Some folks are calling the 2014 mid-term elections a wave. Others a tsunami. I prefer to call it a snuff film.

However, on second thought, this mid-term election really wasn’t any different from any other mid-term election. In fact, out of the 21 mid-term elections since 1934, the president’s party emerged victorious only three times in the House and four times in the Senate.

Want some more perspective?

In 1938, FDR’s Dems lost 71 seats in the House, while in 1942 they lost 55. Ike’s Republicans lost 48 House seats in 1958, and Clinton’s libs lost 52 in 1994. And get this: the only president to not see a 20+ swing in the House during his time in office was JFK, and that’s because Americans didn’t know what a rotten human being he was.

Now, it’s one thing for the masses to forget these details, but it’s another thing entirely for the politicians and the in-pocket punditry to forget these things. For them, every new sunrise is a complete and utter shock. Every continental breakfast hit-and-run is an unexpected thrill. And every post-coffee bowel movement is a revelation, one that offers omens, both ominous and promising, for the day ahead. 

My advice. Turn off your TV now. Power down Politico. And turn your attention to your city, your state, and your school board. That’s where the power shifts actually matter.

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