The Slingshot Effect: When “Vote Like I’m on the Ballot” Backfired on Trump - Vanguard News

Donald Trump personally invited Americans to make the November 3 midterm elections a verdict on his presidency. He repeatedly urged them to vote as though his name were on the ballot. Now that Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, he has offered a different explanation: Republicans would have won in a landslide if he had actually been on the ballot.

The irony is difficult to miss. He wanted the election to be about him when he expected to win, but seemed reluctant to accept the verdict when the result went the other way.

For Nigerian readers unfamiliar with American midterm elections, here is the simple explanation.

A US president serves a four-year term, but congressional elections take place every two years. Those held halfway through a president’s tenure are called midterm elections. Americans do not elect a new president during these elections. They elect members of Congress: all 435 members of the House of Representatives and approximately one-third of the 100 senators.

The significance is that voters can change which party controls Congress without changing the president. They can hand control to the opposition, making it harder for the sitting president to pass laws, secure support for his policies and govern without legislative resistance.

The election also demonstrated how a president’s fortunes can affect candidates from his party. A popular president can help fellow party members win elections. An unpopular one can have the opposite effect. This is often described as the coattail effect, and Trump has just experienced its reverse.

Democrats made remarkable gains, including in traditionally Republican territory. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in the Senate race, while Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Governor Greg Abbott. Georgia also elected Keisha Lance Bottoms as its first Black woman governor.

The wider lesson is not lost on political leaders elsewhere, including in Nigeria. A president does not have to appear on the ballot for voters to pass judgment on his performance. Sometimes, an election for other offices becomes an opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the person already occupying the highest office.

Trump wanted the midterms to validate his presidency. He cannot now pretend that the outcome has nothing to do with him.

He wanted the credit if his party won. He must also accept the political consequences when it loses.

He asked for a political endorsement and received an electoral verdict.

Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee thereof.