonist at The Record of Woodland Park, suggesting the wild week on Wall Street and Kanye West's visit to the White House weren't unrelated (Margulies calls it "the Trump-Kanye West merger"). You can find more Margulies and other cartoons at The Cagle Post.

VOTE ON NOV. 6 TO RESTORE

DEMOCRACY'S CHECKS, BALANCES

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The only time President Trump seems sane is when he invites a wacko like Kanye West to the Oval Office.

Last week, West's rant silenced Trump in a way we haven't ever seen.

One pop music critic claimed West was "sucking up" to the president. 

And did you see how uncomfortable Trump looked when West, in his red MAGA baseball cap, stood up, walked behind the president's desk and bent down to hug him as he remained seated?

GOP and 1%

Still, the Republican Party continues to allow Trump to destroy our democracy and dismantle the legacy of former President Barack Obama -- while so-called tax reform lines the pockets of the 1%.

The GOP controls all three branches of government.

Meanwhile, with the Nov. 6 mid-term congressional elections fast approaching, "many ... Republicans -- including those on the Supreme Court -- have engaged in a deliberate campaign to make voting harder," says Op-Ed Columnist David Leonhardt at The New York Times.

"They've reduced voting hours and added cumbersome identification requirements, among other things," Leonhardt wrote last week.

Obama weighs in 

Also last week, Leonhardt quoted Barack Obama saying:

"My message in this upcoming election is very simple: It's vote.

"This isn't really a 50-50 country. It's like a 60-40 country," Obama said, adding:

"Democrats could and will do even better, if everyone ... not only votes but makes sure that all your wishy-washy, excuse-making, Internet-surfing, TV watching, grumbling-but-not-doing-nothing friends and family members get to the poles. Vote."

Your vote to shift control of Congress to the Democrats could restore the checks and balances laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

Cartoonist Joe Heller of the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin refers to an alarming report on climate change from a United Nations panel of scientists. "Do you smell something burning?"