Tuesday could have been a better day for the Republican Party if you'll allow me to land one last blow on that dead horse. Nothing about the November 4th, 2025, elections was particularly surprising; disappointing, yes, but surprising? No. Oh, here in the Great Land, we did OK; we had three items on the ballot, a proposed borough 7 cents/gallon gasoline tax, an election for one school board seat in our district, and another proposal to extend the property-tax reduction for disabled veterans to pro-rate it for veterans who have just moved to Alaska instead of making them wait a full year before being eligible. We (my wife and I) voted on the winning side of all three.
Still, compared against two state governor's elections, a mayoral election in the nation's largest city, and a major gerrymandering proposal in California, one might think our Susitna Valley issues are small stuff, but all politics are local politics, in the end.
Thanks in large part to Alaska being four hours behind the East Coast, I went to bed last night knowing the outcomes in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, and while I wasn't surprised, I wasn't best pleased, either. And it was all on my mind still, this morning, when I left the house in the still-dark of night to walk over to the office. And then I saw this:
And, wow. Suddenly, perspective. The bright, shining full moon, with those beautiful wisps of mare's tails framing it.
I stood there for a few minutes, in the 15-degree chill. And, as is so often the case, that bit of Alaska's ever-changing beauty got my mind working. Yes, we lost a few elections.
So what comes next?
Well, first, I'll give some advice to the national Republican Party: We probably weren't going to win these races. The mayor's race in New York, most especially. Andrew Cuomo may have been a better alternative, but only relative to an actual unrepentant commie. But this doesn't mean we can't learn from them. As always, the key is turnout, and there was some troubling data in that factor. In California, where Gavin Newsom's Prop 50 gerrymandering proposal was on the ballot, initial indications are that over 3,000,000 Republicans stayed home. We need to do better; we need to do a lot better. If those numbers prove accurate, then every one of those three million-plus Republicans should be looking at themselves in the mirror this morning with a deep and abiding sense of shame; you people let Prop 50 pass through inaction. It's one thing to take on the fight and lose; it's quite another to lose just because you couldn't be arsed to show up, and that's what happened here.
But let's look forward. How do we fix this?
House and Senate Republicans, you have one year. President Trump, you have one year. After the midterms, things may be very different. To prevent that, let's see some results. We're moving in that direction; inflation is moderating, interest rates are moving down, and energy prices are coming down as well. The border is closed. Illegal aliens are being repatriated. That's all working. But people, especially those important swing voters who so often decide elections, primarily vote on pocketbook issues. We need to get America to work. We need jobs, we need growth; that's happening, but too many of the effects won't be felt right away. Focus on what has happened, and today's GOP could do a lot worse than to look back at Ronald Reagan's 1984 "Morning in America" campaign, at President Reagan's sunny optimism, all of which resulted in a 49-state landslide win. It may well have been a 50-state win if Reagan had campaigned in Walter Mondale's home state of Minnesota, but out of a sense of courtesy, he didn't.
Talk up, not down. Emphasize the successes. Get people motivated; not just the Republican base, but America in general.
Read More: JD Vance: Don't Panic: Unite, Turn Out, Win Big
But before that?
Take another look at that full moon. It's the day after the 2025 elections. Go outside. Touch some grass - or if you are, like me, in Alaska, touch some snow. Take a few deep breaths. As my hippie brother is always reminding me, "center yourself." So much of the world will still be here, regardless of politics. The moon was shining this Wednesday morning. Now, a few hours later, the sun is out. Woodsmoke is coming from the house's stovepipe. Frost is crinkling the few remaining leaves on the birch trees. The nuthatches and chickadees are hitting the suet feeder for their breakfast. There's more to life than politics, and it's important to remember that, too.
This election wasn't the war. It wasn't even a battle. It was a scuffle, and we lost. Fine, fine. Step back. Take a deep breath. Get some perspective. And when we're ready, all of us, well, let's spit on our hands and get to work. The midterms are now less than a year away, and the future of the republic, perhaps more than at any time since the 1860 elections, depends on what happens next.
