THE LOWLY NEWSPAPERMAN: Democrats’ US midterm rout is a lesson for apathetic SA voters

Most human beings with half a finger on the pulse were fully aware that 3 November was going to be a terrible day for Donald Trump and his MAGA tribe. It was there in the polls, in the news reports, in the spoken narratives and in the desperation of Trump himself who was crisscrossing the country, promising all sorts of goodies to citizens if they overwhelmingly backed the Republican Party in the midterm elections.Few, however, anticipated what is now being described as a “blowout”. The scale of the Democratic victory shocked even the most optimistic among the party’s leadership. Those who had been predicting a “blue wave” sweeping across the US changed their wording to “blue tsunami”. It was an extraordinary day that caused even Vice President JD Vance to break ranks with his administration and blame the unwinnable war with Iran that his boss initiated and has been defending. He even went further in his sacrilege, linking the loss of support for the US’ unstinting financial and military backing for the state of Israel. It is the war, most Americans believe, that is responsible for their skyrocketing cost of living and it is Israel’s manipulation that led their country into it. Vance leaning into this argument was huge.Trump masked his shock by pretending it wasn’t such a big deal. On the day after the biggest shock in American politics in decades and as more devastating news was rolling in for Republicans, he took journalists on a tour of his White House ballroom construction project. He marvelled at the marble and the beams, and even got excited at the view of his new helipad from the ballroom. True to form, when journalists managed to squeeze in questions about the elections the narcissist answered that his party would have won if HE had been on the ballot.Final two yearsAround the world there were reflections on what the final two years of a neutered Trump would mean for individual countries and for geopolitics. Coming on the back of the announcement of South Africa’s imminent exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act and amid Trump’s ongoing political assault on this country, there was relief on these shores that the period between now and the end of 2028 might be less bumpy. But let us not delude ourselves that he will suddenly be chastened. Trump is wounded and will become even more demented in the remaining two years of his term. The Democrats will obviously be a huge obstacle for him, but that will not stop him from trying to be the authoritarian madman that he is. South Africa is low-hanging fruit for Trump and his fellow white supremacists, so we will remain firmly in his gaze. And you can bet that the far-right loonies in this country will continue making their treks to Washington, eager to use the next two years to extract maximum value from their relationship with the powerful madman.There will no doubt be loads of in-depth analysis of and divided opinion on the implications over the coming days and weeks as the dust settles. But away from the implications there are some key takeaways from the US midterms for South Africa and political parties. For citizens, the main one is about the power of the vote. On Tuesday (as well as during early voting) American voters were enthused about sending an angry message to the Trump administration. From rural America to swanky metropoles, they turned up in their numbers to deliver a devastating blow.Democratic voters wanted their party back in power, but it was traditional Republican voters who were key to the outcome. They voiced their displeasure at Trump and the GOP establishment that wasn’t holding him to account by defecting to the other side in droves. If their cries were not being heard by their own leaders then they would make them listen by punishing them at the ballot box. In interviews they did not hide their disdain for the Democrats, but they were willing to exercise their power by voting for them.Vance summed up their frustration on X: “The main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.” He advised his fellow Republicans that a respected pollster had told him that the way for the Republicans to bounce back would be to “end the war… focus on the cost of living/inflation… put America First… change our relationship to Israel.”South Africa, take heedThis should be a lesson to many South African voters who express their anger by staying away from the polling stations rather than punishing those in power with the ballot paper. It will be argued by some that we are relatively new at this democracy thing, but with more than three decades’ experience this should cease to be an excuse. There are many viable parties in South Africa that offer citizens options. A voter does not necessarily need to be 100% aligned in order to give them backing. To be fair to the South African voter this mould has been breaking over the past decade and a half, with emerging formations peeling away support from the established parties. But the fact that the turnout among registered voters is just 46% says something about the level of disengagement. The sentiment that “my vote doesn’t make a difference” is still way too prevalent.The lack of appreciation for the power of a single X on the ballot paper cannot be blamed solely on the citizens. Political parties have to carry a lot of responsibility for voter disengagement. They are simply not enthusing voters and letting them know how democracy can work for them. Lack of delivery has led to great distrust among citizens, who have become increasingly disenchanted with broken promises. As a result they paint all parties and politicians with the same brush, even when those outside of power offer an alternative.South African parties should take a leaf out of the Democrats’ book and learn how to convert the disenchanted into users of the power of the vote. They made people believe that each and every one had the power to change things. DM