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Who’s afraid of the big blue wave? Probably the GOP.

Their latest moves hint at manic panic, as its leaders—President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance—canvas the country, begging their base for votes.

A ‘manic panic’

Writer and podcaster Molly Jong-Fast took her razor-sharp analysis to The Guardian in a story about the midterms, which closes in on the smell of desperation coming from the right.

“In less than two years, Republicans have gone from shocking bravado to desperately begging for votes,” Jong-Fast wrote. “Vance went on the right-wing tech-bro podcast ‘All In’ to ask voters to ‘give us another chance, or give us another couple of years, to continue to work on the amazing things that we’ve been doing for the past two years.’

“In Iowa at a rally for Republicans where Senate candidate Ashley Hinson didn’t show up, Vance pleaded with the crowd: ‘Whenever you hear me talk during this midterm campaign, I’ll say Rome was not built in a day because we know there’s a lot of work to do,’” wrote Jong-Fast.

Passing out pardons

Meanwhile, Trump is offering cash and now pardons in the hope of winning over voters. 

I searched to see where $5,000 checks and pardons ranked among voters’ concerns, and I couldn’t find them anywhere. Voters seem more worried about the economy, the war in Iran, and data centers ruining the water supply than, say, the reality-TV deportation drama of the Giudice family from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” 

(The Giudice family recently visited the White House in hopes of securing a pardon for patriarch Joe Giudice, who was deported to Italy during the first Trump administration.)

Trump also recently offered pardons on stage at a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, to three men, Zachary Czubak, Patrick Fleming, and Michael Hanzuk II, who all pled guilty to removing emission control systems from vehicles they used in their business, Arm Rippin Toys.

They were in violation of the Clean Air Act, according to the New York Times.

But Trump felt they deserved absolution and offered them pardons in front of the crowd.

“That means you’re as clean as a newborn baby’s ass,” Trump said at the rally. “I never understood that. Why is that so clean?”

But you know what’s not clean? 

Bribes.

Still, it’s not all bad news for the GOP. 

Born again

A recent Pew survey found that Trump’s base of white religious conservatives has not faltered. In fact, a plurality of white evangelicals (to the tune of 73 percent), white protestants (45 percent), and white Catholics (50 percent) all plan to vote Republican in the midterm elections. 

This is compared to a majority of Black protestants (74 percent) and Hispanic Catholics (59 percent), along with atheists (81 percent), agnostics (75 percent), and the religiously unaffiliated (61 percent), who plan to vote blue no matter who.

So who’s going to win the day? The Democrats’ diverse coalition or the GOP’s majority white base?

Make your voting plan

It’s important to remember that no matter the polling, no matter what the mainstream says, this race is likely closer than anyone thinks. In 2016, a Dem win was predicted by pundits and pollsters. Trump won. In 2024, a Dem win was predicted by the same people. Trump won. 

A blue landside is possible, but not guaranteed. Meaning it’s more important than ever to get out the vote. Early voting has already started in multiple states. Voters need to start planning today to make sure their voices are heard. Check your registration, get your mail-in or absentee ballots, or find your polling place, and make a plan to vote. 

Don’t wait until Nov. 3rd to know what you’re doing this midterm. 

So much is at stake. We could potentially get a Congress that could stop funding the war in Iran. Or we could get one that would allow Trump to pardon more reality TV stars while the world burns.

The choice is yours.

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