How the 2018 midterms could end the nightmare of Trump

By Jennifer Rubin December 14 at 12:00 PM

It is slowly dawning on Republicans and the right-wing media echo chamber that President Trump’s assault on democratic norms and the rule of law, his betrayal of his own populist campaign themes (with tax cuts for the rich and Medicaid spending cuts, for example), his misogynist and xenophobic rhetoric, his mean-spirited vendetta against hardworking immigrants and his dangerous, erratic behavior on the world stage have ignited a backlash that could deliver in 2018 House and Senate majorities to Democrats, who barely had a political pulse a year ago. Trump’s inability to distinguish his grandiose fantasies from reality will also give the midterms an urgency rarely seen in a non-presidential election.

Call them the “Stop the Madness!” elections. Voters will be asked whether they want to reverse a huge tax giveaway to the rich (presuming that the GOP rams through its tax bill by then) and stop rubber-stamping corrupt, extreme and incompetent executive branch and judicial appointments. Democrats will run on populist measures (e.g. an infrastructure bill) as well as the promise to end the scapegoating of immigrants and exercise real oversight over an executive branch rife with self-dealing, self-enrichment and nepotism. In other words, Democrats will ask voters: Do they want to bring the Trumpian nightmare to an end?

It’s now entirely conceivable that Democrats could pick up 24 House seats and pick up a net two to three Senate seats (with possible pickup wins in Tennessee, Nevada and Arizona). Election of a Congress of the opposite party would, for most presidents, be daunting. For Trump, it would be politically fatal.

Let’s put impeachment off to the side for the moment. (Don’t worry. We’ll come back to it.)

Consider the measures that a Democratic-led House and Senate (using reconciliation, of course, where possible) could undertake:

Reverse the tax cuts for the top 1 percent, using that revenue for infrastructure or premium support for Obamacare.

End confirmation of judges rated “unqualified” by the American Bar Association.
Pass legislation requiring presidents to release their tax returns.