The 3 possible outcomes of the 2022 US election

Why the Congressional midterm results matter so much.

On January 6th, 2021 (yes, during the capitol riots) the final Senate race of the 2020 election was called for a Democrat. All of a sudden Democrats had achieved something improbable: trifecta control of the presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives. It transformed the possibilities for Biden’s first two years, giving his party the ability to legislate on their own - which they did.

The trillion-dollar stimulus, the infrastructure bill, the climate investments of the Inflation Reduction Act — all of that was only possible because of unified Democratic control. But even under divided government, both houses of Congress will still wield an enormous amount of power over national affairs and policy. That’s why the 2022 election results aren't just a referendum on whether Democrats should keep Congress — they'll decide who gets power, how much they'll get, and how they’ll use it. And there are three ways it could all play out.

Chapters:
475 elections 00:00
1. What if Democrats keep both houses? 0:46
2. What if Republicans win the House of Representatives? 1:59
3. What if Republicans win the Senate? 4:26
Whose vote matters? 7:01

[Vox]

Thanks for watching. You may have noticed we left out one scenario here: Democratic House, Republican Senate. That one, according to basically all polls, has almost no chance of happening -- but if it did, it would be extremely similar to scenario 3, in which Republicans take both houses. In both cases Republicans would be unable to enact legislation, but could block must-pass legislation, hold committee hearings, and would have the power to hold up judges.

[titan]

American elections are really very sad. We have to vote for either democrat or republican. I wish we had a system which allowed more independent candidates to win.

[jamesburgessk]

I wish media who constantly say "These elections are important!" would actually time, at minimum minute or less, to display which states in particular these elections will be super important in.
A lot of people think they live in solid Blue or solid Red states, when in reality, they're much closer to purple than the average voter realizes. In instances where your vote seriously matters more than in any other election, why wouldn't we be making a bigger deal about those elections and shining a bigger spotlight on them during the election season, instead of only 2 weeks before election day?

[lumikera]

in a yes/no voting system, it was only inevitable for it to get this bad

[Jammin]

Shouldn't be 2 parties. In his "Farewell Address, " Washington offered his advice to the citizens of the United States. His key points were to warn Americans against the danger of political parties, to remain neutral in foreign conflicts and to celebrate their achievements.

[habs]

All the things she listed about what the Dems want to pass seem like common sense legislation that already exist in every other developed country.

[TheJensPeeters]

the core problems of American democracy:
1. Winner takes all system for electoral college
2. Gerrymandering
3. Filibusters
4. Lack of separation between the judiciary and legislative branch of the federal government
5. Election financing and lobbying

On a simply structural level. There are also dwindling approval rating and general trust, which isn't always connected to the actual trustworthiness of the process

[ThuNguyen-jyjt]

Who's watching this after Democrats kept the Senate?

[ignacionores]

“The Republican Party wants power”, yeah, and the Democratic Party wants flower bouquets and cinammon rolls LOL

[HeyItsNoone]

This sounds like a fight between a party that wants to keep the democratic system and a party that wants to erode/abolish it. That is bad, but that also means you can only vote for one democratic party - which in itself is not enough choice to keep the democracy healthy. You guys have a problem and need an electoral reform soon.

[.]

The importance of local elections, even if you live in solid red or blue states, cannot be overstated.

[Cohdiboi]

Vox: “If you live in one of those places it means you have a lot of power over which one of these we choose”
Also Vox: DOESN’T TELL YOU WHERE THOSE PLACES ATE

[juliandesutter]

You can stay whatever you want, people are gonna vote against themselves all the time cause they just don't know anything and don't try to know

[J.R.Y.]

“If you don’t have the right to vote, then you don’t have ANY rights.” Bingo.

[xanderalaniz]

I love how the reporters are all assuming that only the GOP want *p o w e r* when in reality BOTH parties are okay with abusing their power for their benefit 🙃

[kaitlyn__L]

I understand there’s a delicate balance of runtime and information, but I feel it would’ve been good to mention or show which states are the marginal ones, rather than hoping viewers will look into their local situation. A lot of people just always assume their view is useless no matter the real situation on the ground.

[FireTriple]

Looks like the house is republican and the senate is democrats. Scenario #2

[SquallLeonhartlo]

In the scenario where Republicans control the senate, it was mentioned that those who would be disenfranchised would be left with no recourse if the courts are manipulated.

In such a scenario, it is unlikely that people will simply accept this. And in the most extreme case, it would do the Republicans well to recall Ben Franklin's take on impeachment (from an article in Smithsonian magazine): "Without impeachment, Franklin argued, citizens’ only recourse was assassination, which would leave the political official “not only deprived of his life but of the opportunity of vindicating his character.”"

[marco]

Religion and conspiracies will be the nail in the coffin for democracy...

[drewmark]

Im 28. And for the first time in my life it feels like the entire world is changing. Of course, it's always changing. But I can feel a seismic shift happening and I'm not sure what the result is. It feels like we're exiting the post 9/11 era and entering a new one.