This past week, the singer Boy George performed at two concerts in Tel Aviv and received an award from Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog. On one hand, it is great that Boy George had the courage to perform in Israel. On the other hand, the fact that a non-Jewish and non-Israeli entertainer performing in Israel causes such headlines is a sad commentary on how Israel is being isolated.
Now to my main story: the election. It is time for my list of winners and losers.
Winners
Democracy
Every time there are fears that Trump will manipulate the results of elections, people respond by coming out in droves. Trump thought that he could do whatever he wanted, whether it was his vanity projects, such as the arch, the ballroom, and the golf course, or deals that netted him two billion dollars in income. Voters thought otherwise and said no more corruption.
Iran
The Iranians decided to wait President Trump out, knowing that war is very unpopular and that Trump would be in a weaker position after the election. The new Congress now has a Democratic Party majority that supports cutting off funding. The last war that ended when Congress cut off funding was Vietnam, and that did not end too well for the United States.
Hakeem Jeffries And Chuck Schumer
It was expected that Senate Minority Leader Schumer, who is going to be 76 in two weeks, and, to a lesser extent, House Minority Leader Jeffries, who is 56, would lose the contests to be Senate majority leader and House speaker. The argument is that they are both too old and it is time for new blood. There are progressives and their supporters who are making this argument. One of them is SNL (Saturday Night Live), which has been led since its beginning 51 years ago by Executive Producer Lorne Michaels, who will be 82 years old next week.
Now that there has been the greatest success for the party since 1976, post-Watergate, I would be shocked if they are not kept in their leadership positions.
Losers
Donald Trump
During the campaign, the president repeatedly said to his supporters, “Pretend that I am on the ballot.” Other voters took up his suggestion and took out their anger by punishing Republicans. Trump, as he always does, doubles down. That is why he brought in Stephen Miller, the architect of the disastrous immigration policy that turned off voters and a polarizing figure, as his new chief of staff. The MAGA crowd will be happy, but everyone else will not.
Trump, Witkoff, And Lutnick Families
These families have made multimillions of dollars through graft and corruption. The president has made two billion dollars since becoming president. All the sleazy deals will be brought out in detail through congressional hearings, even if the Trump-controlled Department of Justice does nothing about them.
Elon Musk
He moved his headquarters to Texas because he thought it would be more friendly than California. He spent about five hundred million dollars to help Republicans win, especially in Texas. As Senator Ted Cruz said, he is about the only statewide Republican left. Not only will the new Democratic Party administration in Texas not be as accommodating, but Musk will also be dealing with congressional investigations. That will include his conduct during DOGE and some of the government contracts with his companies. It was not the only disaster for Musk this week. His Cybertruck, which debuted with great fanfare and began customer sales in November 2023, is ceasing production in 2028 due to poor sales.
Progressives
Most progressives who won were expected to win since they are in districts that are known as safe seats. It was also expected that the Democrats, when they obtained the majority in the House of Representatives, would have only a small majority. Thus, the progressives would have the power to shape policy. Now that there has been a landslide, there is no need to placate them. They will be on the fringe, as they were in prior Congresses. Tlaib and Omar made a lot of noise but had no power. Likewise, in the Senate, Schumer will keep El-Sayed at a distance. The more El-Sayed talks, the less likable he becomes. His victory speech trashing his opponent made him look like an arrogant jerk.
JD Vance
When you are the vice president of an extremely unpopular president, the discontent sticks with you. That is what happened to Kamala Harris. Vance is trying to distance himself from Trump by blaming the war and support for Israel as reasons why voters took out their wrath on the Republican Party. It is not going to work. Trump does not like people who are disloyal and will hang Vance out to dry. Non-MAGA voters will not support him. This anti-Israel Republican is toast. Good riddance.
Pete Hegseth
Trump never takes the blame for any failures. I do not think it will be different with the Iran war and its unpopularity. Once Congress gets back into session, there is going to be a vote in the House of Representatives to impeach Hegseth. Trump could try to twist arms to stop it. However, Trump needs a scapegoat for the disaster and will let Hegseth be impeached or will force him out. Either way, Hegseth is a “dead man walking.” I will miss SNL’s Colin Jost’s Hegseth.
I did not mention the Democratic Party because what has been labeled the blue tsunami was not due to the country suddenly being enamored with the Democratic Party. The party is still unpopular. As Trump likes to say, it is all about Trump. Hopefully, the party will not overreach like it did after the 2018 election, when the Democrats gained 40 seats in the House of Representatives. If they let the progressives run the party, they will lose the 2028 presidential election and the majority in Congress in 2028.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
