On November 23, the Associated Press called two more congressional seats (Valadao and Kiley), giving Republicans the necessary seats to take control of the House of Representatives.

As of this writing (11/30/22), Republicans had 220 seats and Democrats 213, with two races left to be called.

There wasn’t a red wave—Republicans will have the gavel in the House of Representatives. Democrats remain in control of the US Senate and the White House.

With such a slim margin in the House, can Republicans govern? Can they get anything passed that will make American’s lives better? Will Chuck Schumer be able to get his slim majority in the Senate to hold with the likes of Sinema and Manchin both on the ballot in 2024? And speaking of 2024, one candidate has already announced officially from Mar-a-Lago, and another has made every indication he is running for re-election.

In his announcement, Trump said: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States. I am running because I believe the world has not yet seen the true glory of what this nation can be. We will again put America first.”

Trump says what’s on his mind. The problem for Democrats is that in 2016 he was also saying what’s on most people’s minds. That’s why he won in places like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Michigan. Yet we all know he is prone to name-calling, including coming up with nicknames for his political opponents that somehow seem to stick.

Trump plays by a different set of rules than anyone. That worked for Trump in 2016, but it didn’t work for Trump candidates in high profile races in 2022.

In this mid-term elections, there were a lot of wannabe Trump-like candidates who got beat. The exit polls show voters didn’t like the divisive name-calling or mocking. They wanted solutions and civility. Even if the voters agreed with Republicans on the issues, they still did not want to go back, they wanted to go forward.

On the Democrat side all eyes, ears and medical experts are watching Joe Biden. Will 2024 be Round 2 of Trump/Biden, or will Joe Biden leave it to another Democratic candidate?

We should also make it clear that the road to the nomination for Trump won’t be easy, especially if DeSantis decides to jump in. We should expect a long list of Republican candidates, and should Biden decide to step aside; there will be an equal number of Democrats.

Enjoy the Holidays. It’s the last time you probably won’t be hearing, seeing, or talking about politics because the election 2024, has already started.