The U.S. midterm elections were held early Thursday to determine the new shape of Congress. Voters elected all members of the 435-member House of Representatives and 35 members of the 100-member Senate. Also, in 36 states, another election was held for the governorships while a referendum was made for some sorts of domestic legal regulations.
The midterm elections, the backbone of the U.S. political system, is more than important since it gives U.S. citizens the opportunity to evaluate the performance of their president they chose. If dissatisfied, they can vote for the opposition party both in the House and the Senate in order to balance the power of the president. Moreover, with the midterm elections, the impeachment process may even start for the president.
According to the initial but not official results, Republicans have won in the Senate while Democrats are now the majority in the House of Representatives. In other words, President Donald Trump's party couldn't secure its control in the House of Representatives. As the elections were still in progress, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that the results will have no impact on Trump's policies. President Trump, meanwhile, seemed happy as seen in his first related tweet, "Tremendous success tonight. Thank you to all!"
However, according to the current turnout, it is not so hard to foresee that Trump will have hard times in the campaign for the next presidential elections. Because, he is unlikely to maintain his present programs such as the Paris climate accord, the Iranian embargo and the tariff war. In domestic politics, his maneuver on much-criticized racist or anti-LGBT decisions might be limited.
For some, the elections results have now become a milestone to at least lessen the rapidly growing polarization among the U.S. public. They also believe that even such a minor victory of Trump's opposition group will yield positive results for all migrants and states around the world. In the simplest instance, Europe may sign more advantageous trade agreements with a more moderate U.S. and a possible impending global crisis can be therefore prevented.
I do not want to disappoint anyone but, to me, that will be not the story. Because, the less Trump sees the opposition as a threat, the less aggressive he is likely to act. It is not a secret anymore that whenever his administration isn't approved or loses its legitimacy in politics, Trump always dares to make a power play.
Therefore, these very elections results will directly lead Trump to further his aggressive policies, which he believed help him win the elections.
I hope the November 2018 midterm elections can turn a new page for the sake of both U.S. society and the rest of the world with the least harm. Because, the future for us, i.e. the rest of the world, which is just an elections tool for U.S. domestic politics, is, in a way, dependent on these very elections.
