by Florestan Fernandes Jr. | Nov 4, 2026 | Article, bolsonaro, brazil, elections, midterms, Opinion, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Trump
This story originally appeared in Panamerican Dispatch on Nov. 04, 2026, and is shared here with permission.
President Donald Trump’s crushing defeat in the U.S. midterm elections and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s historic victory in Brazil mean much more than two election results. They send an enormous political message to the world. In the two largest and most important countries in the Americas, voters are saying they do not accept a unipolar world order. They reject the ideology of white supremacy. They say no to political projects that turn immigrants into enemies by persecuting them, criminalizing them and denying them fundamental rights.
But the message is broader. People want peace. They want an end to wars, military threats and unilateral sanctions that undermine free trade and relations among nations. They want a world where dialogue and diplomacy prevail over force, intimidation and one power imposing its interests on all others.
The results are also excellent news for the United Nations, which Trump’s foreign policy has treated with contempt. The UN now has a chance to regain a leading role. It can advance the reforms needed to play a truly central part in building a new international order. That order would be more democratic, multipolar and committed to peace, the sovereignty of peoples and cooperation among nations.
Another phenomenon is even more significant. A wave of popular mobilization is growing in Brazil, the United States and several European countries. It brings together young people, workers and broad sectors of society. Street demonstrations have outpaced traditional parties and political leaders, and often their ability to respond. The rise of autocratic governments and projects, threats
by Steve Benen | Nov 4, 2026 | 2026 election, Congress, elections, Maddowblog
It’s easy to forget that after a group of House Republicans successfully ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy three years ago, his successor, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, was not the GOP’s first choice.
Or the party’s second choice. Or its third. Or its fourth.
Rather, Johnson was the Republicans’ fifth choice when he was elected, stumbling into a job for which he was not fully prepared. He nevertheless managed to hang on to his gavel, largely by becoming a rather pitiful lapdog to Donald Trump.
But as the midterm elections approached, and it appeared all but certain that the GOP would lose its House majority, Johnson faced awkward questions about whether (and how) he would maintain his Republican leadership post in the aftermath of failure.
As recently as three weeks ago, the House speaker told CBS News, “In the unlikely scenario where we lost the majority, I would expect my colleagues would ask me to continue leading this conference, even if we have divided government.”
The morning after a historic voter smackdown, his colleagues did not ask Johnson to continue leading the conference. On the contrary, as MS NOW confirmed with two House GOP leadership sources, the outgoing House speaker told his staff on Tuesday morning that he wouldn’t run for House minority leader, ending his tenure as a congressional leader.
Whether Johnson intends to abandon his congressional seat altogether is not yet clear, but for now, the Louisianan is paying a real price for failure.
There will be plenty to say about his hapless time with the speaker’s gavel, but in the short term, there’s a more immediate question to consider: Who will lead the House Republican minority in
by Erin Reed | Nov 4, 2026 | 2026 Elections, 2026 midterms, Abdul El-Sayed, Alabama, Anti-trans, campaign ads, Democrats, elections, Elon Musk, Gender-Affirming Care, James Talarico, LGBTQ Rights, Michigan, midterms, Montana, Op-Ed, Republicans, Texas, Trans Rights, trans youth
By now, you have likely seen the results of the 2026 midterms: a wave election for Democrats the likes of which we have not seen in years. Republicans and their allies spent nearly $200 million on anti-transgender ads alone, bankrolled in part by billionaires like Elon Musk. Virtually every Democrat in a highly contested race was the target of these kinds of ads. And what did it buy the Republican…
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by Derek Seidman | Nov 4, 2026 | 2026 midterms, AIPAC, Billionaires, Campaign Finance, Democratic Socialism, DSA, elections, News, Super PACs
The U.S. midterm elections are rapidly approaching, and it’s no secret that the Republican Party and Donald Trump want to destroy the rising electoral left in the United States. But as democratic socialist and movement-tied candidates continue to win Democratic primaries — building momentum and distinguishing their dynamic, grassroots campaigns from consultant-molded establishment politicians — a…
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