Victor Davis Hanson: Republicans Could Defy Midterm History

Victor Davis Hanson opened his Friday news roundup with a prediction that defies historical precedent: Republicans might actually hold the House in the midterms. The reason, he argued, is not Republican strength but Democratic self-destruction. The party's far-left candidates are so extreme that they are alienating their own base, creating a dynamic where Democrats either endorse them and lose moderates or stay silent and watch their own voters stay home. Hanson framed this as the central tension of the 2024 election cycle.

Florida's Socialist Problem

The most vivid example came from Florida, where two Democratic Socialist of America candidates lost badly. Oliver Larkin, who ran against Jared Moskowitz for a House seat, had endorsed defunding the police and the Pentagon. Hanson noted that Florida has about 700,000 Jewish American voters, many of whom left New York and the East Coast for political or tax reasons. "They were not going to support somebody who had trashed Israel," he said. The same dynamic played out in the Senate race, where Angie Nixon faced Alexander Vindman. Vindman, the former National Security Council official who served as a whistleblower in Trump's first impeachment, has since been discredited in the eyes of many voters. Hanson recounted how Vindman violated protocol by disclosing a classified phone call, lied about meeting with Adam Schiff, and was l