The elections raised the bar for presidential hopefuls, who must now balance party orthodoxy with the demand for common sense

By Pavel Sirvatko , Junior Research Fellow at Georgy Arbatov Institute for US and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. Follow Pavel’s Telegram channel @politicota

November 3, 2026 was the best of times and the worst of times. A decisive blue wave swept across the US. Democrats seized control of both the House and the Senate, flipping Republican strongholds and delivering a cold shower for President Donald Trump’s second term. Americans took their frustrations with the inflation, gas prices, and the war with Iran to the ballot box, leaving Republicans feeling the blues even in traditionally deep-red states like Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, and Iowa.

Yet, for all the special effects of the blue tsunami, Washington has seen this movie before. It is hardly the first time a sitting president has been forced to govern alongside a hostile Congress.…