We can draw lessons from mid-term US polls

Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico celebrates after winning the Texas race during a midterm election night watch party at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, on November 3, 2026. [AFP]

It truly gladdens my heart to see what just happened in the US over the past week or so. It really does. The Republicans (read ruling party) were routed by the Democrats (opposition), both in the senate and the house.

The New York Times captured the essence of what had just happened in a way that gave a global dimension to this tsunami.

“An anti-authoritarian wave appears to be crashing over elections around the world. In country after country that has struggled with creeping authoritarianism and democratic decay, outraged electorates have turned out in record numbers, delivering indisputable victories that have checked the autocratic advance.”

I have never been a fan of Donald Trump. He has reduced America to an autocratic regime that operates as a one-man show. If he decides he wants to apply tariffs to a country he doesn’t like, he will do so, despite advice that the tariffs will hurt the American economy even more. If he decides that a country like Iran is a rogue nation, he goes right ahead and launches bombs at them even when his generals warn of a protracted battle.

He’s even threatened to annihilate the country, presumably using a nuclear bomb. Heck, he even abducted a foreign leader and brought him and his wife in handcuffs to a prison in the US. This was the height of impunity, and now his party is paying for it.

America has lost what it had built for generations, and especially respect for the rule of law and accommodation for immigrants. They seem to have forgotten that America is a country founded by immigrants who subjugated native Americans and even hoisted a derogatory name on them – Red Indians – while at it.

But now, they have gone back to the Ice age, with ICE policemen patrolling the streets, arresting and, every so often killing and maiming at will. Voters have however seen what’s happening and have decided enough is enough. Kamala Harris, former US vice president called on voters to “come out and vote in large numbers” so that the result would be so overwhelming there would be no doubt as to who the winner was. And they did. I felt she was talking to us.

I couldn’t help but feel that history is likely to repeat itself in the coming year as we head for the elections here in Kenya. I hope that people will come out in large numbers and make a statement. Gen Z, especially, must do the deed. Fortunately, statistics are on our side.

In the US, two-thirds of those who voted in the mid-term elections are under 35. They voted for change, in this case for Democrats and, of course, against the President’s Grand Old Party (Republican).

Here in Kenya, three-quarters of the population are under the age of 35. And these chaps don’t respect the old-school politicians who think they carry an entire community on their backs to the polling station and command them to vote in yet another fossil. With Gen Z, things are different now. You might think you are the kingpin of the Luhya, Kikuyu, Maasai, whatever tribe, but the reality is that tribal chieftains are now being relegated to the dustbins of history.

We now want a fresh set of leaders who will take us to Canaan no matter the birth lottery they won – in other words, we don’t care what surname the person carries nor his or her demographic. Yet, some fellows have the guts to say that the old geezers who are aspiring to high office should be given a chance because they have vast experience. Experience in what? Looting?

I say again: I love what has happened in the good ol’ USA. The incoming Democrat House chair has promised to investigate Trump, his family, allies and anybody who has been involved in any shenanigans. The various house committees would be busy, he said, because “there’s more than enough corruption [in Trump’s government] to go around”. This is as it should be. We must learn from what happens next in America, and institute similar measures here come next year.

 -The writer is a communications consultant