I have been asked why we have so few endorsements in U. S. House races for the mid-term elections. The answer is partly that we don’t have the resources to cover these races. It is also partly because most U.S. House races are foregone conclusions after the primaries.
We do have some general guidelines about how to think about these races. In order of priority they are: we oppose any candidate who supports Donald Trump and his 2020 election behavior; we oppose any candidate who is against U.S. efforts to aid Ukraine’s defense from the Russian invasion; we oppose candidates who support extreme positions on the abortion issue; we oppose any candidate who believes we should address inflation with price controls or windfall profits taxes; and we oppose candidates who deny that climate change is a serious issue.
Our feeling is that the first two of these issues are the priority for the 2022 U.S. Congressional elections.
Donald Trump, never a good person or candidate, has become increasingly destructive to the nation and even his own party. Candidates who would not be on the ballot but for Donald Trump’s endorsement and who support his wild claims about the 2020 election should not be voted for under any circumstances. For a complete list of Trump endorsements, go here. Obviously Trump endorses a lot of candidates just because he likes backing winners. As a general rule, I would recommend against voting for most of these candidates. (I might make exceptions for incumbent candidates who did not ask for and did not need Trump’s endorsement and who deny Trump’s claims about the 2020 election.) If you can’t abide the Democrat, vote for a third party candidate or write in someone’s name.
The fate of Western democracy, the preservation of a rules-based international order, and the prevention of a physical and cultural genocide in Ukraine depends upon the U.S. and our allies supporting Ukraine and expelling Russia from Ukraine. Conveniently, all 57 of the U.S. House members who voted against aid for Ukraine are Trump supporters. For their names, visit our Rogues Gallery of Candidates.
Abortion, no matter how important the issue is to you, or which side you are on, is almost certainly going to be decided at the state level. If that is your priority issue, focus your attention on the gubernatorial and state legislature elections.
Inflation is primarily an issue for the Federal Reserve Board. We would recommend voting against candidates who want to undermine the Feds efforts. We also oppose candidates who think the right way to deal with inflation is price controls or windfall profits taxes. There aren’t very many candidates who support either of these policies and they are recognizable by their association with the “Working Families Party,” so they are easy to identify.
On climate change, the “Inflation Reduction Act” went about as far as either party is willing to go. Republicans are unlikely to get enough votes to repeal it. Many Democrats seem reluctant to take the one step that would make a difference: a carbon tax with a comparable tariff. There are reasonable differences of opinion on the issue of what, if anything, should be done about climate change. However, candidates who view concerns about climate change as a hoax do not seem worthy of consideration. Again, these candidates are fairly easy to identify because they tend to be hard-core Trump supporters.
Excellent guidelines – Cicero on Catiline was not more persuasive than your take on Trump