This Explains the Lack of a Red Wave More Than Anything Else

All the fundamentals were in the Republicans’ favor, yet while the GOP is still on track to win the majority in the House and maybe eke out a 51-seat majority in the Senate, the red wave many of us were expecting didn’t happen.

There are many theories about why the elections played out as they have. Many believe it was a lack of quality candidates, or the issue of abortion, or even Donald Trump. But on Wednesday, Tucker Carlson of Fox News offered his explanation for the Republican Party’s dismal midterm election results despite a favorable environment — and it makes perfect sense.

“[T]he mechanics of an election. They matter. In fact, they matter sometimes more than any individual running in the election. The way people vote makes a big difference to the outcome,” he explained.

Case in point: Pennsylvania.

“Two and a half years ago, the last administration, its Republican allies in Congress, watched passively, seemingly in glassy-eyed sedation as the Democratic Party used the pretext of COVID to rewrite election laws around the country in order to get its own candidates into office. They didn’t do it by accident. They knew what they were doing,” Carlson declared. “Last night those laws, many of which are still on the books, paid off generously. John Fetterman bombed in his one public debate. You saw it. He humiliated himself. He made a mockery of the election, but it didn’t matter by that point.”

For our VIPs: Something Shady Is Happening With Ballots in Pennsylvania

Polls showed a surge of support for Dr. Mehmet Oz after Fetterman’s disastrous debate, and most polls in the final days of the campaign had Oz ahead. It appeared that Fetterman’s goose was cooked, but while he was hiding from the public for months, the local party was banking early and mail-in votes.

“Thanks to early voting, Fetterman’s margin was already in the bank. Nearly 70% of Democrats had voted early in the Pennsylvania races. Only 20% of Republicans did,” Carlson continued.

“It’s over, but it doesn’t need to be repeated. These are fixable problems,” said Carlson. “You can get your message out. You can force the other side, if you try hard enough, to agree on fair election rules, but you can’t do any of that unless you acknowledge these problems exist,” he added.