Only twice has the party in the White House won seats in the midterm elections–1934 and 2002!
2002 was right after the attacks of September 11 the year before, and there was still great support for George W. Bush, so the GOP gained a few seats in 2002–four in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate!
In 1934, the Democrats under Franklin D. Roosevelt gained nine seats in the House and nine in the Senate, an amazing reality considering the unemployment rate was 21.7 percent, down from 24.9, but still unbelievably high!
In 1936, when FDR ran for reelection and swept all but Maine and Vermont, the unemployment rate was still 17.0 percent; and in 1940, it was still 14.6 percent!
FDR was constantly attacked by the Republican opposition, and by demagogues on radio, called a socialist and a communist by many! But still, the American people saw that the President was concerned about them, and was doing everything possible to work on the economic mess, while the opposition was only negative and critical, and had no real alternative to what the Democrats offered!
So while there is a 9.5 percent unemployment rate in early July, 2010, it has not risen to the Reagan high of 10.8 in 1982, having peaked at 10.2 percent months ago!
No one is saying that anyone is happy about the economic situation that exists, but don’t be so sure that the Republican and conservative attacks are really going to have the effect that many believe!
The more the GOP candidates for office speak and comment, and the more research that is done by the Democrats on their backgrounds and records, the more the chance grows that the Democrats will have only small losses in Congress, and with some luck, maybe even some slight gains in one or both houses of Congress!
It is not time in July, 2010, to give up on the Democratic party, which has brought about fundamental change under President Obama, similar to what happened under President Roosevelt almost eighty years ago!