2018 Midterm Elections

NCR Today: It is not a time for Democrats to be purists. When one considers how divided the country is, it makes no sense to insist on getting everything you want.

We say: The real significance of the midterm results lies deeper in the details of who won, where the Democratic wins occurred beyond the national offices, and how it all happened.

Distinctly Catholic: If the Democrats muster the courage to elect new leaders to be the face of the party, and they adopt a big tent on social issues, they might even win some of the rural districts they continued to lose last night.

As the nation votes today, our entire way of life is killing us and the planet. We need a whole new way of thinking about faithful citizenship that is directed towards renewing the face of the Earth.

Trump's trade war has not dented farmer support for him. Meanwhile, outside rural corners, issues like health care and tax cuts are factoring into Iowa's 1st District race.

Residents of El Paso wonder what would happen to national migration policy if decision-makers, commentators and voters who operate on assumptions about what happens at the border actually understood their reality.

2018 Midterm Elections: In a nation where the two major political parties seem to have divvied up the Catholic view of a consistent ethic of life, it's problematic to prioritize partisan politics over faith, especially because doing so doesn't encourage the development of candidates or even parties who do respect the comprehensive Catholic worldview.

Distinctly Catholic: Trump clearly does not rely on consultants nor obsess about issues. He has figured out that the way to turn out his base is to scare the livin' bejeezus out of them.

2018 Midterm Elections: Ohio's 12th district was tagged as "flippable" by national Democrats, despite its nine-term Republican representative having won with double-digit leads over Democratic opponents. Although voters in the district chose Barack Obama in 2008, redistricting in 2011, which eliminated black neighborhoods, has strengthened GOP majorities.

Distinctly Catholic: In his ongoing analysis of the midterm elections, Michael Sean Winters looks at a current polling and some of the institutionalized hurdles to change.

Distinctly Catholic: New report points to the majority of Americans who resent the dominance of the extremes in U.S. public discussion, but have not figured out how to overcome the reality.

In heavily Latino El Paso, Texas, local Catholic leaders and advocates are working to register voters, increase turnout among those registered and educate citizens on issues.