412
Dems’ blue wave isn’t nearly as in the bag as some think, so says pollsters
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2026
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politics
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I bet you've never once looked up a bill and checked out the votes to see how Republicans blocked so many of them because the Democrats didn't have enough of a voting majority.
Do you know why the Public Option was removed from the Affordable Care Act? Because Democrats needed 60 votes, and there were only 58 Democrats elected to the Senate, with 2 Independents voting with them.. 60 exactly - this gave extraordinary power to any Democrat who was against the public option (Joe Lieberman and 5 others). If 6 or more extra Democrats had been elected, the Lieberman 6 votes would have had no power. Or if just 6 Republicans out of the 40 had voted with the Democrats. Ha.
And in the end, I always see people blaming the Democrats, not the Republicans. Because nobody looks at the actual bills and how they are gutted or defeated because the people won't elect enough Dems to counter the Rep opposition. Shrug.
None of that is news to anyone paying attention. Obviously Republicans are terrible but if you're going to hold Democrats up as our saviors then they need to actually save the day once in a while.
Republicans have faced the same exact power imbalance you described many times over the years and yet they have no trouble getting their legislative agenda passed. Why is that? Answer that question honestly and you'll know exactly why people blame Democrats for shit Republicans do.