Just voted. Took me 45 minutes. Longest it's ever taken, midterm or otherwise. Lots of older people, but it's midday so younger people may vote later. Still, given the rain, I was shocked at so many people who were there. It's pouring, and typically that keeps older people at home. Not this year.
The time it took was due to several factors. New machines were confusing. More people than expected showed up. Rain meant some poll workers were cleaning up rather than assisting people. Too much going on. My son came home to vote, and he took over an hour.
I don't care who he votes for, as long as he doesn't vote for Menendez. I've never liked that corrupt jerk. I told my son this, then told him the letter-writing battles I had with that fool back in the 90s when he was my Representative. Back then, he was a Gephardt-style protectionist. Today, he pretends to be a free-trader. He's not. He just wants money shoveled into his pocket for his support down in DC. Corrupt as can be. Hopefully my son will not vote for him.
It's my view the high turnout is better for Republicans than Democrats. While some will say that's counter-intuitive, due to new registrations and younger people not being apathetic as they usually are, I have a different view. National elections with high voter turnouts usually indicate a desire for change.
Midterms, which typically go against the sitting President's party, have higher turnouts when people want to protect what they have. These elections are national in nature only in aggregate, people usually think their representative is 'safe' and are complacent. Showing up to vote, rather than being complacent, means you're concerned about something, and it's usually that you'll lose some constant that you're familiar with.
Either way, one party is going to have some soul-searching to do. If the Republicans suffer a "Blue Wave", there will need to be some work done on what they stand for and represent. I don't believe this outcome is likely at all.
I do think that the Dems will get a small House majority. Very slim. But this will force them to re-think what they stand for, because they are looking for a referendum. I do not think they will get one.
If the Republicans (which I don't think will happen) manage to hold or extend both the houses, that will be a very clear message to the Dems that they need to be retooled in a major way. Frankly, I'd prefer this because it's the best chance to extend the addition of Constitutionalists into the Supreme Court. With Breyer and Ginsburg nearing the end of their useful tenures, it will be important to maintain this position.
2 of the 3 outcomes, and the one I believe is most likely, don't really favor the Democrats in the long run. But anything can happen, and polling has been notoriously awful. From the extremely small sample size I've seen, though, I don't think the Democrats are going to have their 'blue wave'.
We shall see.
