SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Six weeks out from the midterm elections that some pundits view as the most critical in years, President Donald Trump is packing stadiums nationwide and energizing voters to get behind Republican candidates who support his agenda.
Both Democrats and Republicans have talked about winning the midterms in a “blue wave” or a “red wave,” respectively.
All 435 House seats are up for reelection and Republicans currently have a 47-seat majority, so Democrats would have to flip 24 GOP seats to gain control.
To win the Senate, of the 32 Senate seats up for grabs, Democrats would need to hold all 23 of its own seats that are up for grabs as well as take two Republican seats.
At a Sept. 21 Make America Great Again rally in Springfield, Missouri, The Epoch Times asked Trump supporters which “wave” they see coming on Nov. 6.
Neither Tara Garcia or Jared Totsch hesitated: “Red.”
“I don’t think [Democrats] represent the American people. They only represent the Democrats, the media,” Garcia said. She is a registered nurse from St. Louis, while Totsch works in communications.
Totsch, 32, said he believes Trump’s approval rating is much higher than the polls indicate, which is compounded by the media not covering his successes.
“There’s a lot of Trump supporters that are afraid to be public about it,” Totsch said. “They’re the silent majority. … That’s why the polls are usually skewed.”
Garcia said the #WalkAway movement signals a shift from the left to the right.
“The liberal gays, the liberal transvestites, the liberal blacks are becoming conservative,” she said. “From what I can read, they’ve been ostracized by their own party, by their own supporters. If they’re not 100 percent in agreement, they get picked on.”
Totsch said it is the same with African-Americans.
“If you’re a conservative black person, you’re treated a lot differently than if you’re a liberal black,” he said. “If you’re a conservative black they call you an Uncle Tom and a sellout, and it’s almost like you’re obligated to be a Democrat because of your skin color.”
If Democrats did win the House or Senate “the people would rise up and kind of rebel [in] some sort of way,” Garcia said. “Because we’re all becoming more aware of the deep state that’s running things and we know it has to end.”
Totsch said the reaction would also depend on how the elections were won.
“If it appears to be clean and legitimate, it might go one way, but if there appears to be any kind of corruption behind a blue wave, then I think we’re going to have an uprising—if people think it was kind of stolen instead of earned.”
‘Gave It a Push’
Ann Harrell describes herself as a “dyed-in-the-wool conservative.”The retired teacher from Tennessee thinks Republicans will keep the House and Senate come November. Pointing to the huge lines of people waiting to get into the rally venue, she said: “Look at this. And this is one small area. All of this together is just one small part of the United States.”
Harrell said many Republicans are now listening to average Americans, thanks to Trump.
“I think he is the thing that started it ... just gave it a push,” she said. “He may be wealthy, but he thinks like we do.”
She said things have changed in America over the last several decades “in just about every way.”
“[I] had never, until recently, been told what I can and cannot say; what I can and cannot do,” she said. “And I think Trump was that little push that said, ‘Yes you can be yourselves’ and ‘Yes you can do it and [there’s] not anything wrong with it.’”
Harrell is concerned that if Democrats do win the House or Senate at the midterms, all the recent gains will be destroyed.
“[Trump] worked so hard to get us to this point, to get this many people working together. It’s amazing. It’s a miracle.”
‘Obstruct and Resist’
Tom Lefmann said the Democrats are “smoking dope” if they think they’re going to take the House. “[They] haven’t done anything except obstruct and resist,” he said.He said Christian voters will determine the midterm in the area.
“This used to be a Democrat state for years and years. It’s not any more because the Democrats haven’t delivered,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t think Trump was going to win it, but I couldn’t vote for Hillary. And I darn sure couldn’t vote for Bernie.”
Ball Is Rolling
Denise Hughes, 66, and her daughter Breanna, 26, own and manage a dog boarding facility, respectively. They both think Republicans will do better than expected in the midterms.“The ball’s rolling. We want to keep the ball rolling and not give up because we’re very close to what we need,” said Breanna.
Denise said the Democrat Party has changed since the days of John F. Kennedy.
“It’s a whole different party. I would be a Democrat, honestly, probably right to this day,” she said. “I changed over, and I think there’s a lot of people changing over at this moment. And the polls try to say that Trump has so many or he’s down whatever—to heck with those polls, we all know they’re not true.”
Denise said she felt as if the state of the country declined during the Obama-era, particularly with regard to law and order and the introduction of Obamacare in 2014.
“When the Obamacare came on—and I wasn’t ever political, really—but when that went on, my stomach just tightened up like somebody fell off a block wall and I saw it,” she said. “It affected me that much. It just felt wrong. Everything was just wrong.”
Denise was so concerned, she went so far as to implore her daughter not to bring children into the world.
“Now I say, ‘Have me a baby, have me a grandchild. I’m 66, I want a grandchild,” she said.
“That’s how deeply I feel about Trump and how he’s going to help our country.”
Corruption
Local middle school teacher Shelly Pettit, 53, predicts a “red wave” due to the surging economy and a focus on national security, veterans, and Supreme Court justices.She said the American people are waking up to “a lot of the corruption going on” in Washington.
“America is waking up and they’re not listening to the mainstream media anymore. They realize it’s fake news,” she said.
Brent Hensley chimed in to paint a bleak picture of what could happen if Democrats win the midterms: “We would lose everything they’ve gained. They’ll want to take back these tax cuts. They’re going to have investigation after investigation on Trump—they’re going to try to impeach him.”
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