MIDTERMS: THE "SEINFELD MIDTERM" OF 1990 AND THE "DISCO MIDTERM" OF 1978

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics · Oct 28, 2026 · 31m

There's an expectation that every midterm will be a wave. 2026 well could be, in line with 1994, 2014 or 2006. But it's not automatic. In this episode we discuss the modern reality of midterms. Party losses are getting lower on average, and what a wave is has changed.

In this episode we focus on 1990, the so-called Seinfeld Election (or a midterm about nothing * which to observers seemed to have no result) and Carter's "Disco Midterm" of 1978. Like a disco record, it went round and round, expected to be a blowout for his party, but it wasn't. Not that it was great for Carter, but it wasn't a…