Advertise on podcast: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

There's an expectation that every midterm will be a wave. 2026 well could be, in line with 1994, 2014 or 2006. But it's not automatic. In this episode we discuss the modern reality of midterms. Party losses are getting lower on average, and what a wave is has changed. In this episode we focus on 1990, the so-called Seinfeld Election (or a midterm about nothing * which to observers seemed to have no result) and Carter's "Disco Midterm" of 1978. Like a disco record, it went round and round, expected to be a blowout for his party, but it wasn't. Not that it was great for Carter, but it wasn't a big loss as expected. What defines these kind of non-wave elections is that both parties could point to something. In 1990, a Minnesota GOP Senator unexpectedly looses, but a Democratic New Jersey Senator gets a frightening scare. A look at the non wave elections, that still had consequences. * to be clear it was named so in a POLITICO article in the 2000s, long after Seinfeld began airing as a show. We are part of Airwave Network We have a PATREON - support us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 years ago we said this... Call 2022 the Mick Jagger midterm - neither party got fully what they wanted. Both parties experienced win and losses. It is, so far, largely a "stave midterm" where the President's party lost less seats than expected - we've discussed a few of these on this podcast, and thus for the party expected to have lost seats a kind of win. Yet in this case as opposed to other 'stave' midterms, the President's Party looks like they will lose the house. So when is a win a win and a loss a loss? Is this like the 1970, 1990 or 1994 or 1974 elections? We discuss all this and talk about a midterm in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A normal midterm with its usual issues between the parties becomes a test for a new President when a labor strike unexpectedly reaches his desk. The opposition party gains, but so does his. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nixon's first presidential midterm election (the election in which the House and Senate would be up for election) would turn out to be his last, but no one knew it at the time. Nixon tried something Presidents hadn't tried and took off in Air Force One to boost GOP candidates and attack hippie "thugs" across the country. He hoped to reverse the midterm trend. He did not, and he blamed bad audio and unhelpful political science. He may have done better than he thought. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and William McKinley's midterm elections are not remembered. But each one changed history in its own way. One confined a President, the other changed a party. And the third may have cemented America's place in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The midterm election that didn't. In 2002, With national security on the minds of voters and a poor message in opposition, the President's party gained seats in the House for the first time in a first-term Congressional election since FDR's time. George W. Bush's GOP also gained back the Senate. But it's hard election to analyze. We'll try, with a little help from a former President. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the run up to the Civil War, former first lady Julia Tyler participated in a political debate. Moderns will appreciate her participation in politics as an empowered well written woman. Her cause less so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It had a short history, but within the time of the Civil War, the Confederate States had two Congressional elections. The second in 1863 (and 1864 in some states) should be seen as a midterm, and like those in the Northern states, it didn't go well for the party in power, that being the increasingly unpopular government of Jefferson Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hoover did a difficult thing. He beat back challenges and his party won control. Until a string of congressional deaths changed the picture. The 72nd Congress of 1931 was, as elected, a very narrow Republican , House 218 R - 217 D. Close, but for President Hoover, good enough. That is until, 14 Congressmen-elect died. Not all at once -- that would be weird -- it was over 13 months, for all kinds of reasons but heart attacks and pneumonias leading the list. When special elections were held, it went 218 D and 216 R. 1 Farm Laborer supported the Democrats so final was 219-216. We talk about this curious case. We also talk about the 14 Congressmen-elect who had some interesting biographies. And we talk Herbert Hoover and the spin he (tried to) put on The Great Depression. We are part of Airwave Media Podcast Network. www.airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strange, introspective, radical, achieving, protesting, scoffing. These words could all be used in TIME magazine's Men and Women of The Year to describe late Silents and Boomers. We look at this, and then a 90s Atlanta Constitutional article on Generation X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's oft said that Washington refused a crown. With Richard Lim of This American President, we get real about this topic. His book Refusing a Crown is the first book to place Washington’s decisions within the sweeping Western shift from monarchy to republic, showing why that transition was anything but inevitable. Drawing on the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the political inheritance from Great Britain, Refusing a Crown reveals how early Americans sought to build a republic strong enough to govern real people—not an idealized political fantasy. At a time when Americans once again argue about leadership, power, and the future of self-government, one figure continues to stand apart: George Washington. Across the political spectrum—from Donald Trump to Joe Biden—leaders still invoke him as the ultimate measure of political greatness. Refusing a Crown reveals why.Washington’s most extraordinary achievement was not winning the Revolutionary War or helping found a new nation. It was something far rarer: He gave up power—twice. First, when he resigned his command after victory. Then again, when he stepped down as president, establishing a precedent no law required and no force could compel. In an age dominated by kings and emperors, Washington chose restraint—and in doing so, he helped define the American experiment. Book (Preorder):https://www.amazon.com/Refusing-Crown-George-Washington-Changed/dp/1645721280 Website:https://www.richardmlim.com/ This American President:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thisamericanpresidentX: https://x.com/ThisAmerPresFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisAmerPres/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisamericanpresident LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-l-4116094/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode, we look at a few historic media that truly sought to tell readers not just the news, but what the news was. From Bennett to Drudge, we look at these innovators. And we talk about today's media innovation. All of us, and our politicians as media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A talk with Listener Jerry Spencer about Coxey's Army, which marched to DC during a depression in the 1890's. And also about how Hearst and Pulitzer's papers fueled the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past 100 years, over 80% of the first term midterms went badly for Presidents, and their party lost seats.  But in a few cases they did not. And a few times when they did, the result was very little real change or even a kind of win. A look at first term midterms during the Presidencies of Chester Arthur, Harding, FDR, GW Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.  A combo of new and previously recorded MHCBUYP episodes reveals that while many first term midterms have devastated the President's plans, Presidents don't always do badly, there are 'stave' elections where Presidents have lost so little it's almost a win.  And sometimes, a defeat has positive effects.   Music by Josh Woodward and Lee Rosevere in this episode. Find them on the Free Music Archive website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've talked about who owns media, who writes it. Now will talk about the debates about what is in it? This episode is about bias in the news media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices