Extremities

In midterm election cycles, trends typically favor the opposite party of the current U.S. President. And if said POTUS is in his second term, the wave can often resemble a proverbial tsunami. As I write this, President Donald Trump's approval ratings are cratering in almost every area, including what many deem his greatest strength -  border security (he's barely above water). 

All those factors would indicate that Democrats are a shoo-in to take control of the U.S. House (the Republicans have a razor-thin majority as it is) with a legit shot to seize the Senate (GOP has a 53-47 majority). With all those advantages, it would appear the Dems merely have to stay out of their own way the next six months for a "blue wave" to come to fruition. 

But as Josh Kraushaar notes, Democrats just may not be able to help themselves due to their extremism problem. 

Indeed, a new poll commissioned by The Argument magazine finds that the generic ballot shows Democrats have been stuck with a six-point lead for a while even as Trump’s job approval has declined precipitously in the last several months. They’re voting to put a check on the GOP’s dominance of Washington, without endorsing the direction of the Democratic party.

“Democrats still have tangible policy misalignments with many voters who dislike Trump,” The Argument concluded in its polling analysis.

All told, the question becomes: Will the anticipated Democratic wave closely resemble the Democrats’ version of the GOP Tea Party election of 2010? In that election, Republicans swept into power in the House but far-right and extreme Senate candidates in key races blew golden opportunities, costing Republicans the upper chamber.

That dynamic repeated itself in 2022, when many experts anticipated a Republican wave election, but the party’s nomination of hard-line MAGA candidates in battleground contests led to a marked underperformance.

The alternative outcome is that partisanship and tribalism now run so deeply that an individual candidate’s flaws — even seemingly disqualifying ones — don’t mean what they used to. Right now, Democratic primary voters look like they’re ignoring personal baggage in favor of candidates that are the most ideologically progressive, personally authentic and who are burning hot with rage against Trump and the leadership class.

Earlier this week, you had Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank (from his death bed) warning his fellow Democrats about the consequences of lurching too far left. 

Not to be outdone, leftist CNN commentator Van Jones lamented the continued efforts to put moderate Democrats out to pasture. 

Van Jones on Democrats not supporting John Fetterman being a "moderate"

“That should not be illegal in this party. My god you have to agree on 100% of 100% of the Berkeley California agenda to be a Democrat?”

“It just shows you how nutty things have gotten that someone who… pic.twitter.com/52YPAht2SA

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 6, 2026

There is this old mantra that if your opponent is making a mistake, just get outta their way. However, even if Dems put forth extreme left wing candidates in a handful of these Congressional races, there's a nonzero chance they still win in the general election due to anti-Trump sentiment reaching a fever pitch. That and the fact too many Trump supporters typically don't vote when Trump himself is not on the ballot makes the environment ripe for leftist kooks in swings states (i.e. Maine, Michigan and Minnesota) to be elected to the Senate. 

This once again underscores the left's utter hypocrisy as well as complete lack of standards: they decry constantly that Trump is fascist in nature yet have no issue with advancing candidates who are, at best, sympathetic to such tendencies. 

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