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Which President Was Rejected By Voters The Most In Their First Midterm?

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President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats but gained seats in the Senate

A, obviously.
 
Begging the question.

Which president was rejected by voters most in their first term? The one with the approval rating of 63% when he took office or the one with the approval rating of 42%?
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

Answer: A. If you're just going by numbers.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

Depends on what you go by. There might, say, be a bigger projected margin of votes nationally in between President B's party and the outsiders in his midterm than the other one, even though President B lost less seats. President B could make a convincing argument that this political geography doesn't really matter though, and absolute seat gains are all that matters. It comes down to what you care about more, raw votes or seats when deciding whether voters are rejecting the president.

Seats matter more for power of course. National house votes don't mean anything for elections. But when it comes to measuring how the public feels about the president, it matters a bit. And certainly raw seat gains aren't the be all end all. President B's opposition party might be coming from a higher starting point than President A's opposition. There would be more targets.

Certainly if President A's opposition won the same seats in the following election, you wouldn't be telling me it isn't a wave just because they didn't gain any seats.

It might be hard to argue that the Senate shifts are very meaningful if there are extraordinarily different maps between the two elections. In the following scenario for example:

President B only has to defend 9 seats and the other party has to defend 26. Eight of his seats were in states won by his own party, 7 of them by a significant to an overwhelming amount.

Meanwhile President A has to defend 19 seats carried by his party and the other party has to defend 18. If half of the opposing party's gains are in states that already overhwelmingly prefer the opposing party, are those pickups really comparable to President B's midterm where no corresponding seats are up for election?

You have to go into the weeds way more. Deciding what election is a bigger wave based only on contextless Senate pickups is a bad way to go about it. The map of which seats are up is everything.
 
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President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

Did President A or President B have a much better economy at the time?
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

What reeks worse.... a pile of dung that is 35 inches high or one that is 63 inches high?

I have a suspicion that BOTH are bad the once you hit a certain size - bad is simply bad.
 
Begging the question.

Which president was rejected by voters most in their first term? The one with the approval rating of 63% when he took office or the one with the approval rating of 42%?

Ummmmmmmm. Obama's approval numbers were very low throughout most of his presidency, highlighted by the fact of the loss of over 1000 seats during his presidency to the Republicans. But, that didn't stop him from winning a Nobel prize before he had even done anything, based on expectations alone, which represents his 63% approval rating when he took office when he hadn't even done anything yet he could have an approval rating for.
 
What reeks worse.... a pile of dung that is 35 inches high or one that is 63 inches high?

I have a suspicion that BOTH are bad the once you hit a certain size - bad is simply bad.

So, you're saying that Obama was bad?
 
So, you're saying that Obama was bad?

I am saying a loss is a loss is a loss.

If you lose the Super Bowl by one point or ten or thirty - you still lost the Super Bowl.

You lose control of the House - you lose control of the House.

Republicans looking for solace on this are foolish.

It has been on the news today that the percentage difference between Dem and GOP votes this time was nearly exactly what it was when the Republicans took that massive amount of seats. But gerrymandering which has occurred allowed the same percentage to reap almost twice the seats then as the Dems took this week.

So one has to look deeper than just the size of the number of seats lost or won to fully explain what happened.
 
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I am saying a loss is a loss is a loss.

If you lose the Super Bowl by one point or ten or thirty - you still lost the Super Bowl.

You lose control of the House - you lose control of the House.

Republicans looking for solace on this are foolish.

It has been on the news today that the percentage difference between Dem and GOP votes this time was nearly exactly what it was when the Republicans took that massive amount of seats. But gerrymandering which has occurred allowed the same percentage to reap almost twice the seats then as the Dems took this week.

So one has to look deeper than just the size of the number of seats lost or won to fully explain what happened.

Oh. OK. I got it now. Obama lost the house and Trump lost the House in their respective midterms. So, it really wasn't a referendum on Trump at all, just the normal course of the minority party gaining seats in the midterms, as historically happens.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

Easy!!! the president is with the least amount Electoral vote and worst in popular vote

2018-11-08 17_46_40-Trump’s Electoral College Victory Ranks 46th in 58 Elections - The New York .jpg

Diving Mullah
 
Oh. OK. I got it now. Obama lost the house and Trump lost the House in their respective midterms. So, it really wasn't a referendum on Trump at all, just the normal course of the minority party gaining seats in the midterms, as historically happens.

Its amazing how you can just make up pure bs out of your own head and ignore what is actually said to you.
 
What reeks worse.... a pile of dung that is 35 inches high or one that is 63 inches high?

I have a suspicion that BOTH are bad the once you hit a certain size - bad is simply bad.

That would be president B.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

President A also lost 6 senate seats along with the 63 house seats. Voters were angry with both the Democratic congress and the president for not listening to their wants and wishes when it came to the ACA. America as a whole at that time was against this legislation by an average of 55-35. 2010 was a rebuke of Obama's policies. Still Obama was liked by most Americans as a man. Independents voted 57-41 against the Democratic House candidates, America as a whole voted 52-45 against Democrats in the house. Obama went on to win reelection in 2012 because of his likability. Independents barely voted Republican in the house elections 50-49.

President B, has lost at the present 30 house seats with 13 more to be decided. Both lost the house which their party controlled. This 2018 election in my opinion wasn't so much about policy which the voters were angry at, it was all about Trump's obnoxious personality and his very unpresidential behavior. Independents are split on his policies, for some, against some. I don't have how independents voted in the house elections this year, but the overall congressional vote went to the Democrats 51.3% to 47.0% for the Republicans. This is with 13 districts pending. In 2016 Republicans won the overall vote 49.1% to 48.0%. A swing of around 3 points overall which resulted in the massive shift in House numbers and the Democrats gaining control. I'm sure independents went Democratic this time, by how much, we'll have to wait on more exit polls with the party breakdown.

I think 2010 was an election which rejected a single policy which remained as an albatross around the Democrats neck for the remainder of Obama. I think 2018 was rejection of Trump's persona, not necessarily his policies. Certainly not legislation since he has only one main success, his tax cuts. I also think Trump will remain an albatross around the GOP necks for however long he is president. Unlike Obama who recovered nicely for 2012 mainly because he was likable, Trump isn't. Being likable by America as a whole gets ignored. But being likable got Reagan past Iran-Contra and got Bill Clinton past his bimbo eruptions. Being disliked, when trouble occurs, the results may be more along the Nixon lines. He wasn't all that likable as a person either.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

Obama campaign fail.jpg
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.

President A

A is for Obama, the Socialist Kenyan Pig
 
President A also lost 6 senate seats along with the 63 house seats. Voters were angry with both the Democratic congress and the president for not listening to their wants and wishes when it came to the ACA. America as a whole at that time was against this legislation by an average of 55-35. 2010 was a rebuke of Obama's policies. Still Obama was liked by most Americans as a man. Independents voted 57-41 against the Democratic House candidates, America as a whole voted 52-45 against Democrats in the house. Obama went on to win reelection in 2012 because of his likability. Independents barely voted Republican in the house elections 50-49.

President B, has lost at the present 30 house seats with 13 more to be decided. Both lost the house which their party controlled. This 2018 election in my opinion wasn't so much about policy which the voters were angry at, it was all about Trump's obnoxious personality and his very unpresidential behavior. Independents are split on his policies, for some, against some. I don't have how independents voted in the house elections this year, but the overall congressional vote went to the Democrats 51.3% to 47.0% for the Republicans. This is with 13 districts pending. In 2016 Republicans won the overall vote 49.1% to 48.0%. A swing of around 3 points overall which resulted in the massive shift in House numbers and the Democrats gaining control. I'm sure independents went Democratic this time, by how much, we'll have to wait on more exit polls with the party breakdown.

I think 2010 was an election which rejected a single policy which remained as an albatross around the Democrats neck for the remainder of Obama. I think 2018 was rejection of Trump's persona, not necessarily his policies. Certainly not legislation since he has only one main success, his tax cuts. I also think Trump will remain an albatross around the GOP necks for however long he is president. Unlike Obama who recovered nicely for 2012 mainly because he was likable, Trump isn't. Being likable by America as a whole gets ignored. But being likable got Reagan past Iran-Contra and got Bill Clinton past his bimbo eruptions. Being disliked, when trouble occurs, the results may be more along the Nixon lines. He wasn't all that likable as a person either.

Bull****. Voters were pissed at the Democrats that they were being kicked off of insurance plans that they liked, and doctors they wished to keep going to, after being LIED TO ABOUT IT, then BEING FORCED TO BUY INSURANCE, whether or not they chose to.
 
Bull****. Voters were pissed at the Democrats that they were being kicked off of insurance plans that they liked, and doctors they wished to keep going to, after being LIED TO ABOUT IT, then BEING FORCED TO BUY INSURANCE, whether or not they chose to.

We'll see. Trump's obnoxious personality isn't going anywhere. I would say most independents expect a president to act presidential, not as some WWE wrestler.
 
Trump is great. I love him. He is not obnoxious at all. Obama was the obnoxious one.

Two distinct personalities. Obama had a personality that most Americans deemed presidential. Trump's personality, his persona if you will is more suited for being a wrestler in the WWE than an occupant of the Oval Office. I don't think Trump supporters and Republicans in general realize how much Trump's uncouth personality and unpresidential behavior grates on and rubs folks the wrong way. The house results show this.
 
President A, who lost 63 seats in the House and also lost ground in the Senate

or

President B, who lost around 35 seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate

This is an A or a B question. I'm not naming any names.
Considering President A's election came at a time of an incredibly poor economy (which occurred before his Presidency) when people were losing jobs, homes and retirement and President B got thumped during a time of a great economy (thanks, in part, to President A), and when considered the election map was incredibly favorable to President B's party, I would say President B was rejected at least as much as President A, if not more so.

Depends on what you go by. There might, say, be a bigger projected margin of votes nationally in between President B's party and the outsiders in his midterm than the other one, even though President B lost less seats. President B could make a convincing argument that this political geography doesn't really matter though, and absolute seat gains are all that matters. It comes down to what you care about more, raw votes or seats when deciding whether voters are rejecting the president.

Seats matter more for power of course. National house votes don't mean anything for elections. But when it comes to measuring how the public feels about the president, it matters a bit. And certainly raw seat gains aren't the be all end all. President B's opposition party might be coming from a higher starting point than President A's opposition. There would be more targets.

Certainly if President A's opposition won the same seats in the following election, you wouldn't be telling me it isn't a wave just because they didn't gain any seats.

It might be hard to argue that the Senate shifts are very meaningful if there are extraordinarily different maps between the two elections. In the following scenario for example:

President B only has to defend 9 seats and the other party has to defend 26. Eight of his seats were in states won by his own party, 7 of them by a significant to an overwhelming amount.

Meanwhile President A has to defend 19 seats carried by his party and the other party has to defend 18. If half of the opposing party's gains are in states that already overhwelmingly prefer the opposing party, are those pickups really comparable to President B's midterm where no corresponding seats are up for election?

You have to go into the weeds way more. Deciding what election is a bigger wave based only on contextless Senate pickups is a bad way to go about it. The map of which seats are up is everything.
You put a lot of work into a thread that clearly wasn't intended for it. Well done.

I think you also have to look at context. Obviously we're talking about Obama and Trump. When Obama took over, the economy was cratering, people were losing their jobs, their homes, their retirement. We were a war weary nation. After 8 years of Obama, our country was much less war weary, the economy was much stronger, we were near full employment and continuing on an upward trend.

Voters don't vote politicians, they vote themselves. Again, I know this thread is nothing more than useless partisanship, but it could foster a very real quality discussion, as you show. Throw in contextual factors and we could see much more than just simple partisanship and have a quality discussion about what America truly wants.

Anyways, good post.
 
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In order to answer the question I would have to have more context. Were both of this situations on a controlled playing field? Things like the economy, war, etc. should be factored in somehow.
 
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