Chuck Dagger

2026 MIDTERMS DEBRIEF The last 48 hrs have been insane, but if you think the big story here is a big Dem victory, you don't know the half of it. I'll walk you through: - What happened (w/add'l background) - What's planned for the future - What we need to do next 1. What Has Happened So Far As you probably know already, the midterms were a bloodbath for Republicans. We went from a majority in the US House and Senate, AND state governors to Democrat majorities in all three. As if that's not bad enough, 10 state legislative chambers flipped from Republican to Democrat including 7 House chambers and 3 Senates. The cherry on top for the Dems is Texas, my home state. Texas has been red for over 30 years, but in this midterm election all state-wide offices were won by Democrats (US Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, etc.) and the State House also flipped to the Dems. Thankfully, the Republicans maintain a strong majority in the State Senate, and a narrow majority in the State Supreme Court, which at least provides a good defense against new laws from our new, Democrat overlords, but otherwise leaves us in a pretty bad position. The Texas outcome has massive implications for the nation. Without Texas, no Republican can win the Presidency full stop. Did Texas turn blue long-term, or was this a one-time-thing? More on that later. 1b. What Led to What Happened So Far I've seen all kinds of theories about why there was such a bloodbath for this midterm. Some of them are just wild guesses. Some are good-faith assessments based on decent (but incomplete) analysis. But many are straight-up propaganda and disinformation meant to distract you from the truth, and my friend, you need to know the truth. I don't claim to be perfect or all-knowing, but I pay a lot of attention to politics on the macro, and have made some decent predictions in my time. In 2024 I predicted a landslide for Trump. In the Summer of 2021 I predicted that Russia would invade Ukraine within six months (I ended up being off by 32 days because it was an abnormally warm winter). If you've followed me here for a while, you've seen the quality of my takes, and I'll leave it to your judgement to believe what I'm saying here or not, but I want you to know I'm sincere, and that this is based on thoughtful analysis of my own and others who I trust. Ok, so here's what happened: Going back to the 2024 Presidential Election, there was a new ingredient in the mix. Sure, Kamala Harris was one of the worst Presidential Candidates in history. That certainly helped. But that wasn't the only thing. X (formerly known as Twitter) was the marketplace of ideas. It was somewhat flat, meaning that there were few-if-any "ivory towers." People were sharing ideas, and in many cases, the good ideas were winning. While conservatives were getting suppressed on Facebook, Instagram, and all the other big social media platforms, they could actually talk freely on X, and gone was the feeling that you were the only one who noticed that the Emperor was wearing no clothes. It created a massive groundswell of support for Trump. There was no uncertainty. We knew he was the best candidate, and we knew by a wide margin, and we could no longer be gaslit into believing we were some kind of weirdos for thinking so just because every other platform and media outlet was working 24/7 to convince us of that. Without X, can you imagine the story about the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler? You don't have to imagine. The media did everything possible to play it down. But there was no such downplaying on X. We all saw the footage. We all knew exactly what happened. There was no denying it. Trump did win, and for once the "little guy" had a shot. You didn't have to be part of a big establishment to have a voice, and some of the best ideas were actually winning. But that changed fast. Big players realized they needed to figure out this X thing or it was game over. Russia, China, Iran and deep-state entities started pouring money into bot proliferation to spread lies, disinformation, and propaganda like wildfire. It was meant to sow confusion and chaos within the Republican Party, and begin splitting what had become a powerful political juggernaut into many smaller factions. They propped up the extant groyper movement, pushing antisemitism, white supremacy, Catholic integralism, isolationism, and anti-war narratives. The bots served to attack and bash anyone over the head who expressed differing opinions, while also propping up a small army of talking heads/influencers who were willing to embrace the propaganda and spread it themselves (folks like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Mike Cernovich, Nick Fuentes, Megyn Kelly, Matt Walsh, Brett Cooper, etc.) Some of these influencers may have been paid directly, but with monetization and massive bot armies, that may not have been necessary. Some folks just realized that if they jumped on board the groyper train, they had no shortage of followers, likes, shares, positive comments, and so on, all reflecting in their bi-weekly payouts, and that was enough. Pretty soon, almost all of the "space" for discussing politics was filled with anti-Trump rhetoric. Sure, there were still a number of good people out there with integrity, who were saying the right things, but their voices were suppressed by negative comments, and organized reporting from the bot armies, and instead of focusing on the Left, they were locked into never-ending fights with this propaganda movement, aka the Woke Right. Today it is the Woke Right that claims that Republicans lost the election because of things like the Iran War, and our relationship with Israel. But that's simply not true. Republican voters didn't show up, and the reason they didn't show up is NOT because of these policies, but because of the way the army of influencers and bots criticized and attacked said policies non-stop for the last 1.5 years. The War in Iran was necessary. Iran was close to getting nukes. This is an unacceptable outcome for the security of the United States and the Free World. Someone had to stop them. We did it. When Iran then took the Straits of Hormuz hostage, it prolonged the conflict. Mature, intelligent adults with integrity would have made this case calmly, but that's not what the Woke Right talking heads did. They just criticized and attacked, and over time it worked. Bottom Line: This election was lost due to overwhelming loads of propaganda from folks who pretend to be on our side, but are definitely not. 2. What's Planned for the Future Why lose an election? Well, the truth is, for the Woke Right it's not really a loss. At the end of the day, they don't really consider themselves a true part of the Republican Party. In their own words, they want to gut the Republican Party along with conservative institutions, and wear it like a skin suit. Before you gut something, you typically kill it, but in order to kill something, especially when that thing is strong, you need to make it weak. Thus the midterms. Enter JD Vance. JD Vance is part of the woke right. He's great friends with Tucker Carlson (as he has reiterated again and again). For a long time he was a "Never Trumper," even comparing Trump to Hitler. He is a self-described distributist, who wants to give the government more, not less power, and he is solidly within the post-liberal camp, which seeks to eliminate significant, Constitutional liberties in favor of a stronger government so we can finally "get things done." To add to the list, Vance has always been against the Iran conflict, has made multiple passing anti-Israel remarks, and his big post right after the midterm was quite the reveal, as he essentially through President Trump under the bus for the midterm loss. Remember, JD Vance is the Vice President. Of anyone and everyone, he should be loyal to the President, but his whole post smacked of disloyalty, especially in the context of his repeated, vocal opposition to Trump's policies. The result of the midterms is that the Democrats will obviously be able to impeach Trump in the House. But they lack 10ish votes in the Senate. I would not be surprised to find out that there are 10 Republicans in the Senate willing to backstab Trump for one reason or another, which would make JD Vance the President. Remember what I said: The Woke Right isn't really part of the Republican Party. They just want to gut it and wear it like a skin suit. If I'm correct that Vance is truly a part of the Woke Right, then making him President would be the ultimate expression of their plan. Since this movement is post-liberal, their goal is to accumulate maximum power, and use it to maximum impact, regardless of Constitutionality. Many people (falsely) call Trump a dictator, but he remains solidly within the bounds of the US Constitution, because at the end of the day he is a good actor, and not a tyrant. The Woke Right is not made up of good actors. They will absolutely do everything they can to get outside the bounds of the Constitution, and seize power. I'll be honest - I don't know exactly what that looks like, but many of them have talked about it incessantly enough, that I know that's what they want, and that's what they'll do if they have the chance. A Vance Presidency is not an option. But a Democrat Presidency is also not an option. It's not enough for us to keep President Trump in the White House for the next two years. We also need to make sure Republicans (the right Republicans can win again in 2028). 3. What We Need to Do Next The imminent threat is a Trump impeachment in the House that leads to a Trump conviction in the Senate, which leads to President JD Vance. Several things need to be done with urgency: The Trump administration needs to work tirelessly to figure out which, if any, Senate Republicans might stab Trump in the back, and get them onto their side by whatever legal means necessary. If they remain threats, then they need to be exposed, and the public of loyal Republicans should put massive pressure on them to support, and not betray, the President. Secondly, Trump should ask Vance to resign, and Republicans should put pressure on him to do so. If Trump will not be removed from office, and it's made clear that Vance has not future running for President in 2028, then that might be enough to get him to leave. Once he's off the table, he no longer presents an imminent threat, and we can look at the long-term threats. Republicans must win the White House in 2028. The fight to pick the best candidate begins now. Some of the very best options, in my opinion, include: @marcorubio @RonDeSantis @PeteHegseth The truth is, and I don't know how Hegseth would feel about this, but I believe he should continue being @SecWar. If he's willing to do that, I would keep him there if at all possible. I also think that, while he'd be a great President, I don't know if he's as electable as Rubio or DeSantis. This leaves Rubio and DeSantis. I don't know which one of them should be President, but it should be one of them, and the other should be VP. If they can figure that out sooner rather than later, I would be grateful, and I think it would be what's best for our Party and our Nation. Having a good candidate, who hopefully runs an outstanding campaign will be central to getting other Republican wins on the board in 2028. We need to work hard to develop good policy that doesn't patronize or cater to the whims of foolish people, but also takes into account what people are going through. We need strong orators who can make a real, solid case for conservative policies. And we need an outstanding ground game in every single state. That means we need good people to stand up, ready to run for office, and they need armies of volunteers to blockwalk, make phone calls, poll watch, and so on. Additional resources should be spent on Texas. If we don't win Texas back in 2028, then it's basically game over from a political perspective. Conclusion As long as this is, I feel like I've left a lot out, but it's probably already too long for many. I've quoted this often, but when asked what kind of government we had, Benjamin Franklin famously replied, "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it." We do have a Republic. It is up to us to keep it. People who hate America and hate Freedom wish to destroy our Republic. We're going to have to work hard to defend it. This midterm election was a massive blow, but we're not dead yet. In the famous words of Donald Trump, we need to "Fight, fight, fight!" Lastly, don't lose hope. Don't despair. Remember that God is in control, and that He is good, and you can have eternal life with him if you believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. SOLI DEO GLORIA PAX AMERICANA 🇺🇸